Italy had won the trophy just once before, in 1968; England never has. One of the most memorable finals ever in the tournament was the 1968 match between England – and Italy. Little surprise, then, that both teams were equally keen to win the championship this time round. It was like playing the second leg of a fixture – 53 years after the first. This clash of the titans took place yesterday at Wembley, with timekeeping services provided by Hublot.

The watchmaking firm’s commitment was very much in step with the event, characterised by a close, almost fusional partnership with UEFA. The fans’ enthusiasm was at its peak – all the more so in that the contest had been delayed due to the pandemic. On their wrists, Hublot’s Big Bang e UEFA EURO 2020 watches allowed them to track every aspect of the tournament in real time: match schedules, timings, and extra time, as well as team lineups and positions, not to mention substitutes, penalties, and goals – an entire virtual stadium on the wrist!

At the venues, Hublot was a key partner for stadiums, with the fourth official’s referee board. Match officials had a Big Bang e Referee equipped with goal-line technology. And for the after-match, Hublot had prepared a series of 12 podcasts for its fans, providing the inside story on matches and players and going behind the scenes of the tournament through the expert eyes of football star and sports journalist Anne-Laure Bonnet. In another first in the history of sports sponsorship, the first 200 owners of the Big Bang e UEFA EURO 2020 also acquired an NFT (Non-Fungible Token) from these Hublot Fusion Podcasts.

Hublot is proud to have partnered with UEFA during these two action-packed months, right through to Italy carrying off the final victory. In being more creative than ever, the manufacture has broadened fans’ horizons and upheld the values of sport in previously unexplored channels. What’s more, these unprecedented achievements are all good preparation for UEFA’s EURO 2024 tournament.