Spain and England Euro 2024 Final More Than Just a Football Game
A history of racism dogs these two teams. Now, some of brightest stars in the game are young men of color.
Spain’s Lamine Yamal, left, and Nico Williams of Spain celebrate scoring against Georgia in the Euros, in Cologne on June 30.
Photographer: Rico Brouwer/Soccrates/Getty Images
The racist chants started every time Shaun Wright-Phillips touched the ball and grew stronger as the match went on, with some 40,000 Spanish football fans raining hate on England’s right-winger, a 23-year-old Black man.
A lot has changed since that night almost two decades ago in Real Madrid’s Bernabeu stadium. Successive waves of immigration have transformed politics in Spain, along with Britain and the rest of Europe. Technology has revolutionized the way societies communicate. But young, Black footballers still face personal abuse.