1 year ago
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COLOGNE, Germany (AP):
ENGLAND ADVANCED to the knockout stage of Euro 2024 as group winners after a 0-0 draw against Slovenia yesterday.
The result at Cologne Stadium also saw Slovenia reach the round of 16 for the first time as Croatia were eliminated.
England had already been assured of advancing but doing so as Group C winners means they will play one of the qualifying third-place teams in the round of 16 and are on the opposite side of the draw to Spain, France, Germany and Portugal.
“That was the aim before the start of the tournament. Come top of the group and control our destiny,” England captain Harry Kane said.
“I thought we played a lot better than the other two games. We just couldn’t find that final finish. We look forward to the next one.”
In a game of few chances, England substitute Cole Palmer could have sealed the win in stoppage time, but his shot was saved by Slovenia goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
It was another unconvincing performance from a team that went into the tournament as one of the favourites to be crowned European champions.
Gareth Southgate and his players have faced heavy criticism despite having already advanced before the final group game.
Their performance against Denmark was so uninspired that former captain and now BBC presenter Gary Lineker used an expletive to describe it in a brutal assessment.
Again, England looked short of ideas and could have gone behind early on when Benjamin Sesko had a free header from inside the box. His effort lacked power and direction and was easily collected by keeper Jordan Pickford.
Bukayo Saka had a first-half goal ruled out for offside and Palmer came close late on, but England rarely looked like finding a winner.
England were beaten finalists at the last Euros when they lost a penalty shootout to Italy and have not won a major tournament since their only triumph – the World Cup in 1966.
This was Slovenia’s first appearance at a Euros for 24 years and only the second time they had qualified for the tournament.
A masked Kylian Mbappé scored his first goal of the Euros, but France drew 1-1 with Poland to finish runners-up in Group D behind Austria, who beat the Netherlands 3-2.
Mbappé wore a protective mask after breaking his nose in France’s opening game against Austria and scored from the penalty spot. But Robert Lewandowski’s twice-taken spot kick gave already eliminated Poland their first point of the tournament.
Yesterday’s Results
France 1-1 Poland
Netherlands 2-3 Austria
Denmark 0-0 Serbia
England 0-0 Slovenia
English (US) ·