England win Group C despite dismal draw with Slovenia and manage to avoid the likes of Germany, France, Spain and Portugal – but the Netherlands and Italy await
- England take five points from their three matches to top Group C
- Despite limping to first place, England still earned a favorable draw
- LISTEN to It All Begins! Playing Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield was a ‘progressive move, but unfortunately it didn’t work’
England have won Group C after drawing against Slovenia in the final match of the group stage.
It was once again far from impressive from Gareth Southgate’s side, who wanted to respond to criticism of their performance against Denmark.
It was a match without chances as Cole Palmer’s curling effort in the 89th minute came closest to opening the scoring.
But in reality, even that was easily collected by Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak, with a Slovenian boot threatening to cause the most trouble.
Ultimately, they had to wait for a favor from Slovenia to secure their place at the top of the group as they could not find a win for themselves.
A win over Slovenia would give England a favorable route to the Euro 2024 final
The Netherlands’ loss against Austria dropped them to a qualifying position of third place
With the equalizer at the very last moment, Italy secured second place in Group B
The goalless draw in the other tie saw England over the line and they will now avoid the likes of Spain, Germany, Portugal and Spain in the knockout stages.
Finishing top of Group C will mean England will face third-placed Group D or Group E.
The most likely outcome is that they will face Ronald Koeman’s side, who lost 3-2 against Austria earlier in the day.
The Three Lions could still face Romania, Belgium, Slovakia or Ukraine, with all four teams still capable of finishing in third place.
For England to face a member of Group E, Hungary will have to be eliminated by one of the finishers in Group E or Group F.
To achieve that, the Czech Republic would have to beat Turkey in their final Group F match.
That would see them face the winner of Italy versus Switzerland, and many would seize the opportunity to chase away the memories of last tournament’s heartbreak against the Azzurri.
If they can overcome that, a semi-final against Austria, Turkey, Belgium or Slovenia awaits them.
In a major tournament, more often than not you have to overcome one of the favorites.
For this England team, it looks increasingly likely that claiming this year’s title will only happen in the final.
To get there, they will almost certainly have to overcome difficult opponents in the Netherlands.
Ronald Koeman’s side were on course for a top two finish in Group D before kick-off as they followed their opening day win over Poland with a goalless draw against France.
But Austria had other plans and wanted to cause a surprise against the Dutch opponent.
An own goal from Donyell Malen put Ralf Rangnick’s team behind twice at 1-1 and 2-2 before Marcel Sabitzer finally put the equalizer to bed in the 80th minute.
That loss, combined with France’s draw with Poland, saw the Dutch drop to third place, but they won’t have to sweat for their place in the next round as they have already qualified.