Good draw, bad draw: Dour England do enough to top Euros group

Cologne: England advanced to the knockout stage of Euro 2024 as group winners after a 0-0 draw against Slovenia on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST).

The result at Cologne Stadium also saw Slovenia reach the round of 16 and Croatia eliminated.

Jude Bellingham cut a frustrated figure in Cologne.Credit: Getty Images

In a game of few chances, England substitute Cole Palmer could have sealed the win in stoppage time, but his shot was saved by Slovenia goalkeeper Jan Oblak.

England will play one of the qualifying third-placed teams in the round of 16 and are on the opposite side of the draw to Spain, France, Germany and Portugal.

“That was the aim before the start of the tournament, come top of the group and control our destiny,” captain Harry Kane said. “I thought we played a lot better than the other games. We couldn’t just find that finish but we look forward to the next one.

“We created some half chances and there were some that we could maybe have done better.

“I think the boys who came on did really well and kept the energy high and that’s what we need. We need everyone chipping in and that’s what we are doing so far.

Earlier on Tuesday, a masked Kylian Mbappe scored his first goal of the Euros, but France drew 1-1 with Poland to finish runner-up in Group D behind Austria, who beat the Netherlands 3-2 thanks to an 80th-minute strike from Marcel Sabitzer.

“When you win like that, win the group, score the winning goal, it doesn’t get any better than that,” the man-of-the match said.

“Now we need to calm down, clear our heads and then keep attacking.”

Mbappe wore a protective mask after breaking his nose in France’s opening game against Austria and scored from the penalty spot. But Robert Lewandowski’s twice-taken spot kick gave already-eliminated Poland their first point of the tournament.

Italy break Croatian hearts with last-kick equaliser

Leipzig: Italy substitute Mattia Zaccagni scored in the last minute of stoppage time for Italy to advance to the knockout stage of the European Championships after drawing 1-1 with Croatia on Monday (Tuesday AEST).

Luka Modric’s second-half strike looked like sending Croatia through as the Group B runner-up, but Zaccagni swept a brilliant shot inside the far post in the eighth minute of added time to cap a furious finale from the defending champions.

Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic was unhappy so much time was added after a battling performance from his side.

“You can’t have eight minutes of added time after that game, it’s nonsense,” Dalic said. “There weren’t so many breaks in play, or so many fouls to justify that. I don’t want to cause a fuss but I think Croatia needs to be acknowledged and respected. We played for almost three hours.”

Italy needed a point to progress, while Croatia realistically needed a win to stay in the tournament. The Croatians earned two points from their three games and were at the mercy of other results to see if their return will be enough to scrape through as one of the best third-place finishers. Tuesday’s Group C results sealed the 2018 World Cup finalists’ fate.

A heartbroken Luka Modric was almost the hero for Croatia.Credit: AP

Dalic made no mention of waiting. He already believed his side are out. Albania were eliminated after coming bottom of the group on one point following their 1-0 loss to Spain, a result which meant England, France and the Netherlands were guaranteed to finish at least among the four best third-placed teams.

Italy will face Switzerland in the round of 16 on Saturday (Sunday 2am AEST) at Berlin’s Olympiastadion, where the final will be held on July 14.

“We were a bit soft at times in the game, we didn’t produce our best football,” Italy coach Luciano Spalletti said. “When you can afford to draw the game, that’s how it goes, you know a draw is enough, you are a bit more timid.”

Modric scored 33 seconds after having a penalty saved by Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to become the oldest goalscorer ever at the tournament. At 38 years, 289 days on Monday, Modric broke the record held by Ivica Vastic, who was 38 years, 257 days, when he scored for Austria against Poland at Euro 2008.

After Modric’s penalty miss, Croatia immediately attacked again and Donnarumma had to save a shot by Ante Budimir. Modric pounced on the rebound in the 55th minute.

Alessandro Bastoni headed just over in response as the Italians suddenly found themselves in need of a goal. Defeat could have seen the defending champions knocked out depending on results in other games.

Modric turned his skills to defence until he went off to a standing ovation in the 80th. Italy maintained their pressure and it finally paid off at the last possible moment with Zaccagni’s curling shot.

AP

Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.