In light of the Three Lions’ ongoing difficulties in Germany, Jamie Carragher has stated that Spain and France would prefer to play England rather than the Netherlands in the Euro 2024 final.
In their quarterfinal matchup with Switzerland, Gareth Southgate‘s team managed to win on penalties, salvaging their chances of qualifying for the European Championship despite failing to reach peak performance in Germany.
Only one of England’s three winnable group matches ended in victory, and in the first knockout round, they needed Jude Bellingham’s incredible free kick to overcome Slovakia.
Similar to the match against Slovakia, Breel Embolo’s back-post tap-in goal in the 75th minute gave England the lead against Switzerland.
With the Three Lions once again failing to create much in the final third, it felt as though Embolo’s goal would prove to be the winner but Bukayo Saka equalised just five minutes later, cutting in from the right before rifling an effort in off the far post.
Neither team could find a winner in the next 40 minutes of action meaning the tie went to penalties and England kept their composure brilliantly, converting all five spot-kicks and seeing Jordan Pickford keep out Manuel Akanji’s tame effort.
Ex-Liverpool defender Carragher remains ‘baffled’ by England’s form at the Euros and says the semi-finalists on the other side of the draw – European heavyweights Spain and France – will be hoping to meet Southgate’s side in Sunday’s final.
England’s semi-final opponents Netherlands came from behind to beat Turkey in an entertaining quarter-final in Berlin.
Ronald Koeman’s side finished third in Group D but were still handed the chance to go on a deep Euros run as one of the best third-place teams in the tournament with four points.
‘What baffles me is how so little in the England team is functioning correctly,’ Carragher, who won 38 international caps, told The Daily Telegraph.
‘To be positive, we can say they are holding up defensively. Again, the caveat is they are yet to play a side with any world-class forwards.
‘The French and Spanish will want to play England in the final because they will be confident they will create the opportunities which others have not taken.
‘England must find a top-level performance from somewhere if they are to leave Germany with what they came for.
‘If England are to transform what we have seen so far into a tournament victory, not for the first time over the last few weeks they are leaving it very, very late to do so.’
On England’s stuttering form, Carragher added: ‘We can’t escape reality. We cannot dress it up any other way.
England has been really fortunate, having defeated Slovakia and now Switzerland. Instead of as a result of their performances, they made it to the final four.
‘After leading his team to the semi-final, Gareth Southgate will have a lot on his mind when he wakes up on Sunday morning.
He and his staff will have more questions than answers when they talk about choosing the next squad.
Regardless of which England team is the best, we still don’t know which formation is ideal. Since every other English team that performed at this level would have left by now, we are in uncharted territory.
Spain have arguably been the standout team at the European Championship and beat hosts Germany in extra-time to reach the semi-finals.
World Cup finalists France, meanwhile, defeated Portugal on penalties to move a step closer to the trophy.
The Euro 2024 semi-finals take place on Tuesday and Wednesday night, with Sunday’s final hosted at the Olympiastadion Berlin in the German capital.