The Three Lions’ dismal record dates back to 1968 when the then world championship lost to Yugoslavia in Florence and stretches to their nightmare defeat to Iceland in France in 2016.
In between, there was the disappointment of losing to Portugal on penalties at Euro 2024, when Sven-Goran Eriksson was in charge, and Roy Hodgson’s 2012 team losing to Italy again on pens.
The good news is that the exception to the pattern – the one Euros knockout match England did win while playing abroad – was their most recent one. Gareth Southgate’s men ripped apart Ukraine in Rome at Euro 2020, winning 4-0 in the quarter-finals.
Captain Harry Kane has insisted that this England team knows how to step up their performance levels for knockout rounds.
It is true that at the last Euros, they clicked into gear to beat Germany in the second round, although that was at Wembley.
Southgate is under pressure to change his starting 11 for Sunday’s match, possibly by bringing in Chelsea’s Cole Palmer and Manchester United’s Kobbie Mainoo.
Whoever they meet in the last-16, England will need to be better than they were in their last two matches, otherwise there will be another defeat in a knockout round tie on foreign soil to add to the list.
