England will face Slovakia in the last 16 of Euro 2024 on Sunday with a kind draw opening up for the Three Lions.
Gareth Southgate’s side had been expected to face European heavyweights the Netherlands, but Georgia’s shock victory over Portugal on Wednesday night means they face the third-placed team from Group E instead.
The luck of the draw means England will avoid many of the favourites for this year’s tournament until the final – should they get that far.
Spain, Germany, Portugal, France and Belgium are all in the same half of the draw, while England’s biggest threats appear to be reigning champions Italy, the Dutch and a resurgent Austria side.
Euro 2024 last 16 draw in full
- Spain vs Georgia: 8pm Sun 30 Jun
- Germany vs Denmark: 8pm Sat 29 Jun
- Portugal vs Slovenia: 8pm Mon 1 Jul
- France vs Belgium: 5pm Mon 1 Jul
- Romania vs Netherlands: 5pm Tue 2 Jul
- Austria vs Turkey: 8pm Tue 2 Jul
- England vs Slovakia: 5pm Sun 30 Jun
- Switzerland vs Italy: 5pm Sat 29 Jun
How to watch England vs Slovakia
England face Slovakia at 5pm on Sunday 30 June and the match will be shown live on ITV.
The game takes place in Gelsenkirchen, the venue of England’s opening victory against Serbia.
What do England have to fear from Slovakia?
Slovakia finished among the four best third-placed sides and were confirmed as England’s opponents upon the conclusion of the group stage on Wednesday night.
Francesco Calzona’s team finished on four points in Group E, where a 1-0 win against Belgium and 2-1 defeat to Ukraine was followed by Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Romania.
Slovakia are 45th in the Fifa world rankings – 40 spots below England.
England won 2-1 at Wembley in the last meeting between the sides in September 2017 during qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.
The reverse fixture, in September 2016, was a 1-0 England victory in Sam Allardyce’s only game in charge of the national team.
Who could England face in the quarter-finals and beyond?
Should England beat Slovakia, they will face either Switzerland or a repeat of the Euro 2020 final against Italy in the quarter-finals.
Their semi-final opponents would then come from the winners of Romania vs Netherlands and Austria vs Turkey.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/ae4QzCI
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