Former Germany and Liverpool midfielder Didi Hamann has labelled England's Euro 2024 campaign 'atrocious', following their final defeat by Spain. 

Gareth Southgate 's side suffered an agonising 2-1 defeat at the Olympiastadion thanks to goals from Nico Williams and Mikel Oyarzabal. The Real Sociedad forward pounced in the 86th minute to hand Spain the trophy for a record fourth time. 

Luis de la Fuente's outfit were well worth their victory, having dazzled throughout the tournament with purposeful possession and devastating threat on the wings. The same could not be said for the Three Lions, who came in for heavy criticism for their displays before a series of dramatic knockout wins. 

And Hamann pulled no punches in his appraisal of England's performance in the tournament, with him claiming that the side participated in seven out of the 10 worst games in the competition. 

'The football was atrocious,' he told RTE Sport. 'Out of the 10 worst games in the tournament, England was responsible for seven.

Former Germany and Liverpool midfielder Did Hamann slammed England's Euro 2024 displays

'With Kane, why he's not moving, I do not know. They've been behind in all of their knockout games. If you had played Ollie Watkins, it's dangerous. Palmer comes on and scores after five minutes.

'Now, imagine if this team goes ahead in one of their games. Imagine playing with Foden, you bring Eze on, you bring Gordon on. If this team is ahead, they won't be pegged back because they've got players on the bench with ultimate pace.

'They never had the chance to show it because he (Southgate) insisted on starting with Bellingham, with Kane, the same players who didn't perform so they've never been given a chance to go ahead in a game in the knockout stages because he's picked these players.

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'If they had gone ahead, I don't think there are too many teams who come back against England because the pace they've got, apart from France, no other team has.'

Luis de le Fuente's side were the better side in Berlin and edged the early exchanges before England came back into the contest at the end of the first period. 

Spain got their reward almost immediately after the break when an unmarked Nico Williams popped up at the back post before calmly slotting a shot past Jordan Pickford. 

The Three Lions weathered an onslaught before managing to equalise in the 73rd minute with Cole Palmer's precise finish into the corner. But Spain ultimately ran out the victors, with Oyarzabal the match winner.

Hamann's former Reds team-mate Jamie Carragher was similarly scathing of the Three Lions after their loss in Spain. He laid the blame for their performances at the feet of the players.

'Sven played 442, Fabio was too strict, Gareth is too defensive!' He wrote on X after the defeat on Sunday was confirmed. 'Funny how it’s always on the manager isn’t it?!! The fact is our big players didn’t turn up in this tournament. And other tournaments going back years.'

The wait for a major tournament goes on for the nation. Sunday's defeat saw England become the first team to lose back-to-back European Championship finals.