“It’s coming home” is, of course, the central refrain from “Three Lions”, the song penned by stand-up comedians Frank Skinner and David Baddiel to celebrate England hosting Euro 96 a quarter of a century ago.

The song is laced with nostalgia for our greatest footballing triumph – winning the 1966 World Cup by beating West Germany 4-2 thanks to a hat-trick from Geoff Hurst – and is both a lament for the disappointments and underachievement of the intervening years and a testament to eternal optimism among England fans, unshakeable in their faith that old glories might be revived.

The “it” in question could refer either to a major tournament trophy or, less literally, to the spirit of the sport itself, returning like the Prodigal Son to the British Isles where it was first conceived after adventuring overseas to nations that have proved more adept exponents of its arts in recent decades like Brazil, Argentina, Italy and Germany.

The smiles around the England camp emphasise that, in an atmosphere that is completely different to what it was like even two weeks ago. At that point, there was a risk of a bored disgruntlement taking hold, that could have made this campaign like 2010 or even 2000. It might instead be like 1966, with a chance for a grand redemption of Euro 2020.

While most of the players are just looking ahead to Sunday, some can’t help discussing that defeat to Italy at Wembley. Declan Rice has admitted it will “haunt” him “forever”. That’s only if this is another defeat, and Sunday sees England become the first-ever team to lose consecutive European Championship finals, while Spain become the first to win this trophy four times.

As justified as the praise has been for Luis de la Fuente’s management of a brilliant Spanish team, there was one “severe criticism” from his tenure, which the coach admitted was “totally deserved”.

That was when he applauded the disgraced Luis Rubiales, at the press conference when the disgraced former federation president insisted he would not resign after his unsolicited kiss on Jenni Hermoso. De la Fuente later pleaded for “forgiveness” for “an inexcusable human error” that did not reflect his “values”, but there are those in Spanish football who think it will “haunt him for his career”.

That would admittedly change if his team beat England in the Euro 2024 final, to secure Spain’s fifth men’s trophy and fourth European Championship, but it does add a few layers to this historic match – as well as a twist worth considering.

Watkins may be a perfect product of Gareth Southgate’s England. There are echoes of Kieran Trippier scoring in a World Cup semi-final in 2018, something only Charlton and Gary Lineker had previously done for the country. Southgate’s England have reversed a national trend of underachievement. They have also given some unlikely lads a rare status. Watkins will go from Weston-super-Mare to West Berlin, to the Olympiastadion. Whatever happens – and there is no guarantee he will even get on the pitch – he will remain indelibly associated with Dortmund.

“I never thought I would be playing in the Euros for England,” he said, harking back the best part of a decade to his days on loan in non-league. “You can dream but I am a realist. I was just thinking to get into the team at Exeter.”

In Luis de la Fuente’s first international break with Spain back in March 2023, he stopped a training session at moments that the players didn’t expect. It’s an approach that has become familiar now, but was odd for the squad at the time.

One intervention was for goalkeeper Unai Simon to kick it long. Another was to work on set pieces, since De la Fuente’s predecessor Luis Enrique had insisted he “didn’t have time”. These are rudimentarily pragmatic elements that seem to run against Spain’s ideological purism, the pressing-possession that has dominated the game for 16 years, but that was part of the point.

By contrast, Enrique gave long instructional talks with a giant screen after sessions, which began to contribute to a sense of detachment and drift. This was the great frustration with his regime. It had seemed like a vibrant new era with a new generation, but ended up falling to all of the same old flaws Spain have suffered since 2012.

Here are some photos of the players training ahead of the final:

England v Spain is a tough match to call on Sunday but there is one contest for which we already know the result. The BBC and ITV will both broadcast the Euro 2024 final live, and the BBC is set to enjoy a significantly larger share of the viewing figures.

Three years ago, a peak of 31 million people tuned into the Euro 2020 final, which England lost to Italy on penalties. It was the UK’s most-watched TV event since Princess Diana’s funeral and the BBC picked up 25 million (81 per cent) of the audience, compared to ITV’s 5.9 million.

That difference is the natural consequence of trying to push Gillette razors at every possible interval, which seems to include the miniscule gap between national anthems and kick-off these days. But might that ratio shift this time around? Could ITV eat into the BBC’s giant share of the pie?

The Ballon d’Or isn’t exactly an outright popularity contest, but there’s certainly more to who gets the award than a simple conversation of who has been the best player across the year.

Positionally, personality and prizes all seem to take huge standing in the overall podium rank, even now that the long-running era of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo dominance appears to have reached its conclusion, following the former’s move to MLS.

As such, it’s down to performance levels at the elite end, yes, but inevitably also playing for one of the superclubs, achieving something momentous at club level - often several somethings - and then, in years when the calendar allows so, adding success at international level.

Having had his finalists lavishly praised in comparison to other sides at the Euros, Spain coach Luis De La Fuente made a point of being respectful to everyone else’s style.

It is a fairly widespread feeling, as illustrated by how often the subject has been brought up in press conferences. Didier Deschamps’s constant comments about “changing the channel” if you don’t like it have informed the mood, although many viewers will obviously feel the final will be much better for his dour France team not being in it.

“I was petrified of him coming home and killing me.” For Emma Armstrong, a survivor of domestic abuse, football went from an enjoyable pastime and hobby to something that even 11 years on has left its scars.

Emma went from a season-ticket holder at a Premier League club to someone who actively avoids the game and tries to distance herself from it because of the association between football and what she experienced.

Football is unavoidable, especially when England are in a major tournament, and it has a lasting impact far beyond the reaches of whether Gareth Southgate’s 26-man squad succeed or fail.

Solace Women’s Aid cites a document released in 2013, stating reports of domestic abuse rise by 38 per cent when England men’s team loses at a major tournament. While researchers at Warwick Business School discovered in 2022 abuse and violence by partners increased by 47 per cent on the day England won a World Cup or European Championship match.