ENGLAND beat Slovakia on Sunday night to set up a quarter-final clash with Switzerland.The Three Lions will now be dreaming of reaching the showpiece final on July 14, having lucked out by being placed on the ‘easier’ side of the draw.England face Switzerland in the quarter-finals – and have an ‘easier’ route to the final than other top nationsCredit: AlamyEngland will NOT play any of France, Belgium, Portugal, Spain or Germany before the final.The strongest team on their side of the draw – according to Fifa rankings at least – is the Netherlands, who are currently ranked No 7 in the world.Who do England play next at Euro 2024?England next play Switzerland in the quarter-final stage – the match kicks off at 5pm on Saturday, July 6 in Dusseldorf.Switzerland have been one of the teams of the tournament so far and getting past them on Saturday will be no easy feat. They impressed in their opening game against Hungary, a 3-1 win before a scrappy 1-1 draw with Scotland.They then outplayed Germany in the final group game, with the hosts needing a 92nd-minute Niclas Fullkrug goal to save a 1-1 draw.In the last 16, Switzerland put on one of the best performances of the last two weeks, dominating Italy in a 2-0 win.England, meanwhile, laboured through the group stage – scoring just two goals in three matches – before being on the brink of an exit to Slovakia.Most read in Euro 2024Jude Bellingham saved the Three Lions with an audacious overhead kick deep into stoppage time, before Harry Kane scored early in extra-time in an uninspiring 2-1 win.Gareth Southgate now has huge questions to answer given the performance of his starting XI for 95 minutes.Marc Guehi will definitely miss the game, having picked up an early yellow card, but Southgate has question marks throughout his side.Kieran Trippier, Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka and even Harry Kane appear at varying levels of risk of being dropped.Especially as the likes of Cole Palmer, Ivan Toney and Eberechi Eze impressed after they came on. England ratings: Bellingham rescues woeful Three Lions as big names, and manager, have a shockerJUDE BELLINGHAM’S majestic overhead kick deep into stoppage time saved England from a humiliating Euros exit.Gareth Southgate’s side had been utterly woeful and looked to be heading home thanks to Ivan Schranz’s clever finish.But Bellingham came to the rescue in the 96th minute, brilliantly firing into the corner after Marc Guehi had flicked on Kyle Walker’s long throw.Remarkably, it was England’s first shot on target, summing how poor they had been.But another one came soon after, as 53 seconds into extra-time, Harry Kane headed home from close range to set up a quarter-final with Switzerland.It was as close a shave as it comes, and if they play like this against the Swiss, then they will be toast.Here’s how Tom Barclay rated England’s stars… and manager Southgate.Jordan Pickford: 5Appeared to hurt his left hand when taking a big whack in the warm-up, but still played. Fired a lot of long balls and was lucky not to be lobbed by David Strelec’s 45-yard strike.Kyle Walker: 4England’s second-most experienced player had a shocker. He looked uncharacteristically slow, his touch was heavy and his crossing was nowhere near good enough. But it was his long throw that led to Bellingham’s magic.John Stones: 4Said it was time for the senior pros to step up in the build-up to the game, but there was little sign of that until Bellingham did his thing, and he is only 21. Stones fired aimless long balls, gave it away and it was his mistake that almost led to Strelec’s trying his luck from range.Marc Guehi: 5Booked early after Kieran Trippier’s underhit pass meant he had to take out the excellent David Strelec, meaning he is out of the quarter-final. Ivan Schranz bamboozled him for Slovakia’s opener but his flick-on to Bellingham brought the leveller.Kieran Trippier: 4When Jude Bellingham’s good ball found Trippier on the edge of the box early doors, on his favoured right foot, you thought, ‘Here we go’. He smashed it into Row Z.Declan Rice: 5An old-school reducer on Juraj Kucka was a fair tackle, even if it left the 37-year-old hobbling. His curling effort with ten minutes to go cracked against the post.Kobbie Mainoo: 6FIRST start at a major tournament and our only decent performer in an horrendous first half from England. Blasted a volley over but was also booked for a late tackle.Bukayo Saka: 5We all know what a fantastic player Saka is for Arsenal, and for England in games gone by, but he rarely threatened here. Did go the distance though, and in a number of positions.Jude Bellingham: 7 and STAR MANCometh the hour, cometh the man. He had underwhelmed again until the 96th minute, but who cares when you step up like that.Phil Foden: 4Thought he had levelled early in the second half but his tap-in was ruled out by VAR after he was caught being, inexplicably, offside. Just off it all night, in danger of being dropped.Harry Kane: 6Still way off his best – he was nowhere to be seen in the first half and missed a free header after the break – but got it right when it counted in extra time.SUBSTITUTIONSCole Palmer (on for Kieran Trippier, 66): 7FANS were on their feet applauding when Southgate finally made a change and brought him on. So lively and with a lovely delivery, must be in with a chance of starting against the Swiss.Eberechi Eze (on for Kobbie Mainoo, 84): 6Did enough to put off Slovak full-back Peter Pekarik from turning home at close range in extra-time. Looked like he had been hit by a train when Denis Vavro walloped into him.Ivan Toney (on for Phil Foden, 90): 7GRABBED the assist for Kane’s winner by flicking on after a free-kick – which he had won with his strength – had been cleared.Conor Gallagher (on for Harry Kane, 105): 6Southgate rolled the dice in extra-time by trying to shut the game out, taking his captain off for the Chelsea midfielder.Ezri Konsa (on for Jude Bellingham, 105): 6Ditto to Gallagher as Konsa got his first minutes of the tournament in place of the hero Bellingham, which felt a risky strategy.MANAGERGareth Southgate: 3.A lucky, lucky man. Tactically, his team were all long ball, lacked any movement, and did not conjure up a shot on target until Bellingham’s wonder strike – and that came from Walker chucking it in the mixer. Subs took ages in the 90 and then felt risky as he sought to see the game out in extra-time.Who could England play in the semi-final if they beat Switzerland?If – and it’s a big if – England get through the quarter-final against Switzerland, they have been handed a much easier route than rival pre-tournament favourites.On their side of the bracket the other last 16 games are still to take place with the matches Netherlands vs Romania and Austria vs Turkey.England play Switzerland next in a tough quarter-final on SaturdayThe winners of those two games will then face each other, with the winner of that game potentially facing England in a Euro 2024 semi final.While Fifa rankings aren’t the perfect illustrator of a particular team’s quality, they certainly provide a relatively broad picture.England are currently ranked No 5 in the world and their next opponents, Switzerland are 19.The Netherlands (7) are the only other side in the top 20 on their half of the draw, with Austria (25), Turkey (42) and Romania (47) among the lowest ranking sides left in the competition.Compare that to the other side of the draw, where FOUR of the remaining six sides are in the top 10, according to the world rankings.They are France (2), Belgium (3), Portugal (6) and Spain (8), while hosts Germany (16) are also lurking – with Slovenia (57), who England struggled against, the lowest ranked remaining team.Last 16 Romania vs Netherlands – July 2, 5pm (Munich)Austria vs Turkey – July 2, 8pm (Leipzig)Quarter-FinalRomania/Netherlands vs Austria/Turkey – July 6, 8pm (Berlin)Who is on the other side of the draw at Euro 2024?Last 16Portugal vs Slovenia – July 1, 8pm (Frankfurt)France vs Belgium – July 1, 5pm (Dusseldorf)Quarter-FinalSpain vs Germany – July 5, 5pm (Stuttgart)Portugal/Slovenia vs France/Belgium – July 5, 8pm (Hamburg)England cannot play any of Spain, France, Belgium, Germany or Portugal until the finalCredit: GettyWhat is England’s route to the final at Euro 2024?Quarter-FinalEngland vs Switzerland – July 6, 5pm (Dusseldorf)Semi-FinalEngland vs Romania / Netherlands / Austria / Turkey – July 10, 8pm (Dortmund)READ MORE SUN STORIESFinalEngland vs Romania / Netherlands / Austria / Turkey / Spain / Germany / Portugal / Slovenia / France / Belgium – July 14, 8pm (Berlin) More
