England ground out a 0-0 draw with Slovenia to claim top spot in Group C and avoid a last-16 meeting with hosts Germany, but France faces a complicated path to the final after failing to beat Poland on Tuesday.
Gareth Southgate’s side struggled to find its best form in the tournament and delivered another unimpressive performance in Cologne, one that will do little to silence the mounting criticism back home.
It was still enough to advance as group winners though after an equally turgid 0-0 draw between Denmark and Serbia in Munich, which saw the Danes finish second ahead of Slovenia despite an identical record.
Harry Kane stated that the aim had been to come top of the group before the start of the tournament.
He acknowledged that those games had been really tough, noting they had been in similar situations before and had stepped up in the knockouts. Kane expressed hope they could repeat that performance, but recognized that whoever they faced in the next round would be tough.
England must wait to find out which of the four best third-placed teams they will meet in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday for a place in the quarter-finals.
Denmark pipped Slovenia to the runners-up spot by virtue of a better disciplinary record after both nations finished with three draws, the same goal difference and number of goals scored.
Slovenia picked up one more yellow card than Denmark, who takes on Germany in the last 16.
“It’s a great team but we’re a great team as well and when we play the big nations, we always step up,” said Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand.
Slovenia celebrated reaching the knockout phase of a major tournament for the first time, while Serbia was eliminated after coming last in the section. Croatia’s exit was also confirmed.
France Falters
France blew the chance to finish first in its group despite Kylian Mbappe scoring his maiden European Championship goal from the spot in a 1-1 draw with Poland, as Austria won a thriller against the Netherlands to snatch top spot.
Didier Deschamps’ France failed to top its group at a major tournament for the first time since Euro 2012 after being made to pay for a series of missed chances.
Deschamps stated that they had achieved their first objective, even though they hadn’t secured the spot they aimed for by finishing second. He noted that a new competition was about to start.
Austria, who lost its opening game to France, grabbed a 3-2 victory over the Dutch to wrap up a last-16 berth and relegate its already-qualified opponents to third place in Group D.
France dominated for long periods against Poland, but has still only scored twice in Germany – an own goal by Austria’s Maximilian Woeber and Mbappe’s penalty.
Les Bleus will face the runners-up from Group E, in which Belgium, Ukraine, Romania and Slovakia all have three points, in the last 16.
As a result of coming second, France also now finds itself in the half of the draw with Germany, Spain and Portugal.
Mbappe – playing in a mask after breaking his nose against Austria – finally broke his Euros duck in the 56th minute, as he slotted in a penalty after Ousmane Dembele was felled by Jakub Kiwior.
But Poland were awarded a spot-kick themselves with 13 minutes remaining for a foul on Karol Swiderski.
Robert Lewandowski’s weak initial effort was comfortably saved by Mike Maignan, but the France goalkeeper had strayed off his line and the Poland talisman dispatched his second attempt.
Austria Powers Through
Dutch fans turned Berlin orange as they continued to light up the tournament, but it was the Austrians in full voice early on as their team was rewarded for an enterprising start when Donyell Malen inadvertently fired into his own net.
But the Netherlands drew level less than two minutes after the restart, as Austria midfielder Florian Grillitsch lost the ball in midfield before Cody Gakpo cut inside and finished off a rapid counter-attack.
Just as the Oranje started to get on top, Austria reclaimed the lead as Romano Schmid’s header found the net via a deflection off Stefan de Vrij on the line.
Memphis Depay struck with an excellent touch and volley to equalize again after a good header down by substitute Wout Weghorst.
But one of the games of the tournament was not yet done, and Marcel Sabitzer hammered home in the 80th minute to put Austria in front for the third time.
Ralf Rangnick’s men now have a match against either Turkey, the Czech Republic or Georgia to look forward to as they bid to reach the quarter-finals for the first time.
The Netherlands will play the winners of either Groups C or E.
Gakpo told Dutch broadcaster NOS that they hadn’t managed to play football. In the second half, things had improved, but it hadn’t been enough.
With AFP
