Euro 2024 best bets: How to bet Spain vs. England in Sunday's final 

In the Euros before that, though, we had the opposite kind of winner. Portugal wandered into the tournament looking lost and confused and only qualified for the knockout rounds because a last-gasp Iceland goal against Austria bumped it up into third place in Group F by accident. That goal — scored by Arnor Ingvi Traustason in the 94th minute —became more of a story than anything Portugal went on to do in the knockout rounds. Portugal crept through under the radar, beating just one team in regular time in its entire Euro run, before defeating France in the final on the back of a wild shot from second-tier striker Eder. We doubt you remember anything  about Portugal's victorious 2016 run besides Cristiano Ronaldo getting subbed off in the final with a moth on his face ... and honestly, we can't blame you for that.

As we take a deep breath and prepare for the final of Euro 2024, we face down these two championship archetypes in their final forms. In the predestinato corner: Spain, a team that won every single game it contested at these Euros and did so with incredible style. In the hangers-on corner: England, a team that was so terrible in the group stage its own press could hardly capture the misery. "Too bad to be boring," spat one of England's top writers of the team's performance, but somehow, against all logic and criticism, England pushed forward.

Spain is the clear favorite across most betting platforms, but anything can happen in a one-off tournament final. For every Italy, there is a Portugal. For every Spain, there may well be an England. This game is likely to be much closer than it appears on paper...and that means there are excellent betting opportunities at hand.

But where are they? Here are our thoughts on the 2024 Euro final:

The old stalwarts breaking through. The last Euro final between Italy and England went to penalties after a 1-1 extra-time draw. Do you remember who scored those goals for each side? Here's a hint: it wasn't the hot young stars like Federico Chiesa or Bukayo Saka. It was the old legends operating with clear heads and no weight on their shoulders: Italy's Leonardo Bonucci and England's Luke Shaw.

That's how it tends to go with finals: they're won by the players who are able to shake off the stress of the occasion. Accordingly, when it comes to goalscorers, we're backing the old favorites over the new pretenders. We're eyeing Spain's Rodri to score or assist at +350 and England's Kyle Walker to score or assist at +1100.

Jordan Pickford's big night out. Spain is full of chance creators: it has a stellar ratio of shots to shots on target. (It's sitting right around 3:1 in the knockout rounds.) That means tomorrow is likely to be a busy night for England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. He's up to the challenge: we're backing him to make at least four saves at +137.

Few corners. England has been great at restricting opposition attacks down the flanks; it's held its opponents to shockingly low xG numbers even when it's struggled to score itself. Spain, on the other hand, is good enough at snatching possession in its own half to reduce attacks, too. We think there will be plenty of end-to-end action in the final, but we don't expect lots of corners--and are betting on fewer than eight total at +137.

The European Championship Final will take place on Sunday, July 14 at 3 p.m. ET in Berlin. See you there!