Euro 2024 day seven: England eye early qualification

Big guns Spain and Italy will also battle it out for a place in the knockout stage.

England face Denmark on Thursday as they attempt to secure their progression from Group C (Adam Davy/PA) (PA Wire)

England will attempt to join hosts Germany in the last 16 at Euro 2024 when they face Denmark in Frankfurt on Thursday.

Gareth Southgate’s side top Group C after Sunday’s 1-0 win over Serbia and know another three points would seal their progression.

Elsewhere, Serbia face Slovenia in the other game in England’s pool, while Spain battle it out with reigning champions Italy in Group B.

In Wednesday’s action, Germany secured their progression with victory over Hungary, while Scotland boosted their hopes of qualifying from the group stage with a 1-1 draw against Switzerland while Albania struck late to deny Croatia victory.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at day seven of Euro 2024.

Shutting out the noise

England boss Southgate has urged his players to ignore the noise surrounding their performance against the Serbs amid an ongoing debate over his team selection and tactics.

He said: “There’s more noise around a national team than there ever is around a club team.

“Millions of people in your own country, extensive media coverage, social media … One guy writing a comment on social media gets put in a newspaper now, that’s a story, so it’s a different world.

“Personally I accept that’s how it is. It is not going to affect what I do. My job is to keep the players on track.”

Big night for the holders

Italy boss Luciano Spalletti admits Thursday night’s Group B clash with Spain is one of the biggest games of his careers as the holders attempt to reach the knockout stage.

Spalletti, who led Napoli to the Serie A title in 2023, said: “I’ve already been through some important games, but this is certainly one of those which is right up there.

“We all have a story to tell and when the players get to my age, they will know that they need to have stories to tell and this is one of those matches which could give them a tale to tell in the future.”

Opposite number Luis de la Fuente is under no illusions as to the task ahead of his team in Gelsenkirchen.

De la Fuente said: “We know the potential of these national teams because we’ve seen them in the qualification stage in different games, so the potential that France has, Germany, England, Italy, we know them perfectly.”

Alive and kicking

Scotland will head into Sunday’s showdown with pointless Hungary targeting victory after a 1-1 draw with Switzerland gave them a foundation to reach the knockout stage.

Xherdan Shaqiri’s superb equaliser cancelled out Scott McTominay’s opener in Cologne, but a win over the Hungarians could see the Scots progress.

Goals from Jamal Musiala and Ilkay Gundogan eased Germany through after a 2-0 win over Hungary in Stuttgart.

Meanwhile, Croatia are in danger of an early exit after their 2-2 draw against Albania left them with one point from two games, with reigning champions Italy left to face.

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Who’s up next?

Slovenia v Serbia – 2pm, ITV1Denmark v England – 5pm, BBC OneSpain v Italy – 8pm, ITV1All times BST.