Euro 2016: England's path to the final after being drawn in same half as Spain, France, Germany and Italy
England have been handed a nightmare draw for the knockout stages of Euro 2016 after failing to top Group B
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Your support makes all the difference.England’s 0-0 draw against Slovakia suddenly feels like the end of the world after Spain failed to top their group due to their stunning 2-1 defeat by Croatia, meaning the reigning European champions will join the Three Lions in the same half of the knockout stages at Euro 2016.
And as if that wasn’t bad enough, England are already facing the possibility of facing hosts France in the quarter-finals if the two teams can come through their respective last-16 encounters.
It means that if England have any ambitions of reaching the final of Euro 2016, they could have to face Portugal in the second round, France in the quarter-finals and most likely either Spain, Italy or Germany in the semi-finals.
The scale of the weighted draw for the last-16 knockout round is revealed by the number of trophies won by the sides in the two halves. England, Germany, Italy, France and Spain can boast between them 20 major trophies – 11 World Cups and nine European Championships – while the other half, made up of Wales, Switzerland, Poland and Croatia, have not won a single major competition.
It gets even worse for England given that Portugal can join the bottom half, with Nortern Ireland and Slovakia currently the most likely teams to complete the line-up depending on today’s results while Hungary, Belgium, Iceland and Turkey are expected to go into the top half.
So what are the best and worst case scenarios for England if they want to win Euro 2016?
Best case scenario
| Stage | Team |
| Last-16 | Iceland |
| Quarter-final | Northern Ireland |
| Semi-final | Albania |
| Final | Hungary |
Worst case scenario
| Stage | Team |
| Last-16 | Portugal |
| Quarter-final | France |
| Semi-final | Spain/Germany |
| Final | Croatia/Belgium |
The one positive for England is that either Spain or Italy will be eliminated from Euro 2016 as they face each other in the last-16, a result that was confirmed on Tuesday night when an injury-time goal handed Croatia a comeback 2-1 victory to top Group D.
England will discover their last-16 fate later today when Group F is finalised. The Three Lions face the runners-up in Group F, which can be any of the four teams involved as Hungary, Portugal, Iceland and Austria all harbour hopes of reaching the knockout stages.
Wales’s reward for topping Group B could be a second ‘Battle of Britain’ against Northern Ireland, providing Turkey fail to qualify as one of the four best third-place teams. Should Turkey secure their passage to the last-16, the Northern Ireland face the daunting task of taking on hosts France.
If the Republic of Ireland find a way to beat Italy on Wednesday afternoon, then they will join Wales in the top half of the draw as Group E runners-up and will face the winner of Group F, which is currently expected to be Hungary. However, if they progress as a third-placed team then either Croatia or France will await in the knockout stage, with a Turkey elimination guaranteeing that opponent to be Les Blues.
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