Italy advances to Euro 2020 final after defeating Spain in penalties

Italy edged Spain 4-2 in the penalty shootout to break a 1-1 tie and advance to the Euro 2020 final. The Italians have now won 14 straight international competitions and will compete for the country’s first European championship since 1968.

Italy had a great chance to go up in the 21st minute when Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon was caught out of position challenging for a through ball. Italy had a relatively open goal, but was unable to find a shot as Spain recovered defensively. Both goalkeepers took some significant risks in the first half, with a bad touch potentially leading to disaster. Both squads enter halftime on level terms.

Federico Chiesa put Italy in front in the 60th minute with a clinical finish to cap off a sequence that started with Italian keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma rolling the ball out on a counterattack. Chiesa followed up a poor touch to collect the ball on the left side of the box and slot the ball home.

It looked like Italy was going to hold on for a victory in regular time, but Spain had other ideas. Alvaro Morata found himself in essentially a 1v1 situation with Donnarumma inside the six-yard box and calmly found a corner to bring Spain level. Morata has been known to miss easy chances, but he made no mistake here.

Neither team could break through in extra time, although Spain had some good chances in the first half. The 2012 Euro final rematch would have to be settled with penalty kicks.

Simon was able to stop the first shot of the shootout but Dani Olmo skied his penalty to keep both teams off the board. The teams traded goals until Donnarumma stopped Morata from scoring. Jorginho made no mistake on his penalty to send the Azzurri to the final.

Italy will face the winner of Denmark vs. England in the final on Sunday, July 11 at 3 p.m. ET.