The three-time European champion advanced to the round of 16 of Euro 2024 on Thursday by defeating the reigning champion Italy 1-0.

The Group B encounter at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen was terminated by an own goal by Riccardo Calafiori in the 55th minute. That, however, is but a hint of Spain’s incredible display, which makes it clear that it is the clear favourite to win a record-tying fourth European Championship.

“I think it was the best Spain performance I have taken charge of,” said coach Luis de la Fuente. “I think there’s no ceiling for this team. There are countless options.

As Spain thoroughly trounced Italy, the defending champion, 16-year-old winger Lamine Yamal further solidified his place as one of soccer’s most fascinating young talents.

Player of the match Nico Williams was also a major threat to Italy’s defence and narrowly missed a goal in the second half.

The Italian custodian, Gianluigi Donnarumma, produced a string of superb stops to keep the score close until he inadvertently sent the ball between Calafiori’s knees, whereupon he was powerless to stop it from bouncing back into his own goal.

The coach of Italy, Luciano Spalletti, said, “They deserved to win and we were never in the game.” “The distance was much too great. They could exploit us as we were constantly overworked, unable to bridge the gaps between the various units. To put it bluntly, they caused us more problems than the score suggests.

Spain’s performance brought back memories of its heyday as the dominant team in world football, when it won the European Championship back-to-back years and the World Cup in 2008.

For the first time in 136 competitive games, Spain did not have possession after losing 3-0 to Croatia in their opening encounter. Rather, they deprived Italy of the ball and dominated play in an otherwise uneven game.

There were plenty of opportunities in the first half, and Donnarumma made multiple saves to maintain the stalemate.

Calafiori’s own goal was required to break the deadlock after the half, despite all of Spain’s domination.

Donnarumma shoved Alvaro Morata’s glancing header between Calafiori’s knees; the player could only watch as the ball bounced back into the net.

Williams then attempted to increase the lead with a curling shot that struck the bar and narrowly missed by millimetres.

Williams said, “We were dominant in every way.” “Italy is a fantastic team, but we won because we played incredibly well.”

Williams is just one of the talented young players on De la Fuente’s team. Another is Yamal, a young player from Barcelona who shown his ability to perform slaloming runs and tricks and has a $1 billion purchase clause.

It seems as though Pedri, a player for Barcelona, is the contemporary of the Spanish legend Andres Iniesta.

“I want to stress how talented this generation of athletes is, particularly the members of our squad. De la Fuente claims that Spanish players are among the best in the world.

Spain has struggled since winning the 2012 Euros and losing the previous three World Cups.

On penalties, Italy defeated it in the previous European Championship semifinals.

But following their victory in the UEFA Nations League the year before, there have been signs of a resurgence recently.

It seems to be in a strong position to contend for another important title in Germany right now.