Is this England’s route to Euro 2016 glory?

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The domestic season is over, so it is time to dust off your England shirts and put up those St. George flags. The countdown to the Euros is tumbling down as the hopes of a nation rest on a very young England squad. This is Roy Hodgson’s third major tournament as England manager, yet his team failed to get past the quarter finals four years ago and could not get out of the group in Brazil; a record which most other managers would not survive. Roy’s teams have been filled with young talent which has allowed him to stay in charge this long but the bar has been raised from the disappointment of Brazil.

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Failure to get past the quarter finals for the first time since 1996 could bring questions regarding his future as the national manager. Despite this, there is optimism for France 2016, the breakthroughs of Jamie Vardy, Delli Alli and Danny Drinkwater have given the squad a new look and the friendly win over Germany has given everyone belief going into their first game against Russia on June 11.

A win against Russia in the first game would put England in a great position to get out of the group, which should be relatively simple given that even finishing in third position offers a place in the round of 16.

Wales impressed in qualification but anything but a win would be a major disappointment and the final match against Slovakia should be a more relaxed final game… But this is England and we all remember group matches against Algeria and USA. The World Cup in 2010 offered hope for all of England but failing to top a relatively easy group meant the facing Germany in the next round.

With England favourites to top the group they would then face the third place finisher of either group A, C or D. The new enlarged format means the four clubs with the most points who finish third in their groups will go into the next round. Previous tournaments did not have a round of 16 and had two fewer groups, the addition of extra teams has made it easier for countries to progress in the qualification stages and in the group stages, although that did not help the Netherlands who miss out on this tournament for the first time since 1984.

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Assuming all the major teams from groups A, C and D qualify in the top two of their respective groups then there is a good chance of England meeting the likes of Romania, Northern Ireland or Croatia for a place in the quarter finals. Croatia have proved to be a hindrance for England before while Northern Ireland and Romania would be a slightly easier tie progress to the quarter finals is far from guaranteed.

Tough opponents would then await England with a match against either the winner of group F or the runner up of group E. Portugal and dark horses Iceland will fancy their chances of topping group F but one of them would have to get past the likes of Belgium, Ireland, Italy or Sweden from a very interesting group E. Every team in that group will be aiming for the top of the table, Belgium ranked number two in the world despite an edgy end to qualifying. Italy, conquerors of England in the last Euros are always a threat whilst Ireland and Sweden are not to be taken lightly.

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England would most likely be in the same half of the draw as reigning champions Spain and assuming they finish first in their group. Semi-finals is a very realistic target for Roy Hodgson and any further would be a great achievement. Spain are not the force they once were but signs of change can be seen with a slightly different way of playing and new talent, such as David De Gea, part of a new generation of Spanish stars.

If England could somehow reach the final in Paris on July 10 then they could play hosts France or world champions Germany. Although a daunting prospect, England did beat both of them very recently. Victory over an albeit weakened French side at Wembley was followed by a great away comeback in Germany winning 3-2… In reality there is nothing to fear.

So let’s get behind our boys, like every year we tell ourselves not to get caught up in the moment but we all know it is going to happen anyway.

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