The Englishmen’s hope of ending a 55-year wait to win a major trophy slipped through their fingers in front of 67,173 fans at Wembley.
Meanwhile Roberto Mancini and his men dug deep to secure Italy’s second trophy in the tournament’s history.
England were off to a flyer in their maiden final of the competition when defender Luke Shaw calmly slotted home a cross from Kieran Trippier just two minutes into the game.
Trippier became a constant pain in Italy’s flesh in the opening 15 minutes as the Italians failed to find an early rhythm.
Federico Chiesa was Italy’s liveliest man on the pitch in both halves. Jordan Pickford had to pull a huge save, low down to push away the Juventus forward’s effort on 63 minutes.
Italy got a deserved equalizer moments later when England failed to clear a corner and allowed one header to come in, Pickford did what he can with a brilliant save, but he could not keep out the follow-up from Leonardo Bonucci, who tapped in from close range.
Both teams lacked the cutting-edge to win the game in normal time as extra time and penalties were needed to settle matters at Wembley Stadium.
It was Gianluigi Donnarumma, who became the hero of the night as he stopped three penalties from the Three Lions.
This was Italy’s first major trophy since their triumph in 2006 World Cup in Germany and their second European title since 1968.
