Euro 2024 - live: England news and analysis with Gareth Southgate’s side preparing for semi-finals
The Three Lions are through to the last four in Germany and a tie against Netherlands awaits
Euro 2024 is entering its final week and only four nations remain involved - with England still one of them following a dramatic penalty shootout victory over Switzerland in Dusseldorf. Gareth Southgate had to turn to his substitutes and squad players to get them a late equaliser and subsequent win from 12 yards, with Trent Alexander-Arnold drilling in the decisive effort.
Now they’ll face Netherlands in the last four after their comeback win over Turkey - while Spain and France will meet in the other semi-final.
Gareth Southgate spoke after the game about his pride in the squad overcoming challenges and pointed out this side has overcome the demons of previous tournaments when it comes to penalties: “We’ve been in four and we won three. We got crucified for the one we lost but it’s outcome based,” he said after knocking out the Swiss. “We have more regular penaly takers now than then [against Italy] and more who have been in shootouts. We have a calm process but the players still have to deal with it the way they did.”
Now it’s all about recovery ahead of Wednesday’s meeting in Dortmund, and honing the tactics to help them reach a second men’s European Championship final in three years. Follow all the latest news and England analysis and reaction below:
England’s quarter-final reaction gives Gareth Southgate an exciting answer for the future
Another game for England without entertaining the masses, but another step closer to the Euro 2024 final - and perhaps another hint as to where the future lies, whether that comes during this tournament or not.
Not from another one-paced, uninventive display. Not with the supposed tactical shift either, which did little to change the speed of England’s play or the way they constantly checked inside to play safe and create too little. But if the original 90 minutes didn’t contain sufficient drama, their second late equaliser in as many matches and a subsequent penalty shootout victory perhaps offered just enough.
England reaction gives Southgate an exciting answer for the future
A triple-change off the bench produced an injection of quality and pace - the squad is there to make the Three Lions better
The six-year behind-the-scenes process which led to England’s perfect penalties
England beat Switzerland on penalties in the Euro 2024 quarter-final thanks to a changed secret approach that involved rethinking every detail of a penalty shootout, right down to the steps that players take and where they should look. One insight was even to not practise too much, as this can have a detrimental effect on nerves.
The Football Association have been so protective of these decisive tie-winning approaches that they stopped players like Jordan Pickford and Ezri Konsa going into too much detail about the “process” after Saturday’s quarter-final win, but some of the elements have been revealed in a book by an influential former staff member. Chris Markham, who is now sporting director at Bolton Wanderers, previously worked as Game Insights Lead at the FA for four years and through the watershed 2018 World Cup.
The six-year behind-the-scenes process which led to England’s perfect penalties
Five out of five scored – and one saved by Jordan Pickford – sent England to the Euro 2024 semi-finals
Euro 2024 Golden Boot standings: Cody Gakpo, Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and more battle to be top scorer
Europe’s best strikers have been vying for individual honours as well as team success as they aim to top the scoring charts at Euro 2024.
The quadrennial continental tournament is currently taking place in Germany with many of the world’s top marksmen on show and battling it out for the Golden Boot.
Cristiano Ronaldo became the leading scorer in competition history with five goals at Euro 2020 taking his overall aggregate to 14 and sealing the Golden Boot in the process, as his assist saw him edge the comparatively unheralded Patrik Schick of the Czech Republic, who also netted on five occasions during the tournament. However, he flopped entirely in this summer’s edition, failing to score a single goal and missing a penalty en route to a quarter-final exit.
Euro 2024 Golden Boot standings: Kane, Gakpo and more in contention
Other big names such as Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham will also still hope to be top scorer at this summer’s European Championship
Gareth Southgate reveals the ‘fuel’ behind England progress and hails ‘resilience’ of Three Lions’ squad
Gareth Southgate says he has used being “ridiculed” as “fuel”, in an extraordinarily reflective moment after guiding England to the third semi-finals of his tenure.
The manager spoke about how it’s not “normal to have beer thrown at you” or to have “your professional capability” questioned “beyond belief”, but that this served in setting an example about resolve. Southgate spoke proudly about the “resilience” his players showed, stating that is as important as performance in “navigating tournaments.
Southgate reveals personal ‘fuel’ behind England progress at Euro 2024
The manager had beer thrown at him after a group-stage draw - but says he must show his squad what strength is
Ronald Koeman is already part of Dutch football history - now he’s chasing unique twin legacy
Ronald Koeman and the European Championship have history. Thirty-six years after he scored in a semi-final in Germany, he will manage in one. The Koeman double is on.
Koeman and England have history, too, and not merely the group-stage game in 1988 when Marco van Basten scored a hat-trick. A certain brand of infamy came five years later, in a World Cup qualifier that condemned Graham Taylor’s reign to failure. Koeman’s last-man foul on David Platt brought only a yellow card, his precise free kick gave Netherlands the lead. Did Taylor not like that.
Koeman is already part of Dutch history - now he’s chasing unique twin legacy
Netherlands stand between England and a place at the Euro 2024 final
Some of England’s memorable matches against the Netherlands:
England 8-2 Netherlands, 1946
Just the second official meeting between the two sides led to a thumping win for England.
Walter Winterbottom’s side were far superior and romped into a 6-1 lead at the break, in no small part thanks to an 11-minute hat-trick from then-Chelsea striker Tommy Lawton.
He added a fourth, England’s eighth.
Some of England’s memorable matches against the Netherlands:
England 0-2 Netherlands, 1977
Captained by the masterful Johan Cruyff, the Netherlands turned Wembley orange with a tremendous display which saw the visitors cheered off by England fans at half-time.
Cruyff was at his sparkling best as a brace from Jan Peters sealed the win before the break. Don Revie’s side included the likes of Kevin Keegan and Trevor Brooking, but they were left chasing shadows as Total Football arrived in London.
Some of England’s memorable matches against the Netherlands:
Netherlands 2-0 England, 1993
A match which lives long in the memory less for the result and more for manager Graham Taylor’s touchline commentary, which was broadcast to the nation as part of a Channel 4 documentary which to this day remains one of the best and most watchable behind-the-scenes shows of all time.
Ronald Koeman pulled down David Platt as he was through on goal but was only booked. Koeman went on to score the opening free-kick, subsequently added to by Dennis Bergkamp, prompting the much-maligned Taylor to utter the words to the linesman,
“I’m just saying to your colleague (the fourth official), the referee has got me the sack. Thank him ever so much for that, won’t you?”. Defeat left England’s World Cup qualification hopes in tatters.
Some of England’s memorable matches against the Netherlands:
England 4-1 Netherlands, 1996
Terry Venables’ side produced their own answer to the Dutch’s 1970s Total Football with a thrilling group-stage win as hosts at Wembley.
Alan Shearer and Teddy Sheringham both scored twice, with the latter famously squaring the pass for his strike partner to lash home a near-post drive. Patrick Kluivert scored a consolation for the Dutch, who exited in the quarter-finals, with England going out on penalties to Germany in the semi-final.
Bukayo Saka knows England ‘can do whatever it takes to win’ at Euro 2024
Bukayo Saka believes England have shown they can do whatever it takes to win following their battling displays en route to the Euro 2024 semi-finals.
The Arsenal forward scored the equaliser to cancel out Breel Embolo’s strike as England went on to beat Switzerland on penalties and set up a last-four meeting with the Netherlands.
Saka scored his spot-kick to banish the ghosts of his miss in the Euro 2020 final shoot-out defeat to Italy.
Bukayo Saka knows England ‘can do whatever it takes to win’ at Euro 2024
The Arsenal forward scored England’s equaliser against Switzerland.
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