England are taking on Serbia as their bid to win Euro 2024 begins in Gelsenkirchen tonight, ahead of further fixtures against Denmark and Slovenia.
Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions come into the tournament as one of the favourites to lift the trophy in a month’s time, and the manager has a raft of attacking talent to choose from after Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer all produced stellar seasons for their clubs.
But they face a potentially tricky test at the start of Group C against a Serbian side with plenty of talent in their ranks, like Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic, Al Hilal duo Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Aleksandar Mitrovic, and Fenerbahce’s No10, Dusan Tadic. Follow all the teams news, goals and latest updates from England vs Serbia below.
John Stones ready to guide England to Euro 2024 glory after setbacks, surprises and near-misses
It has been a cruel few weeks for the senior players who have been the stalwarts of Gareth Southgate’s reign. They have been dropped and demoted, their feelings hurt sometimes while bodies have given way. John Stones had been a survivor of the Southgate cull, but there was a moment when it seemed he, too, would miss Euro 2024.
It came minutes into England’s final friendly against Iceland. A stricken Stones went down under a challenge from Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson. “I knew it wasn’t my knee or my ankle, because of the mechanism in how I landed, it was almost like my big toe in the line straight down my foot and you think ‘I have fractured it’,” he recalled.
The curse of the metatarsal has hit England in the past, broken feet, or bones in feet, a factor in summer disappointments. It looked as though 2024 could be a throwback to 2002 or 2006. If Stones’ importance has risen amid the injury problems of Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire, it looked as though Southgate could lose his only centre-back with World Cup or European Championship experience.
Jack Rathborn16 June 2024 09:30
Gareth Southgate responds to Wayne Rooney criticism over ‘special’ Trent Alexander-Arnold role
The England boss also detailed how he is still to decide on Luke Shaw’s fitness for Sunday’s Euro 2024 opener against Serbia.
Southgate came close to confirming Alexander-Arnold will start in midfield by enthusing about his ability there, in response to questions about Wayne Rooney’s criticism that he wouldn’t give the Liverpool star a central role.
“Everybody’s more than entitled to opinions, so that’s our world, we have to accept that,” Southgate said. “Then we have to go and show what we can do. I’m really happy. I spoke to Trent about playing in this role over a year ago. It’s something he’s been really keen to do.
Jack Rathborn16 June 2024 09:15
Harry Kane reveals impact of trophy drought on England’s Euro 2024 chances
The England captain scored 44 goals in 45 appearances in his debut season for Bayern, earning the European Golden Shoe for finding the net 36 times in the Bundesliga.
And he feels he has got more respect now as a player who has flourished at one of the biggest clubs around, rather than just as the local boy who scored for Tottenham.
He explained: “I’d say from an outside point of view, I’m probably respected more as one of the top strikers in the world.
Jack Rathborn16 June 2024 09:00
Serbia vs England – Euro 2024 LIVE
Hello and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of Euro 2024 and the build-up towards England’s first group game at the tournament – against Serbia, kicking off at 8pm BST.
Gareth Southgate’s bold squad selection has plenty excited that this attack-minded side could come together to go a step further than last time, when England reached the final but were beaten by Italy. Will it be different this time around?
It all starts with this first clash on the third day of action in Germany.
Karl Matchett14 June 2024 23:14