England secured a group win in Group D on Tuesday evening. The team of national coach Gareth Southgate was 0-1 too strong for the Czech Republic at Wembley. On June 29, the English will play in the eighth final against the number two from Group F, in which Germany currently occupies second position. The Czechs finish with the four best numbers three and they will have to wait for the results from the last groups to know the opponent. In the other group match, Croatia, which finishes second, was 3-1 too strong for the final bottom-up Scotland.
The English started the meeting energetically, because in the second minute of play the team came close to the opening goal. Luke Shaw reached Raheem Sterling with a through pass, who tapped the ball past goalkeeper Tomás Vaclík with great feeling, but saw his bet hit the post. England opened the scoring in the twelfth minute. Jack Grealish took possession of the ball on the left side of the box and delivered a measured cross to Sterling. At the second post, the Manchester City attacker was given all the freedom to nod in: 0-1.
The Czech Republic lost out in the first company, but the team of national coach Jaroslav Silhavy came close to scoring twice. Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford had to stretch completely in the 28th minute to save a shot by Tomás Holes from the second line, while Tomás Soucek also became dangerous ten minutes before half time. The midfielder got the ball at his feet after a bounced volley by Jakub Jankto, but Soucek shot just wide from a promising position.
The first half was still very attractive for the neutral spectator, but after the break there were no real big opportunities. Twenty minutes before the end, the Czech Republic started a final offensive. Soucek tried to reach Adam Hlozek with a dangerous cross ball, although Shaw knew his intentions. In the 83rd minute, Pickford created a lot of danger with a mistake. After an unfortunate kick-off, Hlozek was able to reach Tomás Pekhart via Soucek. However, the attacker did not have his sights set on focus and shot just wide.
The fact that Pekhart’s shot was only the first attempt of the entire second half spoke volumes. Since 1980, the fans at a European Championship have not had to wait that long for a goal attempt in the second half. Five minutes before the end, Jordan Henderson thought he would double the lead on a pass from Jude Bellingham, but the goal was disallowed for offside.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | V | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | England | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| 2 | Croatia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 3 | Czech Republic | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 4 | Scotland | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -4 | 1 |
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