Nationalism does not make nations. But it helps to invent them. Nowhere is this more true than in football. When England kicks off this Sunday against Spain in the final of Euro 2024, a victory would mark the end of 58 years of men’s footballing heartbreak in major tournaments. But it would also signify the triumph of a new country and legitimise the radical positions taken by an England team distinguished by youth and talent that their critics rarely display. The nation’s identity is inextricably tied up in the sport: England’s semi-final win was the most-watched programme this year.
The hinge around which this history turns was the last men’s Euro tournament, when before every match the England team “took the knee” as an expression of solidarity with anti-racist protests and was booed by a section of the fans. Rightwing newspapers and politicians stepped in to criticise the players. When England ended up losing in the final to Italy, three black players who missed penalties faced a torrent of racist abuse. Fast forward to 2024. When England lost to Iceland in a warm-up game, Bukayo Saka – who was only on the pitch for 25 minutes – appeared in some newspapers as responsible for England’s defeat with headlines like “Black ice”.
Without immigration, only three of the England team’s current players would remain in the starting 11. The journey to the summit this year cannot be anything other than a celebration of difference. Yet when diversity is related to something successful, it is a sign of the nation’s genius in permitting and managing it; when it is attached to a national disaster, diversity is the reason for the failure.
The allyship found within the England team is a rebuttal of such thinking. Camaraderie has been encouraged by the manager, Gareth Southgate, who has prized the power of empathy and loyalty. This in turn has inspired a reciprocal devotion from players, who have defended the team from former stars who have made their name on the BBC but use language to pillory England’s performance on their own commercial ventures that they probably would have avoided on a public broadcaster.
“Cultural identities come from somewhere, have histories,” wrote the sociologist Stuart Hall. “But, like everything which is historical, they undergo constant transformation. Far from being eternally fixed in some essentialised past, they are subject to the continuous ‘play’ of history, culture and power.” Southgate’s Dear England letter reorients English football – and the country – away from nostalgic pretensions of greatness to a patriotism rooted in equality and self-expression. He has worn the England shirt himself and he understood the weight of impossible expectations, as well as the lack of a coherent identity.
But his insight was that England’s Three Lions exist as a symbol that welds together a people. This tournament has produced something different, something great from Southgate’s England. Jude Bellingham’s bicycle kick in the dying seconds of added time against Slovakia united rival homegrown India and Pakistan cricket team fans in joy. James Graham, who is updating his hit play about Southgate’s reign for TV and stage, may get the fairytale ending he has longed for. Interpretations can be overdone of what an English victory – or loss – this weekend could mean. But after a near decade of hardening social divides, Southgate’s team present an opportunity to come together around a hopeful vision of a new England.
