Italy's selection in midfield been more predictable and consistent, with Mancini operating with a three-man midfield throughout the tournament. Jorginho, Marco Verratti and Nicolo Barella have started each of the three games in the knockout stages and are likely to form the same midfield for the final.
Jorginho's control of the ball, Verratti's passing range and Barella's threat in attacking positions make Italy the biggest challenge that England have faced in the centre of the pitch. England's main threat has come from Kane and Sterling, with the two forwards scoring seven of England's 10 goals. Tottenham forward Kane failed to score in the group stage, but he has come to life in the knockout rounds by hitting the back of the net against Germany, Ukraine twice and Denmark.
Kane and Sterling will start on Sunday, but England have other forwards capable of making an impact. Marcus Rashford has been given just 83 minutes' playing time, while Jadon Sancho and Dominic Calvert-Lewin have also been relatively under-used. Italy have outscored England with 12 goals in six games, but they have spread them around the team and have five players -- Lorenzo Insigne , Ciro Immobile , Chiesa, Manuel Locatelli and Matteo Pessina -- on two goals.
Immobile is likely to start with Andrea Belotti once again in reserve. With Chiesa having scored twice in two games at Wembley, Mancini might start with the Juventus forward with Insigne or Domenico Berardi as the third forward. Sterling has been England's most consistent and greatest impact player of the tournament. He has scored goals, created them, won penalties and generally provided a crucial attacking outlet for Southgate's team.
His partnership with Shaw has been a big factor and an area that the Italians will undoubtedly look to control. Kane is clearly a match winner, and needs one goal to draw level with Cristiano Ronaldo and Patrik Schick with five goals for the tournament -- though Ronaldo is primed to win the Golden Boot as he is the only one of the trio with an assist. To win the Golden Boot, Kane needs to score at least two goals, or get a goal and at least two assists. Then there is Rashford, Foden, Sancho and Grealish, all of whom could quite easily claim the headlines with a match-winning display.
For Italy, the team has been the star, with each area of Mancini's side delivering when it matters. Chiellini has offered a reminder of the beauty of world-class defending, while Jorginho and Verratti have enjoyed great tournaments in midfield. Further forward, Chiesa has delivered big goals at crucial moments, but the strength of Italy comes from the collective unity of the team rather than one or two outstanding individuals.
England have never beaten Italy at a major tournament, losing against the Azzurri at the World Cup, Euro and Euro , and their last competitive win came in a World Cup qualifier at Wembley in November But Euro has been a tournament in which England have ended a number of negative sequences -- they won their opening game for the first time at a Euros, beat Germany in the round of 16 to win a knockout Euros tie without a penalty shootout for the first time and, by winning the semifinal against Denmark, reached the final for a first time.
No team has won the Euros on home soil since France in , so England are also aiming to end that year wait. Italy have lost just once in six games against England at Wembley, so the superstitious Mancini will believe that the omens are on his team's side.
Italy also won knockout ties against Austria and Spain at Wembley en route to the final. Sunday will be England's 16th major tournament game at Wembley, having won 11 and drawn four of the previous The Euro 96 penalty shootout defeat against Germany in the semifinals is classed as a draw, having been level at the end of play. So going into the game, both teams will believe that Wembley is their lucky ground -- but only one of them will be right.
It's a tough one to call, with neither team an overwhelming favourite. In total, 40 players have appeared in two finals , with Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini having joined the club at EURO after being involved in Italy's final loss to Spain.
Cristiano Ronaldo holds the record of appearing in finals 12 years apart and No player has scored more than twice in a EURO final. He was a non-playing squad member in that final. The final has previously been hosted by 14 different venues in 12 countries.
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All 55 UEFA member associations took part in the qualifying competition to claim one of the 24 places in the finals. There was no automatic qualification. The European Qualifiers competition started in March and ended in November , when the last four teams booked their place in the final tournament via the European Qualifiers play-offs.
The 20 qualified teams were placed into six groups of four according to seedings. The four 'play-off path' winners were also allocated groups prior to their qualification. While EURO will be played out across Europe, all roads will lead to London as Wembley Stadium hosts seven matches between 11 June and 11 July — three group stage matches, two last match, both semi-finals and the showpiece final. News Go back News.
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