England have finished as winners of Group C following their draw with Slovenia in the final game of the group stages.
It was far from impressive yet again from Gareth Southgate‘s side who were looking to respond to cricitism over their performance against Denmark.
It was a match bereft of chances as Cole Palmer‘s curled effort in the 89th minute came the closest to opening the scoring.
But in truth even that was easily collected by Slovenia goalkeeper Jan Oblak, with a Slovenia boot threatening to cause the most issues.
In the end they had to wait for a favour from Slovenia to secure their place atop the group as they could not find a win for themselves.
A win over Slovenia would see England given a favourable route to the Euro 2024 final
Netherlands’ loss to Austria saw them slip to a third-place qualifying position
Italy’s last minute equaliser saw them secure 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 phases.
Finishing top of Group C means that England will face the third place finishers from either Group D or Group E.
The most likely outcome is that they will face Ronald Koeman’s side who fell to a 3-2 defeat against Austria earlier in the day
The Three Lions could still take on one of Romania, Belgium, Slovakia or Ukraine with all four teams still capable of a third-placed finished.
For England to face a member of Group E, Hungary will need to be eliminated by either of the Group E or Group F finishers.
For that to occur, Czechia would need to beat Turkey in their final game of Group F.
That would see them take on the winner of Italy vs Switzerland, and many would relish the opportunity to banish the memories of last tournament’s heartbreak against the Azzurri.
If they are able to overcome that, a semi-final against one of Austria, Turkey, Belgium or Slovenia would await them.
More often than not in a majour tournament, you have to overcome one of the favourites.
For this England side it is looking more and more likely that to claim this year’s title that will not be the case until the final.
To get there though, they will almost certainly have to overcome tricky opponents in the Netherlands.
Ronald Koeman’s side were on course for a top-two finish in Group D ahead of kick-off as they followed up their opening day win over Poland with a goalless draw with France.
But Austria had other ideas as they set out to cause an upset against their Dutch opposition.
An own goal from Donyell Malen set Ralf Rangnick’s side on their way they were pegged back twice at 1-1 and 2-2 before Marcel Sabitzer finall put the tie to bed in the 80th minute.
That loss coupled with France’s draw with Poland saw the Oranje drop to third place but they will not have to sweat on their place in the next round as they have already qualified.
