- England will face Spain in the final of Euro 2024 in the white shirt
- They have historically favored the color and first wore it over 100 years ago
- Listen to It’s all about to begin! EUROS DAILY: Will Gareth Southgate’s legacy remain intact no matter what happens in the final?
The reason why English football teams play in white shirts dates back over a century and is largely due to their arch-rivals Scotland.
The Three Lions will once again don their iconic white kits for tomorrow’s Euro 2024 final against Spain as they look to win their first men’s trophy since 1966.
But before that happens, the color’s backgrounds have already surfaced online.
It has been observed that England have usually played in white since the very first international match against Scotland in 1872, in which no goals were scored.
With Scotland wearing navy blue – the team, which featured 11 players from Queen’s Park, wore their club kit – the Three Lions were forced to choose an alternative colour.
England will wear their iconic white shirt in the final of Euro 2024 against Spain on Sunday
The Three Lions will be hoping to win their first men’s trophy since 1966 at the Berlin sporting event.
Ultimately, they opted for a striking white shirt. According to The Sun, the FA supplied the team with kits that were essentially spare cricket tops.
After the match, England did not immediately decide to continue using the white kits, but instead sewed the crest onto the club kits for a while.
For a period, white shirts were worn, along with club shorts and socks.
However, by the end of the 19th century the press demanded consistency and England switched to the now traditional white shirts, navy shorts and white socks.
It is said that the navy blue color was chosen to distinguish itself from the all-white Germany.
A match against rivals Scotland over 100 years ago saw England transformed into a clean white strip
Head coach Gareth Southgate has insisted he wants to win the trophy ‘so badly it hurts’
Meanwhile, ahead of tomorrow night’s final in Berlin, Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate insisted he wanted to win the trophy “so badly it hurts”.
“I know the job now and I’m my own worst critic. I look at everything clearly,” Southgate said.
‘I know a lot of work has been done and we have worked with different groups of players to get the results we have now.
“I want to win so bad that it hurts, don’t get me wrong, but I can handle whatever comes my way.”