When is it? How can you watch it? What are the possible line-ups?
England and Slovakia meet in the Round Of 16 match at UEFA EURO 2024.
England and Slovakia at a glance
When: Monday 01 July (00:00 GMT+8 kick-off)
Where: Arena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen
What: UEFA EURO 2024 Round Of 16
What do you need to know?
They may not have played at their very best level, but England still comfortably topped Group C, remaining unbeaten against Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia. Coach Gareth Southgate seems to be working out how to best combine the immensely talented group of players he has at his disposal, and defender Kieran Trippier insisted better is to come, saying: “We can be more aggressive on the press and create so many more chances, especially when you see the quality in our side.” The Three Lions beat Germany at this stage at EURO 2020, and will be confident of making it to a fourth consecutive major international quarter-final.
Standing in England’s way are Slovakia, who have already upset a leading nation with a shock 1-0 win over Belgium in Group E. A tense draw against Romania on Matchday 3 sealed their progress, and Francesco Calzona’s side are now dreaming of a first last-eight spot at a major tournament since the country became independent in 1993. “I believe we will once again delight our supporters with our fighting spirit,” vowed defender Peter Pekarík, with Slovakia eyeing what would be a famous victory.
Possible line-ups
England: Pickford; Walker, Stones, Guéhi, Trippier; Mainoo, Rice; Saka, Bellingham, Gordon; Kane
Suspended: none
Misses next match if booked: Foden, Gallagher, Guéhi, Trippier
Slovakia: Dúbravka; Pekarík, Vavro, Škriniar, Hancko; Kucka, Lobotka, Duda; Schranz, Boženík, Haraslín
Suspended: none
Misses next match if booked: Duda, Schranz
Form guide
England:
Form (all competitions, most recent first): DDWLWD
Slovakia:
Form (all competitions, most recent first): DLWWWD
Expert predictions
Joe Terry, England reporter
England are still waiting for their attack to function in harmony, but it’s comforting that the defence looks so hard to breach heading into the knockout rounds, where results trump performances. Kobbie Mainoo is set to start in midfield after his promising display against Slovenia, while it’s unclear if Phil Foden will be ready after missing a couple of days for the birth of his child. Anthony Gordon, arguably Foden’s natural replacement, offers the directness that England need.
Rastislav Hribik, Slovakia reporter
Slovakia achieved their primary goal by reaching the last 16, but their appetite is growing and, after beating Belgium, they are daring to dream of upsetting England. The reason for their optimism? They have only been behind for a few minutes at the tournament so far, they managed to score in all three group games and, apart from Dávid Hancko’s minor muscle issue, their first-choice XI is fully fit. Moreover, several players have been hoping to face England again after the teams’ last EURO meeting in 2016, which ended goalless.
Slovakia have nothing to lose against one of the favourites for EURO 2024. However, this in no way means that Calzona’s men don’t believe in themselves before the match. On the contrary, several of them wanted England as last-16 opponents and are counting on teamwork and a bit of luck to stop England’s stars. It was a strange feeling for Slovakian journalists in Germany too – to see how much confidence the players from this small country have before a game against such a strong opponent. Together with humility. I liked it.
Views from the camps
Gareth Southgate, England coach: “[Slovakia] press high, they’re aggressive in their defending, and you’ve got to find a way of breaking through that press, so it’s going to be the toughest possible test. This is the truly exciting part [of the tournament]; it’s the bit that nobody can predict, and we need to find our next level, which we believe we can. We’ve not come here just to get out of the group. We’ve come here to try and win the tournament, and we need to play at the level that is high enough to beat a very, very strong opponent.”
Francesco Calzona, Slovakia coach: “This team has always dictated the pace of the game since my arrival. We have never let our opponents have the initiative. When they did, it was for short periods of time. It’s hard to say where we can get to and where our limits are. Of course, England are one of the favourites for the tournament. It won’t be easy, but we will do our best to do well and wish to make the fans happy again.”