England v Spain: Women’s Euro 2022 quarter-final – live!

Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Euro 2022 quarter-final between England and Spain at the Amex Stadium in Brighton. This is where sh stuff gets real for England. Thrillingly, terrifyingly real. After cavorting through Group A, England – the team, and the country – must now experience the exquisite torture of the knockout stages.

It’s all part of the risky pact that was made when the FA applied to stage what was then Euro 2021. Hosting increases your chances of winning a tournament, but should you fail, the pain will be so much greater. It’s not the despair, Laura…

At every major tournament the hosts provide a uniquely fascinating story, even more so when they have a realistic chance of going the distance. It’s the time of their life, an emotional crescendo of hope, expectation, joy, fear and Sweet Caroline. But once the knockout stages begin, there is always the danger that the music will suddenly stop.

Tonight, either England will move within two games of immortality, or we’ll find out the answer to one of life’s most haunting questions: what tearjerking song will the BBC use to soundtrack their England exit montage?

The Euro 2022 draw meant England were always going to face a difficult quarter-final. Spain are formidable opponents, even if they are not the same without the injured Alexia Putellas and Jenni Hermoso. A month ago Spain were favourites to win the tournament; now, after labouring through an admittedly difficult group, they are fifth on that list.

England can really hurt Spain in transition, especially now that temperatures have dropped to a humane 19C. But they will need to leave their ego in the dressing-room, because they are likely to spend large parts of the game without the ball.

That doesn’t have to be a problem. Indeed, there’s an argument that it’s the best template for an England victory. Germany beat Spain 2-0 in the group stage despite having only 30 per cent of the possession. And England won by a similar score at Euro 2017 even though Spain had the ball for 78 per cent of the match.

England won’t fear Spain, but then the feeling’s mutual. When you keep the ball better than any team in the world, you develop a bulletproof confidence. Spain don’t care about what happened in the group stage, especially as England were rarely under pressure in those games. This is the real quiz.

I could prattle on about gegenpressing v tiki-taka, about Lucy Bronze coming up against her new Barcelona teammates, about the Manchester derby between Lauren Hemp and Ona Batlle, about Ellen White being one short of Wayne Rooney’s England goalscoring record. But a game like this doesn’t need a never-ending preview: it’s a European Championship quarter-final between the hosts and the pre-tournament favourites. That’s it. That’s the preamble.

The winners will play Sweden or Belgium in the semi-final at Bramall Lane next Tuesday. How are the nerves? No, it’s not too early for that. I mean, maybe for the top shelf, but you do what you have to do. Nights like this don’t come around too often.

Kick off 8pm BST.