AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Soccer fans, rejoice. Today might be the biggest day in international soccer until the 2026 World Cup. In Europe, England will take on Spain in the final match of the European championship. And here in the U.S., Colombia will play Argentina in the Copa America Final in what could be the last major tournament match for the all-time great Lionel Messi. NPR Sports correspondent Becky Sullivan joins me now to preview today's games. Hi, Becky.
BECKY SULLIVAN, BYLINE: Good morning.
RASCOE: So before we hear about the games, are you excited about this?
SULLIVAN: Yes, and you should be, too.
RASCOE: (Laughter).
SULLIVAN: Let me tell you why. This is a great day for soccer. When it comes to national teams, these two tournaments that you've mentioned are second only to the FIFA World Cup. So Copa America is South Americans' major - South America's major tournament. This year, they also invited some North American teams to join, including the USA. As you said, it's hosted here in the U.S. The final is tonight in Miami. So that's a big deal. And then the Euros - of course, this is all the European national teams. That's being hosted in Germany. The final is in Berlin this afternoon.
And so between these two tournaments, we have gotten to watch many of the world's just very best teams and very best players. Of course, Messi - as you mentioned, some of them at the end of their career like him, some just beginning to shine. And so we're going to get all of that today in these two games.
RASCOE: OK, so let's talk about the Euro final between England and Spain. What are you watching for?
SULLIVAN: Well, the big narrative - for England, at least - is that they are trying to end this very famous - infamous, even - long drought that they have gone without having won a major international tournament. It's been almost 60, 6-0, years. So they're going to try to reverse that, but however, they're going to run into a big challenge in Spain. Spain is extremely good. Just to give you, like, a little sense of this - they have had nine different players score a goal in this tournament, meaning the threat can sort of come from anywhere on the field. They've won every game they've played in this tournament so far, so Spain will be the favorites.
England, on the other hand, keeps kind of getting through at the last minute, a little sort of, like, last-minute magic, late game goals, penalty kicks. We'll see if that can carry them through for one more match to get them that trophy that England has craved for so long.
RASCOE: OK. So how about the Copa final?
SULLIVAN: So Argentina is the big dog in the Copa. They won the World Cup in 2022, and then in the history of the COPA, they have won 15 times, including the most recent one in 2021. Columbia, by contrast, has only won once. But in this tournament, they have maybe looked a little better, I might say.
They especially were impressive in this semifinal match against Uruguay in which they had a player sent off with a second yellow card just before halftime, meaning they had to play the second half down a man against Uruguay. Won anyway - so that's a big deal. That performance ended up being, I would say, maybe overshadowed by this ugly brawl in the stands afterward. Hopefully, that doesn't happen tonight.
But they'll be a fierce challenger to Argentina, which, as you said, is led by the great Lionel Messi. They've honestly kind of coasted a little bit to reach this final. Messi hasn't played his very best. But as you say, this might be his last major tournament match. So hopefully, they'll turn it on for all the spectators.
RASCOE: OK. Well, speaking of Messi, a series of photos of him as a young man has gone viral this week.
SULLIVAN: In a good way.
RASCOE: Yes. OK. So tell us why.
SULLIVAN: In a very good way - this is, like, actually totally wholesome and wonderful.
RASCOE: OK.
SULLIVAN: So back in 2007, Messi was 20 years old. He was this, like, budding superstar at FC Barcelona. The team did this, like, calendar photoshoot for charity in which Messi and a bunch of other players, you know, took part.
But Messi's photos in particular - he gave this bath to, like, a 6-month-old baby with, like, the baby's mom there. And sort of, like, in a unbelievable happenstance insane coincidence, that baby is Lamine Yamal, who is the superlative young winger for Spain, who is one of the very best players - like, young players in the game today. He just turned 17 Saturday. And his family had held onto the photos all these years to sort of, like, avoid any unwanted comparison to Messi.
But Yamal has been amazing in this tournament. He had, like, this divine goal against France in the semifinal that made him the youngest goal scorer in the history of the tournament. And now with Spain on the precipice of winning the Euros, his family decided now is an OK time to put these photos out, and they have just charmed the entire soccer world.
RASCOE: Wow. Maybe something rubbed off in the...
SULLIVAN: It is crazy.
RASCOE: ...Bath.
SULLIVAN: Yep.
RASCOE: Yes. So NPR sports correspondent Becky Sullivan, thanks so much for joining us.
SULLIVAN: You're so welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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