After the match, England's unsuccessful penalty takers (Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka) were subjected to racial abuse on social media, which was investigated by the Metropolitan Police.

They entered the final on a 33-match unbeaten run, the third-longest in international football history behind the 35-match streaks of Brazil (1993–1996) and Spain (2007–2009), having last lost 1–0 to Portugal in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League on 10 September 2018.

[37] Wembley's hosting of both the semi-finals and the final remained subject to UEFA and the Government of the United Kingdom reaching an agreement over quarantine rules for fans and VIPs.

[38] On 22 June, the British government altered the COVID-19 pandemic regulations in London to allow 75% of the stadium's capacity to be used, meaning that 60,000 spectators were expected to be present at the final as long as they could show proof of having been tested or fully vaccinated.

Special conditions applied to the supporters from Italy, including being tested for COVID-19 before arrival, not being in the country for more than 12 hours, using dedicated transport and being in segregated seating at Wembley.

Despite an Achilles tendon injury in the second half to Leonardo Spinazzola that ruled him out for the rest of the tournament,[50] Italy once again held the scoreline to eliminate the Belgians.

[64][65] In the semi-finals, England hosted Denmark at Wembley and conceded their first goal of the tournament on the half-hour mark, when Mikkel Damsgaard scored with a free kick that goalkeeper Jordan Pickford failed to keep out.

Kane took the spot kick, scoring his fourth goal of the tournament from the rebound after his initial effort was saved by Kasper Schmeichel, to put England in a 2–1 lead.

[66][67] Queen Elizabeth II, UK prime minister Boris Johnson and FA president Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, congratulated the England team on their run in the tournament, wishing them good luck in the final.

Right-back Alessandro Florenzi, who had suffered a calf injury in Italy's opening match of the tournament, recovered before the final but lost his starting spot to Giovanni Di Lorenzo.

[87] On 12 July 2021, a day after the final, The Football Association said it would conduct a full review into how people without tickets were able to breach security and gain access to the stadium.

[98] The match ball was brought to the centre of the pitch on a remote-controlled car replica of a Volkswagen ID.4, as was the case throughout the tournament, in rainbow colours, symbolising the support of LGBT rights.

There were also guests from the entertainment industry such as Tom Cruise and Kate Moss, as well as former football players and managers like David Beckham, Geoff Hurst and Fabio Capello.

Trippier crossed the ball to the far side of the penalty area to Shaw, who scored his first goal for England with a low shot on the half-volley just inside the left post.

[108] The match had opened at a fast pace,[109] and England's Kyle Walker launched another attack in the 10th minute, when he passed to Trippier who had space to run forward.

[106] Shortly before half-time, Italy had what Murray described as their "best move of the match", Di Lorenzo crossing to Immobile, 12 yards (11 m) from goal, but John Stones blocked his shot and then Verratti's follow-up was claimed by Pickford.

Walker intercepted, heading back to Pickford, then Insigne had another run into the England penalty area from the left, before hitting a shot wide of the goal.

[110] With the score tied at 1–1, England manager Southgate made a tactical substitution, bringing on the attacking player Bukayo Saka in place of Trippier, and switched to a 4–3–3 formation.

[106] In the 108th minute, Walker sent a long throw-in into the Italian penalty area, which was cleared by Italy as far as Kane; England's captain crossed the ball in, but Donnarumma was able to put Stones off enough to prevent him heading in the winning goal.

With the end of extra time approaching, both teams made late substitutions; Florenzi came on for Italy in place of Emerson, while Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford replaced Walker and Henderson for England.

Jorginho stepped up to take the possible match-winning penalty for Italy, looking to repeat his feat from the semi-final shoot-out victory over Spain, but had his shot to the left of the goal saved by Pickford.

"[125] Chiellini later said that he had "cursed" Saka before his penalty miss, by shouting "Kiricocho" – a common superstitious term among footballers – as the England player struck the ball.

"[135] England's loss dominated the front pages of most of their national media the following day, including headlines such as "The ultimate agony ... penalties heartbreak again" in The Daily Telegraph and "So close" in The Guardian.

and Spain's El País reported that "In the hours leading up to the Euro final, groups of England fans took it upon themselves to ruin the good image that Gareth Southgate's squad had built up.

[147] Boris Johnson, Leader of the Opposition Keir Starmer and the President of The Football Association, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, also condemned the racist abuse.

The Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham condemned the vandalism, calling it a "despicable, shameful act", and a police investigation was launched into the incident.

[153] During Prime Minister's Questions at the House of Commons of the United Kingdom in Westminster on 14 July 2021, Johnson vowed to ban those responsible for online racial abuse from attending live football matches at stadiums.

[167] In September 2021, UEFA and CONMEBOL announced the winners of the European Championship and Copa América would face each other in an intercontinental match, beginning in 2022, as a revival of the former Artemio Franchi Cup.

ITV's coverage of the game began at 18:30 local time and was presented by Mark Pougatch with punditry from Roy Keane, Ian Wright and Gary Neville, and pitchside analysis from Ashley Cole and Emma Hayes.

[180] In the United Kingdom, the match's viewership on television peaked at 30.95 million during the penalty shoot-out, the highest viewing figure for a live event since 1997 for the Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales.