Euro 2024 day 17: England face Slovakia in bid for place in last eight

England are in Euro 2024 last-16 action against Slovakia on Sunday.

The two sides meet in Gelsenkirchen with a quarter-final place against Switzerland at stake.

Here, the PA news agency looks ahead to day 17 of the European Championships.

Changes likely for England

Gareth Southgate altered his midfield by bringing in Conor Gallagher for Trent Alexander-Arnold for the goalless draw against Slovenia, but after England again failed to live up to high expectations there looks set to be another change for the meeting with Slovakia.

Kobbie Mainoo, who made a positive difference to the team’s play when he came on for Gallagher at half-time in Cologne, is in line to play from the start.

Southgate though was not ready to make wholesale changes, saying: “You’ve got to be very careful not to throw everything out the window, lose things you’re doing well and lose continuity and the confidence that comes from players playing together and the understanding that comes with that.

“You have to ignore external advice and be assured in what you’re doing. Equally, we’ve had some players who have come in and had a big impact from the bench.”

Kane ready to fire

Harry Kane believes he will be at “peak sharpness” as he looks to continue his fine knockout goalscoring record for England at Euro 2024.

Captain Kane may be England’s all-time leading goalscorer but his strike in the draw with Denmark was his first in the group stage of a major finals since the 2018 World Cup.

However, he will be buoyed by his recent record once the business end of the tournament begins against Slovakia, having scored four in four at Euro 2020 as England were eventually beaten on penalties by Italy.

Kane said: “So we’ve had three games in a short space of time so I feel like not just for me, but a lot of players come into their peak sharpness at the knockout stage and that’s what I found in especially recent tournaments as well.”

Georgia seeking another upset

The 2-0 victory for Willy Sagnol’s Georgia over Portugal that saw them through the group stage was perhaps the biggest shock of Euro 2024 so far, as the tournament debutants upset great odds to set up Sunday’s meeting with Spain in Cologne.

Their opponents are no strangers to being stung at this stage of a major finals after Morocco beat the side managed by Luis Enrique on penalties in Qatar two years ago.

Spain boss Luis de la Fuente said: “We all have seen surprising things happen in football and I don’t think that will stop happening.

“Georgia beat Portugal, we have to respect them as opponents, work hard and take the game with the importance that it has so it doesn’t happen to us.”

Italy left to lick their wounds

In exiting the tournament with a lifeless 2-0 defeat to Switzerland in Berlin, Italy looked a pale impression of the side that lifted the Henri Delaunay Trophy at Wembley three years ago.

It took until deep into the second half for Luciano Spalletti’s lacklustre side to muster a credible effort at goal, Gianluca Scamacca hitting the post from barely three yards out, by which time Remo Freuler and Ruben Vargas had scored the goals that would dispatch the Euro 2020 champions.

The victory over England on penalties that clinched the last edition of the European Championship felt like another lifetime as Italy’s tournament ended with just a single shot on target against Switzerland, who reached the quarter-finals for just the second time.

Spalletti was eager to take the blame for the loss, saying: “The responsibility is always mine. There’s
no blame to everyone. I want to stress this. I want to thank the players for having brought me here.”

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Who’s up next?

England v Slovakia 5pm, ITV1
Spain v Georgia 8pm, ITV1