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Crunching the numbers, we see that Italy have had a much more difficult route to the final than England in terms of the quality of teams they have faced. On average, England have faced a team 11 places below them in the European rankings, whereas Italy’s opponents have only been 4 places worse off.

The difference in perceived quality of opponents is particularly clear in the group stages, where England (4^th in the world and 3^rd in Europe) faced Croatia (10^th in Europe), Scotland (25^th) and the Czech Republic (22^nd). This gives an average opponent 16 places below Gareth Southgate’s men.

In comparison, Italy found themselves in a tougher group with Turkey (18^th), Switzerland (9^th) and Wales (12^th). The average here is only 7 places below Italy’s ranking of 6^th in Europe (and 7^th in the world).

The knockout rounds were also much kinder to the Three Lions, with the last-16 clash against Germany the only real exception. England’s triumph over the Germans (8^th in Europe) was much more impressive than Italy scraping to an extra time victory over the Austrians 9 places below them in the rankings (15^th).

However, Italy’s triumph over the number 1 ranked Belgian team in the quarter-final was a real upset. England’s victory over Ukraine (16^th in Europe) at the same stage played out as expected, although perhaps a little easier than it should have been!

With Italy and Spain (5^th) only being separated by a single place in the rankings, there was no surprise to see the semi-final decided via a penalty shootout. Denmark also proved a tricky opponent for England, which isn’t too surprising given they were the highest ranked team they had faced so far in 7^th.

As for the final, with home advantage and a European ranking 3 places higher than the Italians, the expectation is that England should have more than enough to finally bring football home on Sunday. COME ON ENGLAND!