A guide to England’s Euro 2024 Group Stage

Daniel Wales provides a run-down of the games England will play and cities in Germany they’ll visit in their Euro 2024 Group Stage.

Transcript

00:00Dejection was the mood at Wembley, as England lost their final European Championship warm-up

00:06match against Iceland on Friday. Midfielder Declan Rice vowed that the Three Lions would

00:11learn from the loss, whilst manager Gareth Southgate made clear that this was a game

00:15that some of the players needed ahead of a major tournament.

00:20In Germany, England will face shadows of the past as they look to write a new future. It

00:26was in 2006 that under Sven-Goran Eriksson, who steered the side to the quarter-finals

00:30of the World Cup that year, that they ultimately lost on penalties to Portugal, following Wayne

00:35Rooney's dismissal and Cristiano Ronaldo's wink.

00:40That fateful encounter took place in Gelsenkirchen in the Arena Aufschalke, where England will

00:46begin their journey in 2024 against Serbia on 16 June. In the city, the Traber & Bahn

00:52racecourse will host a fan park which is accessible via a free shuttle bus from the

00:56train station, and a bus will also take fans from the fan park to the stadium. Most familiar

01:02to England fans from the opposition will be striker Alexander Mitrovic, who has played

01:06in the Premier League and the Championship for Fulham and Newcastle United, but has since

01:11moved to the Saudi Pro League.

01:14Staying in western Germany, England next visit Frankfurt, where they will meet Denmark on

01:19the 20th. The Danes were defeated by the Three Lions in the semi-finals of Euro 2020,

01:24and are one-time winners of the championships in 1992. Frankfurt is a major transport hub,

01:30with both the stadium and fan park being accessible via the S-Bahn. This will be England's third

01:34visit to the Frankfurt Arena, with a 1-0 victory over Paraguay in 2006, being certainly more

01:39positive than the 3-1 loss against USSR in Euro 1988. Several Premier League players

01:45will be representing Denmark.

01:48The encounter with Slovenia on the 25th takes place in Cologne, which, despite being Germany's

01:53oldest city, is home to a wide array of transport links. The stadium and fan park are again

01:58in close proximity to metro stops.

02:01England drew 2-2 with Sweden here in 2006, with a Joe Cole long-range effort being the

02:06highlight. No Slovenian players ply their trade in England, although Three Lions fans

02:10will recall a meeting against them in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, in which a

02:15Jermain Defoe goal won the match.

02:19The question for Gareth Southgate now is how England should approach each game. The Danes

02:23will likely provide the toughest test, although their willingness to attack may allow for

02:27England's forward players to find space on the flanks. It is against Serbia and Slovenia

02:32that the Iceland blueprint may re-emerge. They were unable to break through the Icelandic

02:37defensive wall, echoing harrowing memories of Nice in 2016. This is an England side with

02:43more flair going forward than then, but the recent loss will be a dent in their confidence.

02:48Many say that the England manager's role is the impossible job, but Gareth Southgate still

02:53has one opportunity to change that.