Euro 2020 wrap: Goals galore, England’s penalty shootout heartache, Ronaldo’s records and more

It began with Italian celebrations in Rome and ended with Italian celebrations at Wembley.

This European Championship finally concluded with Italy’s penalty shoot-out win over England, a year after the tournament was postponed due to the health crisis.

The incidents when ticketless fans tried to break through ticket barriers at Wembley, leading to violent scenes, may have tarnished Sunday’s final in London.

But overall, the Euro 2020 was an uplifting tournament for the football on the pitch and it marked the return of spectators on a large scale for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic.

There were memorable games, and unexpected stars, like the Czech Republic’s Patrik Schick and Italy’s flying left-back Leonardo Spinazzola.

Stars of major tournaments do not always carry that form back into their club careers though: Renato Sanches was the outstanding young player at Euro 2016 before his career stalled, while Eder was hardly boosted by scoring Portugal’s winner in the final five years ago.

Despite the fears about fatigue, much of the football at Euro 2020 was of the highest quality.

The last four World Cups have been won by European nations and the evidence of the past month suggests the continent’s leading sides will set the standard at Qatar 2022.

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