England to face Slovakia in first knockout stage at Euro 2024

PA Wire

England will play Slovakia in the Euro 2024 last 16 on Sunday.

Gareth Southgate’s side topped Group C despite recording underwhelming draws against Denmark and Slovenia after winning their opener against Serbia.

That 1-0 triumph came in Gelsenkirchen, where the Euro 2020 runners-up will return this weekend to take on Francesco Calzona’s side.

Slovakia finished among the four best third-placed sides and were confirmed as England’s opponents upon the conclusion of the group stage on Wednesday night.

Idris Elba and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer meet families of knife crime victims at the Lyric Theatre in Hammersmith, London (Stefan Rousseau/PA) (PA Wire)

Calzona’s team finished on four points in Group E, where a 1-0 win against Belgium and 2-1 defeat to Ukraine was followed by Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Romania.

Slovakia are 45th in the FIFA world rankings – 40 spots below England.

England won 2-1 at Wembley in the last meeting between the sides in September 2017 during qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.

The reverse fixture, in September 2016, was a 1-0 England victory in Sam Allardyce’s only game in charge of the national team.