England can still potentially face five teams in the Round of 16
An AI predictor has identified England’s most likely last 16 opponent, with the prospect of facing one of five different teams.
Despite a lacklustre 0-0 draw against Slovenia last night in which the Three Lions were heavily criticised, they still topped the group.
Thankfully due to Denmark’s 0-0 draw versus Serbia, it meant that 5 points was more than enough.
This leaves a more favourable potential route to the final, should England get there.
The likes of Euro giants France, Portugal, Spain and Germany have all been allocated into the other half of the draw, meaning that England wouldn’t face one of these teams until the final.
Now a fresh report from BBC Sport shows who the Three Lions are most likely to draw, with a 61% chance of it being the Netherlands.
The Netherlands remarkably finished 3rd in Group D, following a disappointing 3-2 defeat to eventual group winners Austria.
Unless Czechia beat Turkey or Georgia are victorious over Portugal, Gareth Southgate’s men will face Ronald Koeman’s Dutch outfit.
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Who if not the Netherlands?
If one of the above results occurs in Group F, then there are four other potential nations that Three Lions are most likely to face.
The second most likely is Slovakia, in which there is a 16% chance of England playing against them.
It boils down to playing one of the third placed sides from Group D, E or F and Slovakia currently sit third in Group E.
Slovakia play Romania today at 5pm.
The third most likely side is Ukraine, in which there is an 11% chance of a match-up.
The Three Lions will be familiar with their opponent here having faced them in the Euro 2020 quarter-final, a game in which Gareth Southgate’s side lethally dispatched them 4-0. That’s double the amount of goals scored in 3 games against Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia this time around.
Coming in at fourth is Romania at 8%, who currently sit top of Group E and famously beat England at Euro 2000, one of their two European Championship victories.
They opened their Euro 2024 campaign empathically beating Ukraine 3-0, but subsequently fell to a 2-0 defeat at the expense of Belgium in the second game.
Lastly is Belgium at 4%, an opponent England definitely don’t want to face.
Despite currently being second in Group E, they remain favourites to win the group and play Ukraine later today.
It’s going to be a fascinating evening of football, with all four teams in Group E sitting on three points each.
