ENGLAND will be forced to overcome their ITV curse when they take on Holland for a place in the final of Euro 2024.
Gareth Southgate’s men face a tough task against Virgil van Dijk and Co in Wednesday’s semi.
The Three Lions narrowly overcame Switzerland in the quarters thanks to a clinical penalty shootout.
While the Dutch are through following a 2-1 comeback win against goal machines Turkey.
Despite the size of the mission ahead, England are favourites after making their third semi in four tournaments under Southgate.
But Holland fans who believe in a higher footballing power can take solace in the fact that, in the UK, the match will be shown on ITV.
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The broadcaster has shared this summer’s Euro games with the BBC.
And supporters have been loving the banter between glamorous host Laura Woods and brilliant pundits including Roy Keane, Gary Neville and Ange Postecoglou.
However, one fact that England fans cannot escape is that the Three Lions have a truly dismal record in games shown exclusively on ITV.
As per the Times, since 1996 there have been 31 matches broadcast solely on the channel.
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But only NINE of them have resulted in victory, with England drawing 12 and losing the remaining ten.
Their ITV record looks even bleaker when put up against the numbers from the BBC.
The national broadcaster has exclusively shown 29 England matches in the same time period.
However, 21 of those games have ended in victory.
Two were draws, while the other six were defeats.
And England will be hoping their ITV curse does not strike on the biggest stage of all.
But should the Three Lions make it past Holland to set up a final with either France or Spain, they can breathe a sigh of relief.
That’s because Sunday’s match will be shown on both ITV and BBC simultaneously, putting the curse aside to the relief of superstitious supporters.
BBC and ITV’s Euro 2024 line up in full
Here’s how each channel will line-up:
BBC presenters:
Gary Lineker, Alex Scott, Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman
ITV presenters:
Mark Pougatch and Laura Woods
BBC pundits:
Alan Shearer, Micah Richards, Rio Ferdinand, Ellen White, Frank Lampard, Ashley Williams, Wayne Rooney, Joe Hart, Cesc Fabregas, Thomas Frank, David Moyes, Rachel Corsie and James McFadden
ITV pundits:
Ian Wright, Roy Keane, Gary Neville, Karen Carney, Graeme Souness, Eni Aluko, Ange Postecoglou, Danny Rohl and Christina Unkel
BBC commentators:
Guy Mowbray, Robyn Cowen, Vicki Sparks, Steve Wilson, Steve Bower and Jonathan Pearce
ITV commentators:
Sam Matterface, Clive Tyldesley, Seb Hutchinson, Pien Meulensteen and Joe Speight
BBC co-commentators:
Danny Murphy, Martin Keown, Jermaine Jenas and James McFadden
ITV co-commentators:
Lee Dixon, Ally McCoist and Andros Townsend
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
