It feels like England can’t lead by more than three seconds in a tournament match before someone starts shouting ‘It’s coming home!’.
As a country without the historical background of the tournament, which necessarily justifies being consistently considered the favourites, we seem extremely quick to pull the trigger on that particular chant.
But whether it’s ill-directed attempts to manifest our destiny, foolish optimism, or unconscious muscle memory, we’re notoriously quick to sing our own praises.
The only thing England fans seem to do with more zeal is, paradoxically, jump on the bandwagon and take aim at our own team at the slightest hint of adversity.
However, before we can talk about football, we have the important task of coming out of the group first. So what should go England’s way tonight before the Three Lions join Germany in the second round? And is a draw enough?
Gareth Southgate’s side are top of Group C, three ahead of their clash with Denmark
Jude Bellingham scored the only goal of the match as England defeated Serbia 1-0 on Sunday
What if England wins?
England, as we know, beat Serbia 1-0, with Jude Bellingham scoring the only goal of the match with his increasingly marketable head to give the Three Lions the perfect start.
While Denmark may have been held to a surprise 1-1 draw against Slovenia earlier that day, with Jan Oblak, Benjamin Sesko and Co impressing in their first tournament appearance in 14 years.
Today, Slovenia and Serbia played out a 1-1 draw, with AC Milan’s Luka Jovic finding the back of the net straight from the death with an equalizer in the 95th minute.
As such, it makes the group look like this:
- England 3pts (GD +1)
- Slovenia 2 points (GD 0)
- Denmark 1pt (GD 0)
- Serbia 0 points (GD -1).
Therefore, as you can imagine, a win brings England through regardless of the results; their six points would be untouchable for more than one team even if they lost to Slovenia next week.
So a win is enough to qualify today, and it would also confirm their status as group winners.
A win for England tonight will take England through to the last 16 of Group C
What if England draw?
But what if England, I hear you ask, pulls pitchforks within reach? Well, it wouldn’t actually be the end of the world.
Seven points would be enough to put England top of the group, as Denmark could only collect a total of five points (one win, two draws), Serbia six (two wins, one defeat), while Slovenia could only manage one achieve. four if England beat them on Tuesday (one win, one draw, one defeat).
So if England draw against Denmark and beat Slovenia, they will be through the top. But what if they draw tonight and lose to Slovenia? A draw certainly increases the pressure going into that final match.
In the event of a draw tonight, the group could look like this:
England would still remain top if today’s match against Denmark ended in a draw. However, they would need a draw or win in their final game to progress to the next stage.
If England were to lose to Serbia in their final group match, they would need Denmark to lose or draw against Serbia in their final match.
England are considered the frontrunners to go all the way in Germany despite not having won a tournament since 1966
A draw against Denmark complicates matters, but England can still qualify as group leaders
What if England lose tonight?
Well… again, while Southgate would probably feel a little more heat than usual, England would still be able to top the group if they can beat Slovenia.
Defeat tonight would see Gareth Southgate’s men drop to second place in the group standings – one point behind Denmark – and one point above Slovenia.
That’s why a defeat tonight, but a victory over Slovenia on the final day and England are still at the top with six points. Important to remember even if things don’t go according to plan tonight.
It’s a lot to think about, but essentially: England win tonight, they’re done. England win tonight and Slovenia fail to beat Serbia and they are through as winners.
A draw tonight isn’t the end of the world, but they would need to beat Slovenia to ensure top spot, while two draws would see the Three Lions need results to go their way, and they could potentially end up in a three-way battle on five points with Slovenia and Denmark.
Likewise, defeat tonight isn’t the end of the world – even though it probably feels like it – and England can still top the group. Two losses make things a bit more interesting, but let’s not worry about that too much yet.
A win over Benjamin Sesko’s Slovenia on Tuesday would put England on top even if they lose to Denmark
Who could England face in the Last-16?
In the spirit of leading the way, let’s run a little before we can walk.
If all goes to plan, England will win Group C, which will see them draw against the third-placed team in Group D, E or F. At the time of writing, these are Poland, Belgium and the Czech Republic, but Austria, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine . and Georgia are also likely contenders.
Finishing second in the group, and that could lead to clashes with the winners of Group A, which for all intents and purposes would be Germany, who have six points, seven goals and a whole lot of plaudits from two games. It wouldn’t exactly be ideal.
Finish third and qualify as one of the top four third-placed sides, and England would face the winners of Group E or Group F. At this point, it looks like Portugal or Belgium will disappear from the FIFA rankings , so maybe third place is a better option than second?