England enter Euro 2024 as one of the strong favourites to go all the way and be crowned European champions for the first time in their history.
The Three Lions looked invincible during their qualification campaign, managing to be one of the few teams to go unbeaten in the UEFA Euro Qualifiers, although they did have a dip in their performance during their recent friendlies.
Gareth Southgate’s team, which is armed with both experience and youth, are tipped as one of the favourites to win the tournament, but seven games stand in the way of them and glory, and their potential opponents in the knockout stages are quite daunting no matter what route the end up on.
England’s path to the final could see them face Austria, Italy and France in the knockout stages before a potential final meeting with Spain, Portugal or Germany – and that’s even if all goes to plan in Group C
Here are all the potential pathways Southgate and his England squad could take en route to the 2024 Euro Final.
England will get their 2024 Euro campaign up and running on Sunday, June 16 in Group C
Gareth Southgate’s side will be hoping they can bring the men’s European title back to England for the first time in history
Southgate’s side are one of the favourites of the tournament to lift the trophy given their strength in depth, particularly in attack
Group Stage Games
Before talking about who they could face, lets look at who they are guaranteed to play in Germany this summer.
England were drawn into Group C alongside Denmark, Slovenia and Serbia.
Opening group game
England’s opening game on Sunday, June 16 will see them go up against Serbia at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen.
It will be Gelsenkirchen’s first game to host at Euro 2024. The opening game of Group C should be a fantastic spectacle as very little separates the two country’s when looking at their head to heads.
Serbia have managed four wins, whilst England have registered six, with five ending as a draw.
In terms of goals, the two sides have a history of finding the net against one another with Serbia scoring 21 goals and England slotting home 25 goals in 15 games.
England’s first Euro 2024 group game will be against Serbia on Sunday, June 16
Second group game
Next up for England after Serbia in Group C will be Denmark on Thursday, June 20.
Although stats never tell the full tale, England fans will be quietly confident they can get the job done against Denmark considering England have won 15 times, drew five and only loss five against the Scandinavian side.
They were however handed a scare against Denmark in the semi-finals of Euro 2020, although England eventually came through 2-1 in extra-time.
Third group game
England’s third and final group game will take place on Tuesday, June 25. Southgate’s men will face 52nd-ranked in the world Slovenia at Cologne’ RhenEnergieStadion at 8pm.
The two sides have only gone up against one another six times in both their country’s history’s.
Out of those six games, Slovenia have failed to win against the Three Lions, managing to lose to them on five out of the six occasions and earning just the one draw.
England led by tallies man Harry Kane will then go up against Denmark in their second Group C match-day
Slovenia will be England’s third and final group game and are the opponent England are least familiar with out of the three teams they are guaranteed to play
If England win Group C
Round of 16 opponents
If England top their group like many have projected them to they will face the best third place finisher from either Group D, E or F in the Round of 16.
Based on the current betting odds and expert knowledge, Austria are poised to clinch third in Group D, Romania is likely to claim the spot in Group E whilst the Czech Republic are poised to take third in Group F.
Quarter-Finals
If England beat their Round of 16 opponents and advance to the quarter-final stage, they will either face the runner up of Group A or B.
At the minute both Switzerland and Hungary are tied with the bookmakers for finishing second in Group A, whilst Italy are favoured to be Group B runners-up.
As such, that could mean a mouth-watering repeat of the 2020 Euro final between England and Italy is on the cards in the last-eight.
If England manage to top Group C, there is a high likely hood that they will meet their 2020 Euro Final opponents Italy in the quarter-final
England however ended up losing the 2020 Euro final on penalties to Italy after a 1-1 draw at the end of extra-time
Semi-Finals
If England end up walking this path to the 2024 Euro final, the semi-finals is where the competition heats up and England may face one of the world’s truly elite teams.
This pathway will see England likely paired with either of predicted Group E winners Belgium or Group D winners France for the semi-finals.
There is a possibility depending on previous results that they could face Turkey, Switzerland, Croatia, Serbia or Austria respectively.
Meaning a final showdown between hosts Germany or Spain may be on the cards for England this year, if everything goes to plan.
Perhaps the toughest game possible, England would take on France and Kylian Mbappe in the last-four
If England finish as runners-up in Group C
Round of 16
Not what many fans will be hoping and expecting to see this summer but a slip up in the group stage could see one of the tournament favourites not top their group.
Resulting in them having to take a much rockier path than wanted. If they finish second in Group C they will be matched up against the winners of Group A.
Host’s Germany are tipped to top Group A, which would make the tie a thrilling watch for supporters.
Scotland could also be a potential round of 16 opponent, if they manage to cause an upset in Group A.
If England don’t top Group C and are runners up instead, there is a strong possibility that they will face hosts Germany in the Round of 16
Quarter-Finals
If England manage to win their round of 16 tie in this scenario, their route to the final doesn’t become an easier.
A date with either the winner of group B or the third best placed team from Group A,D,E or F will await the Three Lions.
Group B is one of the stronger groups at this year’s Euros, as it could be won by any one of Spain, Italy or Croatia. Whilst the third placed teams could be Switzerland, Austria, Romania or Czech Republic.
Semi-Finals
If they advance past the quarter-finals, England’s opponents will either be the winners of Group F (Portugal are favourite), or the runners up of either Group D (most likely the Netherlands) or Group E (which is predicted to be Ukraine).
If England finish third in Group C
A disastrous scenario for Gareth Southgate’s men could see the Three Lions finish third in their group.
However all would not be lost as they could still manage to qualify for the knockout stages as one of the best placed third placed teams and if you think the previous two routes were messy, you are not prepared for this one.
Round of 16
If England qualify as one of the best third place teams there are two potential round of 6 routes they could take.
They will either go up against the winners of Group F (Portugal are favourite) or the winners of Group D, where Belgium are backed by the bookmakers.
If England don’t show up in the group stage and only manager a third place group finish, it is likely they will face either Belgium or Portugal in the Round of 16
Quarter-finals
This is where it gets a bit hazy…
If England beat the Group A winners, lets say it is Portugal they will go up against the runners-up of Group D (Netherlands) or Group E (Ukraine) in the quarter-finals.
However if they beat Belgium, there quarter-final fixture will be between themselves and either the winner of Group D (France) or the runner up of Group F (likely to be Turkey).
Semi-finals
The possibilities of paths extends further if England manage to progress past the quarter-final stage.
If they overcome Portugal in the above scenario they will face either the winner of Group A (Germany is most likely), the winners of Group B (Spain are favourites), the runners-up of Group C (Likely to be Denmark or Serbia) or the third placed team in Group A, D, E or F. Switzerland, Austria, Romania and Czech Republic are most likely to be in contention for that spot.
The other scenario which sees them beat Belgium in the quarter-finals would mean a semi-final showdown between with any of the following teams.
Southgate’s side face a tricky run to the final regardless of whether they win Group C
The teams they could most likely face in this scenario are the winners of Group C (likely to be Denmark), the runner-up of Group A (could be Switzerland, Scotland or Hungary) or the third placed team from Group D, E or F await.
Those teams are most likely to be Austria, Romania or Czech Republic.
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