Euros 2024: Finding hope in defeat!

After the Euros 2024 final, Justin Reeves celebrates the power of hope.

It’s been a week since last Sunday. The nightmare is still a reality. Same old England – they gave us hope and blew it. And so, my almost lifelong journey as a perennial men’s international football-supporting loser continues.

My journey with the Three Lions began 42 years ago. I was born in 1972, but any England fan over a certain age knows the 1970s saw the men’s national side wandering the footballing wilderness.

Not until the 1982 World Cup – when Ron Greenwood’s boys promised ‘This Time (We’ll Get it Right)’ – did England capture my imagination. Things in Spain began so well that year: Bryan Robson scored after 27 seconds against France, starting England on the way to a 3-1 opening game win. Victories over Czechoslovakia and Kuwait followed, securing us a place in the second group stage. Unfortunately, two 0-0 draws against West Germany and Spain determined that England – not football – were coming home.

Over the years, I’ve learnt to take defeat on the chin. The only England presence at Euro 1984 was George Courtney – a referee. Maradona’s ‘hand of God’ at the 1986 World Cup was a real sucker punch. We lost all three group games at Euro 1988. The 1990 World Cup brought the first in what felt like a long run of penalty shootout heartaches. For the 1994 World Cup, I had to lend my support to Ireland and Scotland.

Then there was Euro 1996, hosted in England. That was the summer I chose to work as a counsellor at a kids’ camp in Florida. I missed every game! Tournament after tournament of disappointments followed.

There’s a saying in football: ‘It’s the hope that kills you.’ I think my footballing hope had all but gone before Gareth Southgate came to the rescue as the manager of the England men’s football team. Three semi-finals, two finals and one shiny trophy in four tournaments? Today’s fans in their overpriced football shirts don’t know they’re born!

But that phrase: ‘It’s the hope that kills you.’ Really? Where would we be without hope? It’s hope that gives us life! The hope of something better is what keeps us plodding on through the toughest of times. That determination to go again, to do better, work better, help better, share better, love better, live better – that’s hope, isn’t it?

Romans 5:3 and 4 remind us: ‘We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.’ Later, in Romans 15:13, we’re encouraged: ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.’

In recent weeks, I’ve heard people say ‘in Gareth we trust’. Regardless of the final result last weekend, there’s no doubt that Gareth Southgate’s done a remarkable job. However, I know where my trust lies – in the remarkable, life-giving hope that Jesus offers.

Reflect and respond

• Read Romans 5:1–11 and be encouraged that Jesus’ death and resurrection offer us real hope.
• A new football season will soon begin, bringing fresh hope to fans across the country. Are you moving into a new season of life? What are your hopes for that new season? Have you included Jesus in your plans?
• Are there situations where hope seems lost? Pray into those, that God will move and influence what’s going on in remarkable ways.