England will look to consolidate their top position in a straightforward-looking Group C of the 2024 UEFA European Championship. Here is a preview.
Matchday 3 of Euro 2024 sees England taking on Slovenia, hoping to have all but secured qualification to the Round of 16. Indeed, the Three Lions will be expected to go into this game looking for a result that ensures they win the group rather than still fighting to qualify.
England is the third-best national team in the world according to FIFA while Slovenia is 52 places below to show the gulf in class expected between both sides. Their head-to-head record says as much with England winning five of their six previous meetings with Slovenia.
Gareth Southgate’s men started their Euro 2024 qualifiers with a 2-1 victory over Italy that was notable for Harry Kane’s record-breaking goal. They then pushed on with three wins and no goal conceded until a 1-1 draw against Ukraine in September.
Friendly wins against Scotland and Australia followed this before they resumed the qualifiers with a 3-1 win against the Italians, confirming their place at Euro 2024. Four points followed in the final two matches to accentuate their grip on first position.
The Three Lions have never won the European Championship but the goal in Germany is to go one better than their runners-up place in 2020. Having tasted disappointment in the quarter-final elimination to reigning world champions France during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, their desire to succeed is only heightened at this tournament.
They should have secured results against Serbia and Denmark in the first two matches and the Slovenia game is a chance to close the group stage on a high.
Slovenia have been desperate to return to competing in a major tournament, as this is the first time they have qualified for the Euro finals in 24 years. The team finished their qualifying series in second place behind Denmark with a record tally of 22 points from 10 games, making it the first time they directly qualified for a major tournament without going through a play-off.
This is only their fourth time at a major international tournament after last doing so at the 2010 World Cup. Slovenia has never gone beyond the group stage, and they will see this tough group as a chance to cause a significant stir among some top-rated teams.
Matjaz Kek’s side began their Euro 2024 qualification campaign with wins against Kazakhstan and San Marino in March 2023. Still, a 2-0 defeat to Finland and a 1-1 draw at home to Denmark showed the amount of work they had to put into staying within an automatic qualification spot.
Thereafter, Slovenia hit a four-game winning run that helped propel them to a commanding position in the group. A defeat at Denmark meant they had to wait until the final matchday to confirm their advancement in a crunch home game against Kazakhstan.
Benjamin Verbic grabbed the decisive late goal in a 2-1 win witnessed by 16,432 spectators, a record home attendance for the Slovenia national team.
Although they begin their Euro 2024 campaign against familiar opponents, Denmark and Serbia will also be formidable opponents. Still, they must get results from those two matches to harbor any sensational hopes of being in with a chance when they meet group favorites England.
They can best hope to hold the Three Lions to a draw and spoil any plans to advance to the knockout stage unscathed.
The Slovenians could only draw once from their six games against England, scoring four times but conceding ten goals; this is a challenging task.
Although they are firm underdogs against these famous Premier League stars, Kek will be urging his team to leave a lasting impression on their opponents.
Match tickets
This match takes place on Tuesday, 25 June 2024 with kick-off set for 7 PM UK time. Fans can register their interest in match tickets through a public application window on the UEFA website, with applications going over 20 million copies so far.
This means that the Cologne Stadium is likely to be sold out to its 47,000 capacity as Slovenia fans pour in to see their compatriots against famous England players, while the Three Lions faithful would also be there to roar their team to victory.
Supporters who are looking to get England vs Slovenia tickets are unlikely to find any through official sources so it is pertinent that they make their search on a ticket resale site.
Team news
Nick Pope, Dean Henderson and Tyrone Mings are long-term absentees with the latter ultimately ruled out of Euro 2024 with a severe knee injury. Reece James, Ben Chilwell and Mason Mount also carry injuries but could be fit for the Euros.
Meanwhile, Tammy Abraham is on the mend after suffering an ACL injury at the tail-end of last season. There are also question marks over Ivan Toney who is scheduled to return from an eight-month ban for illegal betting in January.
Jaka Bijol, Mija Zajc, David Brekalo and Vanja Drkusic are all sidelined with various injuries at the time of writing. However, it will take season-ending setbacks to rule them out of this summer’s tournament for Slovenia.
Line-ups
England may be rotating their team for this one in the third match of the group stage so a few players who haven’t seen many match minutes could be brought in.
This may mean a start for Trent Alexander-Arnold in the same inverted midfield role he plays for Liverpool. The 25-year-old will look to bring his passing range and set-piece ability to the fore in a bid to unlock the Slovenia defence.
England: Pickford; Walker, Guehi, Maguire, Shaw; Rice, Gallagher, Alexander-Arnold; Foden, Watkins, Grealish
RB Leipzig’s Sesko has been one of the key players for Slovenia with five goals and two assists in nine appearances during the qualifiers. The 20-year-old is his nation’s bright hope and they will do well to build the attacking play around him.
Slovenia: Oblak; Karnicnik, Blazic, Bijol, Janza; Stojanovic, Cerin, Elsnik, Mlakar; Sporar,
Sesko
Prediction
England has become masters at bringing out the attacking impetus when faced with lower-ranked teams, as they possess the quality to unlock any tight defenses. Yet, Slovenia will try to make this as difficult for them as possible
The first goal is key; should England score early then it might turn out to be a long evening for Slovenia.
England 3-1 Slovenia
