England handed favourable Euro 2024 group as Scotland face Germany in opener

02 December 2023 , 17:49

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England have been drawn alongside Denmark, Slovenia and Serbia in Group C for next summer's Euro 2024.

It is a lucky break for the Three Lions to end up in Group C, with the country that finishes top not facing another group winner until the semi-finals. Their first game will come against Serbia on 16 June in Gelsenkirchen, where they lost to Portugal in the quarter-finals of the 2006 World Cup.

Gareth Southgate's side will then play in Frankfurt on 20 against Denmark before completing their group stage campaign against Slovenia in Cologne on 25 June. They faced the Danes in the semi-finals of Euro 2020, winning 2-1 in extra-time.

The Three Lions have faced Slovenia five times, winning all but one of those games, with their last meeting coming qualifying for the 2018 World Cup. Scotland meanwhile have been handed the challenge of facing Germany in the opening game of the tournament, with Hungary and Switzerland the other teams in Group A.

England enjoyed a brilliant start to qualifying, defeating main group rivals Italy and Ukraine in their first two games. Dominant wins over Malta and North Macedonia followed, before a dismal draw with Ukraine in September.

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They got their campaign back on track with a comfortable 3-1 win over Italy at Wembley, before finishing with disappointing performances against Malta and North Macedonia. Southgate's side didn't lose a game though and finished top of Group C, six points ahead of Italy, leaving the boss delighted.

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Gareth Southgate will be delighted with England's group for Euro 2024 (Marvin Ibo Guengoer - GES Sportfoto/Getty Images)

“I think the really big results were in March winning in Italy and the result against Ukraine so it meant coming here tonight was a completely different test. Given that we had already qualified and everything we achieved, I thought the mentality of the players tonight was excellent and the quality with the ball was good on a very difficult pitch," he said after the draw with North Macedonia.

“It was probably just that finish, that final pass which was difficult to find against their defence but I thought lots of positives to take from these performances. We’ve now got the next exciting bit with the draw at the beginning of December so we will see exactly what the path looks like.

“There are lots of players to keep track of, because in this batch of games, Trent [Alexander-Arnold] has again done an excellent job in midfield, has used the ball really well and has done really well. With Rico coming in, Cole Palmer coming in, there is lots for me to think about.

“He [Lewis] was excellent, his composure with the ball, the fact that he did respond as he did to the setback which was really, really harsh. He is a super footballer and he was excellent, I thought. We are really pleased with him."