England and Colombia have one international title each, with the former winning the 1966 World Cup, and the South Americans winning the 2001 Copa America.
They can add to their collection when they contest the finals of Euro 2024 and Copa America on Monday morning.
England faces Spain in the European final (3am Malaysian time), while Colombia meets world champion Argentina five hours later.
Although England has failed to light up the tournament, Gareth Southgate’s men have somehow found their way into the title decider. History may be in England’s favour, as the last time it won a trophy, the Labour Party won a landslide election a few months before the World Cup.
Fast-forward to last week, and the Labour Party swept to power in a landslide, after 14 years.
Will we see a repeat of 1966 on Monday as Southgate seeks to make amends for the heartbreak of losing the Euro 2020 final to Italy on home ground? Or will Spain and its wunderkind Lamine Yamal pour more salt into the wound?
Yamal, who celebrates his 17th birthday on July 14, is the tournament’s youngest-ever player and goal scorer after netting the equaliser against France in the semifinal.
The Barcelona prodigy plays without fear, and with a smile on his face. He has been a delight to watch, much like his teammates who, while sticking to Spain’s tiki-taka style, play more long balls and dare take long-range shots instead of trying to walk the ball into goal.
This mixture has caught many teams off guard and propelled the three-time European champion into its fifth final. Spain won the tournament in 1964, 2008, 2012, and came in second in 1984.
Colombia, meanwhile, faces a daunting task as Lionel Messi seeks his third international title with Argentina after winning the 2021 Copa America, and 2022 World Cup.
La Albiceleste (The White and Sky Blue) has won the Copa America 15 times, the same as Uruguay, and can take the outright lead with a victory over Colombia. A good omen for Argentina is that the final is at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida.
Messi now plays football for Inter Miami, and Argentina can depend on “home support”.
One intriguing aspect of the Euro and Copa America finals is the connection between Messi and Yamal. A photo from the 2008 Barcelona Foundation charity calendar widely shared on social media shows Messi and a young woman bathing baby Yamal.
Yamal has also said Messi was his idol.
Should Yamal and Messi emerge victorious, they could finally meet in the Finalissima – a match that pits the winners of the two continents.
That will be a match for the ages.
