The Euro 2020 ‘Group of Death’ puts Germany, France and Portugal together, but England could play them

England avoided a ‘Group of Death’ at Euro 2020, but they still face a game against World Cup conquers Croatia.

And even if they top their group, Gareth Southgate and co. could still face one of France, Germany and Portugal in the knockout stage, though the manager is just pleased he does not have to navigate his way through that tough fixture list.

“Everybody will be looking at Group F thinking they’re pleased they’re not in it,” he said.

Current world champions France and 2014 winners Germany, along with defending European champions Portugal, will be joined in the so-called ‘Group of Death’ by a team from Path A/D, which could be any of Iceland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Georgia, Belarus, North Macedonia or Kosovo.

England, in addition to Croatia, will face the Czech Republic and the winner of the play-offs featuring Scotland, Israel, Norway and Serbia in Group D.

Should they win all their games at Wembley and top the group, they would play the runner-up from Group F in Dublin.

Second place would put England up against the runner-up from Group E, which contains Spain, Poland, Sweden and a play-off winner, possibly Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland.

It is a similar situation to the last World Cup in 2018, when avoiding top spot in the group sent them down what looked like an easier path to the final.

They lost to Croatia after extra-time in Moscow in the semi-final and Southgate is neither thinking about revenge nor who they might face in the last 16 should they progress.

“We’re England and we don’t have the luxury very often of picking whether we win, or come second or third,” he said.

“We’ve come unstuck often enough not to think about those things, so we’ll set the objective of qualifying from the group first and we’ll go from there.”

England have played Croatia since that semi-final defeat, beating them in the Nations League, but Southgate admits you can’t compare it to a World Cup.

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“You can never make up for losing a World Cup semi-final,” he said.

“We felt that after the Nations League – it was great to win that game but didn’t in any way redress it.

“If I was the Croatians I know which game I’d have rather won. [The semi-final] will be long gone, but I think it’s an attractive fixture for everybody.”

Before the draw was made in Bucharest on Saturday night, there was the real prospect of England having to play their own ‘Group of Death’.

Regardless, Southgate accepts the tournament represents a fantastic opportunity for his side, with both semi-finals and the final being played at Wembley – should England make it that far.

“If we play well and win games then the whole nation is gripped and that’s something very, very special,” he said.

“It’s going to be a brilliant experience for our fans, our players and the public.”

The song, Three Lions, was sung a lot last summer, evoking memories of Euro 96 when it was first released and saw England stand a real chance of winning.

It antagonised a lot of people, who didn’t understand the meaning behind it and Southgate hopes it won’t be seen as such next summer.

“It’s hard if people react to certain songs,” he said.

“You latch onto things that can work in your favour, but we can’t ask our fans not to get excited and not to enjoy themselves. This is a summer to be cherished and enjoyed and I want our fans to feel that way.

“We want to make Wembley somewhere that teams fear coming and we do that via the atmosphere in the stadium.”

England’s first group match will be against Croatia on Sunday, 14 June before they take on one of Israel, Norway, Scotland or Serbia on Friday, 19 June. Their final group game against the Czechs will be on Tuesday, 23 June.

The final takes place on Sunday, 12 July.

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