England progressed to the Euro 2024 knockout phase as Group C winners, but fans again expressed their frustration after Gareth Southgate’s side were held to a 0-0 draw by stubborn Slovenia.
The Euro 2020 runners-up have been widely criticised following an unconvincing start to a tournament they are among the favourites to win.
England bossed possession against well-drilled Slovenia but were unable to turn their dominance into a morale-boosting victory as Tuesday’s clash in Cologne ended goalless and with more groans.
However, this result coupled with the stalemate between Denmark and Serbia saw them top the pool, meaning they will face a third-placed side in the last 16 on Sunday.
England – who were already assured of progress after Monday’s results – have to wait another day to find out who awaits them in Gelsenkirchen, where they return after a pair of frustrating draws.
The performance against Denmark was far more alarming than the one versus Slovenia, but the inability to break down the side 57th in FIFA’s world rankings is sure to be pored over in close detail.
Matjaz Kek’s team were happy to cede possession to England, who struggled for creativity and speed beyond an excellent team move that saw a Bukayo Saka goal ruled out for offside.
Boos at the break were followed by more palpable anger at the final whistle after England fans had stuck with their team as they pushed in the second half.
Denmark progress as runners-up
Denmark ground out the goalless draw they needed against Serbia to clinch second place in Group C and advance to the knockout stages of Euro 2024.
Rasmus Hojlund missed the best chance for the Danes while Serbia – who needed a win to stand any chance of qualifying – left it too late and slid out of the tournament with a single point to their name.
Aleksandar Mitrovic slid a late chance wide and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic could only strike tamely at Kasper Schmeichel in injury time as their inevitable late surge came to nothing in Munich.
Denmark had the best of the first-half chances, with Christian Eriksen, whose 133rd cap made him the most capped Danish player of all time, bringing a comfortable save out of Predrag Rajkovic from long range.
Denmark bundled the ball into the net on 23 minutes but the referee ruled that Eriksen’s corner had bent out of play during its delivery.
Hojlund tested Rajkovic again then missed arguably Denmark’s best chance of the first half as he appeared to slip when shaping to shoot, and the Serbians looked to step up a gear at the start of the second half.
Half-time substitutes Dusan Tadic and Luka Jovic injected some pace into the Serbian front-line and thought they had combined to snatch the opener on 54 minutes, the latter timing his run perfectly to meet Tadic’s pass and slip past Schmeichel only for his effort to be ruled offside.
As Serbia stepped things up, Mitrovic side-footed wide after Dusan Vlahovic’s lay-off, Vlahovic found the roof of the net with a header, then in injury time Milinkovic-Savic slid Serbia’s last chance straight at Schmeichel.
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