England top Group C despite goalless draw with Slovenia

England stuttered to a disappointing 0-0 draw with Slovenia in Cologne but it was still enough to win Group C at Euro 2024.

Bukayo Saka had a goal disallowed for an offside against Phil Foden but, in terms of attempts that would count, England did not register a shot until the 30th minute. Harry Kane came closest to scoring but could not connect cleanly with Kieran Trippier’s cross.

Gareth Southgate made only one change to the side that struggled for fluency in the draw against Denmark, introducing Conor Gallagher for Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield as anticipated, but the Chelsea man was unable to make any positive impact.

He was replaced by Kobbie Mainoo for the second half and the youngster sparked an improved performance but England’s pressure could not be converted into chances let alone goals. There was a lack of movement and a lot of loose touches.

Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon did get a taste of tournament action but the goal never came. Denmark’s failure to defeat Serbia means that England still top Group C, while Slovenia secured the point that they needed to progress as one of the best third-placed teams.

Trending

England can count themselves fortunate to have dodged what appears to be the more difficult half of the draw in the knockout stages, avoiding teams such as Germany, Spain, Portugal and France. But that will be moot unless this team can show a lot more than this.

Stones: A lot of improvement

“I think we all wanted to win,” John Stones told ITV.

“But the objective was to top the group and we have done that so I am extremely pleased. It is not always going to be an easy road and it is not going to be easy when everyone has got a target on our backs to beat us.

“Two clean sheets out of three is a great positive for us to take into the next stage and I thought there was a lot of improvement from the previous two games.

“We tried to be more free-flowing and I thought we did that, found people in the pockets, created more chances and I believe it is another step in the right direction.

“I understand some of the fans’ frustration with us not scoring, not taking our chances. That’s football. We left everything out there and it is never an easy game.”

Stats: Story of the match

Group C final results…