Euro 2024: England's Potential Path To The Final

Having been close in the last several international competitions, England is aiming for Euro 2024 glory this summer. But what may be their possible path to the final?

With their roster quality, the Three Lions enter Euro 2024 as one of the tournament favorites after narrow misses in World Cups 2018 and 2022 as well as Euro 2020.

The group stages' opponents for Gareth Southgate's team are already known to be Denmark, Serbia, and Slovenia; the remaining matches, should they make it to the knockout rounds, are still unknown. Though they should be able to move out of Group C really easily, things get a bit trickier after that.

English Group C matches

16 June, 8 p.m. BST, versus Serbia – England will visit Gelsenkirchen for their first Euro 2024 match, the location of their historic 2006 World Cup penalty shootout defeat to Portugal. When they launch their campaign in 2024, they want to put that ghost to rest, but Serbia will provide a difficult test. Only once before—a 2-1 defeat in 2003—have the 33rd-ranked Serbians met England. They placed second in Group G of the qualifying round. England must win this game if they are to win Group C, since their following match seems to be their most difficult.

20 June, 5 p.m. BST vs. Denmark: This is the match in Group C that will most likely worry Gareth Southgate the most. The Danish team was able to overcome their defeat in the Euro 2020 semi-final against England, winning Group H to get to the 2024 final. Currently ranked 21 in the world, they pose the greatest threat to England's prospects of winning Group C this summer.

Vs. Slovenia (June 25, 8 p.m. BST) This is the simplest game in the group for England on paper, and they should welcome it as their last one. Over the years, the two countries have played six matches, with England winning five of them. England has had a comparatively easy time of it when playing Slovenia over the years, something they hope will continue in Germany, despite the one draw between the two in the 2018 World Cup qualification.

Should England win Group C

The best third-place finisher from Group D, E or F will play England in the round of 16 if they win Group C, as many predict they will. Though Romania and the Czech Republic are more likely to hold those spots in Group E or F, respectively, Austria is the most probable team to finish third in Group D.

The Three Lions will play the Group A or B runner-up if they make it to the quarter final. While Italy is the most probable country to finish second in Group B, a possible repeat from the Euro 2020 final, Hungary or Switzerland are both 5/1 to finish second in Group A.

Another difficult challenge would await England in a semi-final appearance. The prospective opponents for Gareth Southgate's team are the Group D winner (France is the current frontrunner to win that group) or the Group E winner, who is most probably Belgium. They might potentially play the Group F runners-up, maybe Turkey, or the third-placed team from Groups A, B, C, or D (Switzerland, Croatia, Serbia, or Austria, in that order).

England could face any team in the final.

Should England emerge as group C runner-up

Had England slipped up and finished in second place, their path to the championship game would have been quite different. They would play the Group A victor, maybe Germany or even Scotland.

After then, it becomes no simpler to reach to the final as the Group B winner or the third-placed team in Groups A, D, E, or F. One of Spain, Italy, or Croatia should win Group B, while Switzerland, Austria, Romania, or the Czech Republic is probably going to take third.

The winner of Group F (maybe Portugal), runner-up of Group D (the Netherlands are the most probable), runner-up of Group E (the favorite is Ukraine), or third-placed team from Group A, B, or C (Switzerland, Croatia, or Serbia, respectively) would be the Three Lions semi-final opponents.

This path to the final is undoubtedly difficult and one that England would be well to steer clear of.

If England finish third in Group C

Gareth Southgate's squad could yet be able to qualify as one of the best positioned third placed teams after a dismal group round. Things get a bit messy there as well.

Should England come third and go to the Round of 16, there are two possible paths. They will either play the Group F winner—Portugal is the favourite—or the Group E winner—Belgium is seen to be the most probable.

Things then split out even further for the quarter-final stage. England will play the Winner of Group D (France should be the obvious winners of Group D) or the Runner Up of Group F (Turkey appear best positioned) if they defeat Portugal, who would replace the Runner Up of Group D (Netherlands) or Group E (Ukraine).

Again, if England gets to that stage, there are many possibilities in the semi-final. They would play against the Group A Winner (let's assume that is Germany), the Group B Winner (Spain looks most probable), the Group C Runner Up (Denmark or Serbia) or the Third Placed team in Group A, D, E or F if they followed the same path that saw them defeat Portugal in the Round of 16. The most probable results from such situation are Switzerland, Austria, Romania, or the Czech Republic.

Still not nearly done there! There are alternative scenarios in the semi-final if England defeats the Group E winner in the Round of 16. The Group C victor (probably Denmark), the Group A runner-up (one of Switzerland, Scotland or Hungary), or the third-placed team from Group D, E or F are all waiting. The betting favorites for such situations are Austria, Romania, or the Czech Republic.