It’s not been an ideal start for the Three Lions, but the final is on the horizon.
There was nothing spectacular or particularly triumphant about England’s group stage story, but the fact of the matter is that Southgate’s side topped Group C and have drawn Slovakia in the last 16.
Now that England are through to the knockout stages, we can feasibly look ahead at the route to the final and the key dates to mark in the calendar.
We certainly can’t take it for granted that England will overcome Slovakia with ease, as Francesco Calzona’s side shocked Belgium by beating them one nil last week.
Fans will be hoping Southgate might mix things up because the likes of Anthony Gordon, Kobbie Mainoo and Cole Palmer at least showed they can pass the ball forwards instead of sideways in their cameos during Tuesday’s mind-numbing draw with Slovenia.
Phil Foden had to return home to the UK yesterday in order to attend the birth of his third child, but Southgate has assured fans that he will be back in time for Sunday’s 5pm kick off in Gelsenkirchen.
If England are successful on Sunday, they’ll play again against the winners of Switzerland vs Italy in the quarter-final on Saturday 6th July.
That game will also start at 5pm so you might want to give your local pub a call in order to make sure you get a table with a perfect view of the TV screen.
The semi-final is scheduled for just a few days later on Wednesday 10th July at 8pm. That game will take place at the iconic Westfalenstadion in Dortmund and, if England can make it this far, they could be up against any one of Romania, Netherlands, Austria or Turkey.
Then, the big day comes on Sunday 14th July.
The Euro 2024 final will take place at Olympiastadion in Berlin on the evening of Sunday July 14.
Of course, the winners of both semi-finals will face-off to decide who will lift the Henri Delaunay Cup.
Some good news ahead of the Slovakia clash has come in the form of Luke Shaw being available to feature after a very lengthy period in the physio room.
Shaw is the only specialist left-back in Gareth Southgate’s squad and his absence has been keenly felt so far in the tournament, with Kieran Trippier, a natural right-back, having to play out of position to fill in for Shaw.
The Manchester United defender has been out injured since February 18, but before the start of Euro 2024, there had been hopes he could feature in the group stage.
Southgate has openly admitted from the moment he picked his squad that including Shaw was a “gamble” considering how long it is since he played competitive football.
The 28-year-old has been following a bespoke training programme at the Three Lions’ base in Blankenhain, working indoors on certain days, and great care has been taken to make sure he doesn’t suffer a reoccurrence of his injury.
In the aftermath of England’s dull draw against Slovenia, Southgate admitted he understood the criticism towards him but believes it is creating an “unusual environment” for he and his players.
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“I’m not going to back away from it. The most important thing is we stay with the team. I understand the narrative towards me,” he said.
“That’s better for the team than it being towards them but it is creating an unusual environment to operate in. I’ve not seen any other team qualify and receive similar.
“However they feel towards me, I get it, I’ve been around England for 20 years, I’ve seen it. My job is to guide the team through this and get the very best out of the team and keep this perspective for them. I’m very happy with how they’ve handled the last few days.”
