Does the best team always win the tournament?

[Spandaubaggie]

I would argue no. In a one off luck can go your way and I felt the Portuguese were very fortunate being outplayed by France in the last Euro final, but scoring a cracker.

Throughout the tournaments you can have great sides that just don't make it.

Brazil 82 stands out particularly to those old enough to recall. That's still mind-boggling.

So in 2021 is Italy v England a worthy final, you have to say yes. However, the Spanish would have been just as worthy, and if the French had scraped past the Swiss it might be different too now. The argument would have been, the great sides find a way when they don't perform at their best, rather than they bottled it and played poor.

Fact is in a knockout tournament strange things can happen, as Greece in 2004 and Denmark in 1992 have shown. Neither could even pretend that they were top 6 sides in the world at the time, but like Wimbledon winning the cup it went there way.

Have to say, I think the footballing world will see this final as a proper meeting of two heavyweights and I'm so glad to say we can be seen as proper contenders with a pedigree again.

[Atomic]

England and Italy have been the best two teams in the tournament for me.

Spain dominate possession aided in the semi by playing a false 9 that pretty much gave them a midfield six. But football isnt all about passing the ball. Spain have no other way of playing, Morata as a CF who just isnt up to it and a very dodgy keeper in Simon.

Italy are much more adaptable as are England. Italy just lack a top class CF. Swap Immobile for Kane or Lukaku and they climb another level.

[Ministry Of Silly Signings]

No, you could argue England weren`t the best side in 1966. Portugal, West Germany, and , possibly Argentina had more talented squads, but, certainly in Portugals case had a dodgy keeper, remember Ron Greenwood saying he watched replays of the 66 final, and always thought West Germany would win.
World cup 82 was certainly interesting, Brazil had a great players, Zico, Socrates, Falcao etc, but were suspect in goal, ( Waldir Peres was abysmal ), France had fantastic talent, Platini, Giresse, Rocheteau, Tresor etc, but again, dodgy in goal. Jean Luc Ettori I think. Also, Italy had a good side, Zoff, Scirea, Cabrini, Conti, Rossi, Tardelli, other good teams then, Poland, U.S.S.R etc.

[SW4Baggie]

The best teams tend to win leagues but not tournaments. To win a league you need to be able to attack and defend and to be adaptable, to win a tournament you have to edge your way through a string of one off matches. This takes a totally different approach. You also play every team in a round robin competition which balances out the luck of the draw which sees sides eliminated early in tournaments... In a league of the 24 I doubt the Ukraine, Denmark and Switzerland would have finished in the top 8 positions.

From what I've seen of the tournament, I think we're probably the best tournament team in the competition, but Italy would arguably win if it were a league.

[Ted Maul]

There's a fair argument for no as long as penalty shootouts are a thing, they're too much of a lottery.