England to play Slovakia next at Euro 2024 as they're handed ideal potential run to the final with last-16 ties confirmed as group stage finishes
Gareth Southgate's England will face Slovakia in the last-16 on Sunday evening
England will face Slovakia in the last-16 at Euro 2024 after the group stage of the tournament concluded on Wednesday night.
Heading into Wednesday's fixtures, England looked likely to face the Netherlands, but Georgia's shock 2-0 win against Portugal ensured that the Three Lions would take on the third-placed team in Group E instead.
That will be Slovakia, after they secured a 1-1 draw against Romania earlier in the day to book their place in the knockout stages.
England now have an ideal potential run to the final, with France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and hosts Germany all on the opposite side of the draw.
Should Gareth Southgate's men get past Slovakia on Sunday evening, they will have a quarter-final tie with either defending champions Italy or Switzerland.
Gareth Southgate's England will face Slovakia in the last-16 at Euro 2024
Harry Kane and Co have been handed a favourable route to the final despite struggling through the group stage
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They could then play Ralf Rangnick's impressive Austria in the last four after they topped Group D ahead of France and the Netherlands.
A final could then await against one of Europe's big-hitters, as England aim to go one better than three years ago when they lost to Italy on penalties in the final at Wembley.
They will have to improve considerably on their group-stage showings, though, after three underwhelming performances thus far in Germany.
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EXCLUSIVE
On today's EUROS DAILY: England were 'abysmal', so are they sleepwalking towards an early exit?
England sneaked past Serbia 1-0 in their opening game before being held to draws by Denmark and Slovenia.
Fans have been left frustrated with England's displays, and plastic beer cups were thrown at Southgate as he went to applaud the travelling contingent on Tuesday night following the dire draw with Slovenia.
Southgate has admitted he expects a lot more from his side, but could hardly have asked for a kinder draw to put things right.
He now has some huge calls to make on his starting XI to face Slovakia after receiving heavy criticism for his team selections at the tournament so far.
Anthony Gordon (left) and Cole Palmer (right) are pushing for starts in the last-16
Southgate still needs to figure out how to get the best out of Jude Bellingham (left) and Phil Foden (right)
Kobbie Mainoo, Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon are all pushing for starts after impressing off the bench against Slovenia, while Southgate still needs to figure out how to get the best out of Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden.
Former England striker Alan Shearer insisted changes must be made for the last-16 tie, and Southgate must now decide whether to make minor tweaks or radical alterations to finally get his team on the front foot.