England can silence critics against Slovenia at Euro 2024 to finish group stage

COLOGNE, Germany (AP) — England will face Slovenia in its final Group C match at the European Championship on Tuesday. Gareth Southgate’s team was mired in negativity after a lackluster 1-1 draw with Denmark, but England remains top of the group and has already qualified for the knockout stages. Kick-off is at 9 p.m. local time (1900 GMT) in Cologne. Here’s what you need to know about the match:

Match Facts

— England’s 1-1 draw with Denmark has drawn much criticism of the team, despite topping Group C. England qualified for the second round on Monday when Spain eliminated Albania 1-0. That allowed England to progress, at the very least, as one of the best third-placed teams.

— England beat Serbia 1-0 in their opening match.

— Winning the group would mean England would face one of the best third-placed teams from Groups D, E or F.

— Slovenia, with two points, goes into the match knowing that it can finish first or last in the group, depending on the results.

— Slovenia drew with Denmark and Serbia.

Team News

— Southgate said Luke Shaw was still unavailable after missing the end of the season with a hamstring injury.

— Southgate could decide to make a change in midfield after experimenting with defender Trent Alexander-Arnold in a defensive role. Conor Gallagher could instead partner Declan Rice.

— Slovenia coach Matjaz Kek was asked about the availability of striker Benjamin Sesko and said some of his players had undergone specialist individual training.

In numbers

— Harry Kane scored England’s record 64th goal in the match against Denmark.

— Slovenia is only participating in its second Euro and is still waiting for its first victory.

What they say

— “We are very motivated. We haven’t played the way we want to yet and we have the opportunity to finish top of the group. That could be very important.” — Gareth Southgate, England manager.

— “When you play against teams like Slovenia, you know what to expect. They’re going to come and play us, they’re going to want to win the game, they’re going to want to surprise the world.” — England midfielder Declan Rice.

— “England may not have shown everything they are capable of in this Euro yet. This could give them an extra boost. We are expecting a very disciplined opponent with excellent individual players. We will have to play at our best, maybe even surpass ourselves, to get a positive result.” — Slovenian midfielder Gorenc Stankovic.

— “We are still masters of our destiny, with all due respect to England, who are an exceptional team. This will be the biggest challenge for this generation of players. But I am sure it will not be the last. We calmed our nerves after Serbia, we analysed the positives and negatives of this match. We are ready.” — Matjaz Kek, Slovenia coach.

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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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Euro 2024: https://apnews.com/hub/euro-2024

James Robson, Associated Press