Sunday, December 22, 2024

Who England could play in last 16 and their potential route to Euro 2024 final

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England are among the favourites to win Euro 2024, blessed with perhaps the most talented attacking line-up in the competition.

Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden make Gareth Southgate’s side formidable contenders, although they all came in for criticism after England’s drab 1-1 draw against Denmark.

The Three Lions are now onto four points having also beat Serbia 1-0 in their opening match, and despite concerns over their Denmark display, England remain in a strong position to qualify for the last 16 as Group C winners.

This has been helped by Denmark’s 1-1 draw with Slovenia, likewise the subsequent draw between Slovenia and Serbia.

So who could England play in the last 16, and what’s their potential path to the final from there?

Who England could play in the last 16 of Euro 2024

If England top the group, they will play one of the third-placed teams from Group D, E or F.

Which nation England could face would depend on how many points the teams accrue in their individual groups.

Group D contains France, the Netherlands, Austria and Poland, while Group E includes Belgium, Slovakia, Romania and Ukraine. The potential opponents from Group F are Portugal, Czech Republic, Turkey and Georgia.

It is almost impossible to predict who will finish in this specific third-placed qualifying spot, of which there are four across all the groups.

But i has run our predictions through a tournament bracket and drawn England against the Czech Republic in the last 16, projecting the other third-placed teams from those groups to be Slovakia and the Netherlands.

The alternative option is if England finish second in Group C.

As Germany have won both of their games so far, they are very likely to win Group A, which would make them England’s last-16 opponents.

If Switzerland beat Germany in their final Group A game, the Swiss would take that spot and face England instead.

England’s potential path to the Euro 2024 final

If England win the group and then make it past the last 16, they set up a knockout clash between the winners of whichever teams finish second in Group A and B.

As things stand, this would be Italy or Switzerland.

However, it could be either of Germany or Scotland from Group A, depending on final group game results.

From Group B, it is most likely to be one of Italy or Spain, but could still be either Albania or Croatia in theory.

If England make it past the quarter-finals, they are most likely to meet France in the last four, assuming Les Bleus top Group D.

After the quarter-final defeat at the 2022 World Cup, this would be considered a massive physical and psychological challenge for Southgate’s side.

And as things stand, the most likely possible final opponents would be Germany, Spain or Portugal, but there is a lot of football to be played before those eventualities come to pass.

Key dates of the Euro 2024 knockout stage

All times in BST

  • Last 16: 29 June to 2 July (Most likely England game: 30 June, 5pm)
  • Quarter-finals: 5-6 June (Most likely England game: 6 July, 5pm)
  • Semi-finals: 9-10 July (Most likely England game: 10 July, 8pm)
  • Final: 14 July, 8pm

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