In the 2024 European Championship in Germany, the Three Lions England, which is worth a total of 1.52 billion euros, did not perform well in the group stage, and the team only scored 2 goals in three games, although they also won the first place to advance, but it disappointed the fans, but fortunately, they still have a chance to prove themselves in the knockout round, this match day, England faced Slovenia in the 1/8 finals, the latter defeated Belgium, ranked third in the world, in the group stage, This is also the reason why many fans were optimistic that they would be able to upset and send home the Three Lions, which had no integrity at all! However, after the start of the game, Slovakia scored early and once saw the hope of an upset, but fortunately, Bellingham drew in injury and retired, and Kane made contributions in extra time to help England defeat Slovakia 2-1 and advance to the quarterfinals of the European Championship!
Despite the lack of strength of the opposition, Southgate still did not underestimate the opposition, sending the strongest team to respond, in a 4-2-3-1 system, allowing Pickford to guard the goal, Kieran Trippier, Guehi, John Stones and Walker formed a defensive system of four defenders, Rice and Maynu partnered in the back, Bellingham in the middle of the midfield, Foden and Saka on either side, and Harry Kane as the single arrow.
Once the game began, the Three Lions took over the game completely, leading the way in possession and constantly attacking the Slovak goal, while the latter could only rely on defensive counter-attacks and England to maneuver, but in terms of attacking threat, Slovakia were not weaker than the Three Lions.
In the 4th minute, Slovakia instigated a very threatening counterattack, after Hanzko quickly hit the opponent's penalty area on the left, completed a shot that seemed to be a pass, the ball grazed the post out of the bottom line, shocked the Three Lions in a cold sweat, and the poor performance in the group stage led to their questionable Bellingham, who was in good shape in this campaign, no longer blindly fighting alone on the field, and in the 8th minute, he transferred a precise long pass on the right side, giving Trippier the opportunity to hit the goal, but unfortunately the latter put an anti-aircraft gun.
Slovakia, who was not favored in the 25th minute, created another sharp counterattack opportunity through a long pass from the back, Schlantz entered the penalty area, faced the attacking Pickford, calmly pushed the far corner, helping the team to take a 1-0 lead, and after 38 years, the Three Lions created an embarrassing record of 0 shots on target in the half of the World Series.
England, who returned to the field, obviously accelerated their pace, and Kane, who had a very low sense of presence in the first half, also began to take the initiative to retreat to get the ball, and in the 50th minute, Kane's transfer accurately found Kieran Trippier, who assisted Foden to equalize, but unfortunately offside, the goal was decisively canceled by the referee.
In the 66th minute, England suffered another blow after the score, left wing-back Kieran Trippier was injured, and no one was available for Southgate to let Saka play full-back, and replaced Palmer, wanting to improve the team's attacking quality, but England still attacked wildly in regular time to no avail, and it was not until the 95th minute that Bellingham used an upside-down golden hook to chase the score to 1 draw, helping England successfully continue to live.
After the start of extra time, England, whose morale was boosted, quickly achieved a comeback, in the 91st minute, Kane received a header from his teammates, and scored with a header to rewrite the score to 2-1, and the rest of the time, Slovakia strengthened their attack, but the Three Lions did not give them a chance, and they had the last laugh as they wished, and reversed to advance to the quarterfinals of the European Cup!