Euro 2024: A look at England’s fixtures, opponents and their path to glory
Sports News Blitz’s thoughts are starting to drift towards this summer’s 2024 European Championships in Germany.
Here, Adam Nash takes a detailed look at everything you need to know about Gareth Southgate’s campaign for Euro 2024 glory with the Three Lions.
Who are England playing at Euro 2024?
England vs Serbia
England are kicking off their tournament against Serbia on the 16th of June at the Veltins Arena which is the home of FC Schalke 04.
It's an incredible stadium due to its retractable pitch and removable pitch. England have only played Serbia once and they managed to beat them 2-1 in a friendly back in 2003.
England vs Denmark
England’s next game is against arguably their hardest opponent of the group stage - Denmark - on the 20th of June in Frankfurt at the Commerzbank Arena, which is the home of Eintracht Frankfurt.
The last time England played Denmark was in fact at the 2020 Euros in a very intense game where England scored a goal in extra time after Harry Kane missed a penalty but managed to score from the rebound.
Denmark are the highest-ranked team in England's group, being ranked 13.
England vs Slovenia
The final game of England's group stage comes against Slovenia on June the 25th and is at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne, which is the home of FC Koln.
England have played Slovenia six times and have never lost; they have beaten them five times and drawn once.
Slovenia's FIFA world ranking is 63, which makes them the lowest-ranked side in England's group.
Who could England play if they qualify from the group stages?
If England manage to top their group and qualify from the round of 16, they could face either Austria/Romania/Turkey at AufShalke, Gelsenkirchen on June the 30th.
In the quarter-finals they could face Italy at the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf on 6th of July. And if they beat Italy in the quarter-finals then they would face France in the semi-finals on the 10th of July in the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund.
If England manage to overcome France in the semi-final then they would face Spain in the final at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on July the 14th.
This is all based on the UEFA world rankings so the teams that are predicted are the favourites to win their games.
If England were to finish second in their group then they would face Germany in the Round of 16 at the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund on the 29th of June.
If they were to beat Germany, then they would play Spain at the MHPArena in Stuttgart on the 5th of July.
The semi-final would then be against Netherlands at the Allianz Arena in Munich on the 9th of July and if they then manage to reach the final of the Euros then they would face France on July the 14th at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
This is also all based on the world rankings and predicted fixtures based on who has the higher world ranking in their fixtures.
How can you watch Euro 2024?
For the United Kingdom the two broadcasters that are being used are the usual two - ITV and the BBC.
The BBC will be showing England's first two matches of the tournament against Serbia and Denmark, with ITV showing the final group stage game against Slovenia.
The BBC also have the quarter-final game, while ITV have the round of 16 fixture and the semi-final, and they will both be showing the final.
What players are expected to make the England 2024 Euros squad?
Some players that will be guaranteed to be on the plane to Germany if they are fit are the likes of Harry Kane after his excellent first season at Bayern Munich, Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham after both standing out in their first seasons with their new clubs.
Harry Maguire and John Stone will both be guaranteed squad places as long as they are both fit after having seasons blighted with injuries.
Some players that could miss out on the Euros are players like Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish due to other players like Cole Palmer, Anthony Gordon and Jarrod Bowen having much better seasons than both - however they both have more experience at major tournaments.
There is also a tough selection for centre-backs for Gareth Southgate, with players like Jarrod Branthwaite, Ezri Konsa, Joe Gomez and Marc Guehi all having strong seasons for their clubs - but he won’t be able to take them all.
Summary of England’s Road to the Euros
England haven’t had the best results recently in friendlies after drawing with Belgium and losing to a very inexperienced Brazil team.
Despite a poor run of recent results, England are still one of the favourites to win the competition due to their exceptional squad depth.
It also helps that UEFA changed the number of players that you're allowed to have in the squad from 23 to 26 players.
Going into the tournament England are expected to get through the group stages comfortably, and they're among the favourites to win the whole tournament with their odds being 3/1, with France being second with odds of 10/3.
