England will face Slovakia in the Round of 16 of the UEFA European Football Championship currently taking place in Germany, continuing until July 14th.
Manager Gareth Southgate’s talent-rich squad arrived in Germany as one of the favorites to win the tournament. However, optimism for the 2020 Euro runners-up has waned during the group stage, as England has yet to settle on their best lineup, with the manager admitting the failure of what he described as an “experiment” in their starting eleven at the beginning of the tournament.
During the group stage, England allowed the fewest goal-scoring opportunities based on the expected goals metric.
Southgate is hoping for a better performance from Jude Bellingham, who was excellent in the first half of the 1-0 victory over Serbia but did not meet expectations in the other two matches.
On the other hand, Slovakia started their campaign with a surprising 1-0 win over Belgium, who are ranked third by FIFA, outplaying a team 42 places above them in the rankings.
Match Details and Broadcast Information
The match will take place today, Sunday, June 30th, at Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, officiated by Turkish referee Halil Umut Meler.
Kick-off is at 19:00 Mecca and Cairo time.
Qatari network beIN Sports holds the broadcasting rights for Euro 2024 and will air the match on the following channels:
- beIN Sports HD 1 Max
- beIN Sports HD 2 Max
- beIN Sports HD 3 Max
- beIN Sports HD 4 Max
- History Favors England
Historically, England has never lost to Slovakia, securing 5 wins and drawing once without goals during the group stage of Euro 2016.
Slovakia performed strongly in the Euro qualifiers, winning 7 and drawing once in 10 matches. England won 6 and drew 2 in a 5-team group.
The winner of this match will face Switzerland in the quarter-finals following Switzerland’s victory over Italy.
Probable England Line-up
- Jordan Pickford
- Kyle Walker
- Marc Guehi
- John Stones
- Kieran Trippier
- Declan Rice
- Anthony Gordon
- Jude Bellingham
- Bukayo Saka
- Harry Kane (captain)
Probable Slovakia Line-up
- Martin Dubravka
- Peter Pekarik
- Denis Vavro
- Milan Skriniar (captain)
- David Hancko
- Juraj Kucka
- Stanislav Lobotka
- Ondrej Duda
- Ivan Schranz
- Lukas Haraslin
- David Strelec
