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England confirmed as qualified for Euro 2020 knock-out stage

The Three Lions still have a match to play but know they will be in the last 16

Karl Matchett
Tuesday 22 June 2021 18:32 BST
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Euro 2020: Daily briefing

England have qualified for the last 16 at Euro 2020 with a game to spare.

Results on Sunday and Monday evening, as each group played out their final fixtures, mean that four points is now definitely enough for a nation to progress to the knockout phase.

The Three Lions picked up a win against Croatia and a draw against Scotland, leaving them second with four points ahead of their final clash with group leaders Czech Republic on Tuesday - but both nations will remain in the tournament regardless of the result.

There is still the matter of the group standings to finalise, which will determine who England play in the knockout.

While the top two in each group go through automatically, only the four best third-place teams go through with them. That means two third-place sides will not go through, and with both Ukraine (in Group C) and Finland (in Group B) now finishing third with three points, anything more than that will guarantee passage to the last 16.

As such, Switzerland - who finished third in Group A on Sunday with a win over Turkey - know that they have reached the last 16, having tallied four points from their three games.

Along with England and Czech Republic, the other teams to now be assured of qualification with a game to spare are Sweden and France - while Netherlands, Belgium and Italy all finished the group stage with a perfect record and nine points each. Wales, Denmark and Austria make up the 11 nations who are through so far to the last 16, having finished second in their respective groups.

Wales now know they will face Denmark in the last 16, while England’s opponents are yet to be determined and will depend partly on their result against Czech Republic.

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