We did have wild dreams

16 March 2025 ◾ CARABAO CUP FINAL ◾ Wembley Stadium

NEWCASTLE UNITED 2 Burn 45, Isak 52
LIVERPOOL 1 Chiesa 90+4

Newcastle United Nick Pope - Kieran Trippier, Fabian Schaer, Dan Burn, Tino Livramento - Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali, Joelinton - Jacob Murphy (Emil Krafth 90), Alexander Isak (Callum Wilson 81), Harvey Barnes (Joe Willock 81) Booked Pope, Tonali
Liverpool Caoimhin Kelleher - Jarrell Quansah, Ibrahima Konate (Curtis Jones 57), Virgil van Dijk, Andrew Robertson - Ryan Gravenberch (Federico Chiesa 74), Alexis Mac Allister (Cody Gakpo 67) - Mohamed Salah, Dominic Szoboszlai, Luis Diaz (Harvey Elliott 74) - Diogo Jota (Darwin Nunez 57) Booked Chiesa
Attendance 88,513 Referee John Brooks

NEWCASTLE UNITED ended 70 years of domestic hurt with a 2-1 win over Liverpool in a first Wembley Cup Final triumph since 1955.

Local hero Dan Burn marked his first England call-up by steering an unerringly accurate header past Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher from Kieran Trippier's corner on the stroke of half time.

Then, in the second half, just moments after having had a goal chalked off by the video assistant referee (VAR), Alexander Isak struck a sublime half-volley from Jacob Murphy's knock-down to double the lead.

It was all far more straightforward than it felt - although Newcastle fans of a nervous disposition, scarred by so many years of Wembley misery, had their fears somewhat justified when Federico Chiesa pulled a goal back.

But it had taken 95 minutes for the Reds to breach the Magpies' magnificent defence just once - and, despite facing a further torturous five minutes of additional time, Newcastle were not to be denied.

This brilliant, well-deserved win under the Wembley arch ended the following painful sequence of six successive defeats at the national stadium in major Cup competitions, as follows:

• 4 May 1974 ▪ FA Cup Final ▪ Liverpool 3-0 Newcastle United
  
• 28 February 1976 ▪ League Cup Final ▪ Manchester City 2-1 Newcastle United
  
• 16 May 1998 ▪ FA Cup Final ▪ Arsenal 2-0 Newcastle United
  
• 22 May 1999 ▪ FA Cup Final ▪ Manchester United 2-0 Newcastle United
  
• 9 April 2000 ▪ FA Cup Semi Final ▪ Chelsea 2-1 Newcastle United
• 26 February 2023 ▪ League Cup Final ▪ Manchester United 2-0 Newcastle United

Nevertheless, this Newcastle team, featuring no fewer than nine of the players who appeared in the 2023 reverse, had learned from past mistakes.

In the past, the occasion always seemed as if it was too much for Newcastle and that resulted in some desperately tepid displays.

"Keegan two, Heighway one. Liverpool three, Newcastle none," chimed David Coleman in 1974, then a generation passed before Arsenal's Marc Overmars painfully turned Alessandro Pistone inside-out in 1998.

Twelve months later, Newcastle were mere bystanders as Manchester United marched to the second part of their Treble.

And the Magpies were effectively out of the game by half-time against the same opponents two years ago.

But this time was different. Spearheaded by their irrepressible midfield trio - Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton and Sandro Tonali - Newcastle were in Liverpool's faces from the very first whistle and earned the better of the early exchanges.

Tonali flashed a shot past the post before Murphy fired well over the bar - then, just as the half threatened to drift to a close without any scoring, Burn popped up to put Newcastle into the lead in a major domestic Cup Final for first time since 1955.

The second half was a carbon copy. Newcastle were unfortunate not to add to their advantage when Isak poked in a rebound but Bruno Guimaraes was deemed to be interfering with play in an offside position despite Kelleher managing to get down to make a save low down from Joelinton's shot.

No matter. From his very next touch, Isak found the back of the net again after making a difficult finish look deceptively simple.

Liverpool briefly showed some form of response as Curtis Jones drew a one-armed save from Nick Pope - yet, if anything, Newcastle looked more likely to make it 3-0.

Harvey Barnes squared to Isak free in the middle of the box - and, although the Swede's effort was blocked by Kelleher, Eddie Howe's men never let up and further close efforts followed from Murphy, Joelinton and Tonali.

In stoppage time, Arne Slot's Reds eventually got the better of the Magpies' rearguard following just about the first mistake of the afternoon by Howe's side.

After the ball was desperately scrambled clear, Bruno Guimaraes tried to run it out to the halfway line - but instead the Brazilian coughed possession up far too easily.

Harvey Elliott carved open a defence still trying to recover from the previous assault and, with a well-weighted pass, found Chiesa who finished a neat move completely out-of-keeping with the remainder of the Reds' afternoon.

Initially ruled out for offside, the Italian was confirmed to be comfortably on - and the length of the VAR check merely served to extend the Magpies' painful wait.

Newcastle never panicked, though, with Bruno Guimaraes next time running the ball into one corner deep in Liverpool territory, before substitute Joe Willock repeated the trick on the other side of the pitch to win a corner and the reward of an emphatic chest bump from Tonali.

A few moments later, the longest major trophy drought in English club football was over - and greeted by the ear-splitting elation of the black-and-white half of Wembley. Finally, it was over.

Now, of course, all the players and staff deserve credit for having finally rid Newcastle of what had seemed like an unfathomable curse.

However, there are a few heroes in black-and-white that deserve a special mention.

Current captain Bruno Guimaraes, whose tears were guaranteed come rain or shine, and who is the embodiment of the emotion of the Geordie nation despite the fact that he hails from Rio de Janeiro.

Former skipper Trippier, who lifted the Cup alongside Bruno, and who believed in the potential of Newcastle so much that he swapped a Champions League campaign with Atletico Madrid for a relegation fight in which he played the key role in ensuring survival.

And another early Eddie Howe signing, Blyth-born 6'7 Big Dan Burn, who was man of the match and lived out his wildest boyhood dream in real-time.

"It's not beyond our wildest dreams because we did have wild dreams," said Sir Bobby Robson when Newcastle qualified for the Champions League under his tutelage.

Howe, unusually emotional at full time, had also already achieved that when he took his place on the Wembley touchline, but he has now done something no other manager - not Robson or even club great Kevin Keegan - could do.

Newcastle have won a major trophy for the first time since Joe Harvey's side put Ujpest Dozsa to the sword in Budapest in the month before Man first walked on the Moon.

For the first time in nearly 56 years, Newcastle are winners - and it has been so long that all of the Toon Army still seem to be rubbing their eyes in disbelief and none of it yet seems true.

Yes, it all still feels like a dream - the wildest of dreams.

ROUTE TO THE CUP FINAL

NEWCASTLE UNITED
Round 1 Bye
Round 2 v Nottingham Forest (A)	D1-1 (4-3 pens)	Willock 1
Round 3 v AFC Wimbledon (H)	W1-0	Schar 45+1(p)
Round 4 v Chelsea (H)	W2-0	Isak 23, Disasi 26(og)
Quarter final v Brentford (H)	W3-1	Tonali 9, 43, Schar 69
Semi final v Arsenal (A)	W2-0	Isak 37, Gordon 51
Semi final v Arsenal (H)	W2-0 (4-0 agg)	Murphy 19, Gordon 52
LIVERPOOL
Round 1 Bye
Round 2 Bye
Round 3 v West Ham United (H)	W5-1	Jota 25, 49, M Salah 74, Gakpo 90, 90+3
Round 4 v Brighton & Hove Albion (A)	W3-2	Gakpo 46, 63, Diaz 85
Quarter final v Southampton (A)	W2-1	Nunez 24, Elliott 32
Semi final v Tottenham Hotspur (A)	L0-1
Semi final v Tottenham Hotspur (H)	W4-0 (4-1 agg)	Gakpo 34, Salah 51(p), Szobodzlai 75, van Dijk 80

Euro 2020+1 Final - Not this time, maybe never

➡️ EURO 2020+1 FINAL • 11-July 20:00 BBC ITV • London (ENG) - after extra time
ITALY 1 Bonucci 67
ENGLAND 1 Shaw 2
• ITALY won 3-2 on penalties

ITALY Donnarumma, Di Lorenzo, Bonucci, Chiellini, Emerson (Florenzi 118), Barella (Cristante 54), Jorginho, Verratti (Locatelli 96), Chiesa (Bernardeschi 86), Immobile (Berardi 54), Insigne (Belotti 91) Unused subs Sirigu, Pessina, Acerbi, Bastoni, Toloi, Meret. Booked Barella, Bonucci, Insigne, Chiellini, Jorginho
ENGLAND Pickford, Walker (Sancho 120), Stones, Maguire, Trippier (Saka 70), Phillips, Rice (J. Henderson 74 (Rashford 120)), Shaw, Mount (Grealish 99), Sterling, Kane Unused subs Ramsdale, Mings, Coady, Calvert-Lewin, Johnstone, James, Bellingham. Booked Maguire
Referee Bjorn Kuipers (NED)

ENGLAND gave up a glorious opportunity for a first major international honour in 55 years after succumbing to Italy in the Final in a dreaded penalty shoot-out.

Milan, and soon-to-be Paris Saint-Germain, goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was the Italian hero of the night as he saved spot-kicks from Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka after Marcus Rashford had hit the post.

Jordan Pickford had done his best to keep England in it, producing saves from Andrea Belotti and Jorginho - but it was perhaps inevitable that penalties would ultimately haunt Gareth Southgate again.

The night - on the pitch at least - had all started so well, too. The excellent Luke Shaw put the Three Lions ahead with only 117 seconds on the clock, slamming home a cross from Kieran Trippier on the half-volley.

Encouraged by the early goal, England went on to have the better of opening exchanges of the first half with familiar joy coming down both flanks.

Clear opportunities remained at a premium, however - and Italy came back into the half as it wore on with Federico Chiesa and Marco Verratti both getting sight of goal.

Neither man troubled Pickford too much as a Wembley crowd of more than 67,000 roared its half time approval at the 1-0 interval lead.

The second half was always likely to be tougher and a far less sloppy performance on the ball from Italy gradually allowed them to take control of the tempo and the match as a whole.

With almost an hour on the clock, Chiesa tried to catch Pickford out at his near post then, five minutes later, forced a good, low save from the Everton goalkeeper.

The equaliser was on its way - and, from a corner, a Verratti header forced Pickford into a magnificent one-handed save off the post.

Unfortunately for Pickford, though, the ball fell straight to Leonardo Bonucci and the Juventus veteran was able to bundle the ball into the net from inside the six-yard box.

Still, England could not turn the tide and Domenico Berardi might have done better with a volley from 12 yards - but thereafter the time drifted away from both teams and so came extra time.

Not that the additional 30 minutes ever really threatened to settle the game. Instead, respective head coaches Southgate and Roberto Mancini intentionally introduced the players who they fancied to do the job from the spot.

Once again, it was the Italians who came closest when Pickford reacted well to prevent Federico Bernardeschi from getting on the end of Emerson Palmieri's cross from the left.

Meanwhile, England's best effort was no more than a half-chance really as Donnarumma did enough to put John Stones off his header from a long throw by Kyle Walker.

And so to penalties. Italy - with their shoot-out win over Spain in the semi final still fresh in the memory - took first.

But, after Harry Kane and Beradi converted the opening kicks, England got their noses in front when Pickford saved to his left from Belotti and Harry Maguire smashed his turn into a camera occupied in the top corner of the net.

Of course, the advantage did not last long after goalscorer Bonucci hit the net again for Italy and Rashford missed the next for England.

Rashford's delayed, stuttering run-up actually seemed to work as Donnarumma dived the wrong way but, with the whole left side of the net gaping, the Manchester United forward inexplicably hit the ball against the face of the upright.

Back level again, the Italians retook the lead in the shoot-out as Bernardeschi fired down the middle before Sancho placed his penalty with little power into Donnarumma.

Pickford's brilliant save from Jorginho kept England alive - but, in an effective sudden death situation, the responsibility for the fifth Three Lions penalty fell onto the shoulders of 19-year-old Saka.

A forgivably nervous effort was sat up at a good height to Donnarumma's left and the Milan prodigy made a comfortable save to send the Azzurri fans, players and bench into dreamland.

After all, it is one matter compiling an unbeaten run of 34 matches - and quite another keeping the sequence going throughout a tournament to the point of winning silverware.

For Italy, this triumph is especially remarkable, coming less than four years since the team had failed even to qualify for the World Cup on a heartbreaking night in November 2017 at the San Siro in Milan.

England's fortunes under Southgate appear to be turning around more slowly - nevertheless, the Three Lions are headed in the right direction - on the pitch at least.

Off the pitch, this was a far darker night for English football than it needed to be.

There was trouble even before kick off as a "large number of drunken yobs" tried to force their way in to Wembley without tickets ahead of the Final.

Idiots fought with stewards and police as they attempted to break through security gates, and the Metropolitan Police made 45 arrests.

Far worse followed, though. Rashford, Sancho and Saka - three young black men - were all subjected to vile racist abuse on Twitter and other social media following their penalty misses.

Meanwhile, the Rashford mural in Withington, Manchester - painted in recognition of his work to tackle child food poverty - was vandalised with racist graffiti.

Home Secretary Priti Patel condemned the online behaviour - but her stomach-turning hypocrisy was rightly called out by squad member Tyrone Mings.

Aston Villa defender Mings said Ms Patel had "stoked the fire" by refusing to criticise fans who booed the England team for taking the knee.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson - who hardly had an exemplary race relations record in his days as a journalist or as Mayor of London - had taken the same view as Ms Patel when asked for his response to the boos.

But, although progress is still painfully slow, perhaps the last 48 hours might just make everyone realise that people, on mass, do not operate in a vacuum.

For sure, the advent of social media, with its ability still for users to operate accounts as anonymous shills, has much to do with the greater awareness of these issues.

However, the wider politics in the United Kingdom over the last decade have also definitely made it more acceptable for groups and individuals to be subjected to "othering" by ill-intentioned, and often outright racist, people.

Of course, the vast majority of England fans are not badly-behaved or knuckle-dragging numbskulls - but what a shame so many of the bad apples have taken the spotlight away from a team which has enjoyed a pleasing resurgence.

From their failure to get through the Group Stage at the 2014 World Cup and their humiliation against Iceland at Euro 2016, the Three Lions have now backed up their 2018 semi final with an even more impressive showing this summer, albeit with home advantage for six out of the seven matches.

For now, though, Wembley 2021 must be added to Turin in 1990, Southgate's Wembley despair in 1996, Saint-Etienne in 1998, Lisbon in 2004, Gelsenkirchen in 2006, and Kiev in 2012 in an ever-increasing list of penalty shoot-out pain.

This time, it was a Final at least - one step further than the semi final exit three years ago at the World Cup against Croatia.

But still, despite the insistence of millions, football steadfastly refused to come home.

Perhaps, despite the recent undoubted progress by this likeable team, it is destined never to do so.

➡️ EURO 2020+1 ⬅️
The full results

➡️ SEMI FINAL • 06-July 20:00 BBC • London (ENG) - after extra time
SPAIN 1  Morata 80
ITALY 1  Chiesa 60
• ITALY won 4-2 on penalties

SPAIN Simon, Azpilicueta (M. Llorente 85), Garcia (P. Torres 109), Laporte, Jordi Alba, Koke (Rodri 70), Busquets (c) (Thiago 105), Pedri, F. Torres (Morata 62), Oyarzabal (Moreno 70), Olmo Unused subs De Gea, D. Llorente, Sanchez, Gaya, Ruiz, Traore Booked Busquets
ITALY Donnarumma, Di Lorenzo, Bonucci, Chiellini (c), Emerson (Toloi 74), Barella (Locatelli 85), Jorginho, Verratti (Pessina 74), Chiesa (Bernardeschia 107), Immobile (Beradi 61), Insigne (Belotti 85) Unused subs Sirigu, Acerbi, Cristante, Bastoni, Florenzi, Meret Booked Toloi, Bonucci
Referee Felix Brych (GER)

➡️ SEMI FINAL • 07-July 20:00 ITV • London (ENG) - after extra time
DENMARK 1 Damsgaard 30
ENGLAND 2 Kjaer 39og, Kane 104

DENMARK Schmeichel, Christensen (Andersen 79), Kjaer (c), Vestergaard (Wind 105), Stryger Larsen (Wass 67), Hojberg, Delaney (Jensen 88), Maehle, Braithwaite, Dolberg (Norgaard 67), Damsgaard (Poulsen 67) Unused subs Skov, Skov Olsen, M. Jorgensen, Lossl, Cornelius, Ronnow Booked Wass
ENGLAND Pickford, Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw, Phillips, Rice (J. Henderson 95), Saka ((Grealish 69) Trippier 105), Mount (Foden 95), Sterling, Kane (c) Unused subs Rashford, Ramsdale, Mings, Coady, Sancho, Johnstone, James, Bellingham Booked Maguire
Referee Danny Makkelie (NED)

➡️ QUARTER FINALS

02-July	17:00	SWITZERLAND	1-1	SPAIN	St Petersburg (RUS)
ITV		Shaqiri 68	(1-3) aet	won on penalties Zakaria 8og
02-July	20:00	BELGIUM	1-2	ITALY	Munich (GER)
BBC		Lukaku 45+2pen		Barella 31, Insigne 44
03-July	17:00	CZECH REPUBLIC	1-2	DENMARK	Baku (AZE)
ITV		Schick 49		Delaney 5, Dolberg 42
03-July	20:00	UKRAINE	0-4	ENGLAND	Rome (ITA)
BBC				Kane 4, 50, Maguire 46 J. Henderson 63

➡️ LAST 16

26-June	17:00	WALES	0-4	DENMARK	Amsterdam (NED)
BBC				Dolberg 27, 48 Maehle 88 Braithwaite 90+6
26-June	20:00	ITALY	2-1	AUSTRIA	London (ENG)
BBC		Chiesa 95 Pessina 105	aet	Kalajdzic 114
27-June	17:00	NETHERLANDS	0-2	CZECH REPUBLIC	Budapest (HUN)
ITV				Holes 68, Schick 80
27-June	20:00	BELGIUM	1-0	PORTUGAL	Seville (ESP)
ITV		T. Hazard 42
28-June	17:00	CROATIA	3-5	SPAIN	Copenhagen (DEN)
ITV		Gonzalez 20og Orsic 85 Pasalic 90+2	aet	Sarabia 38 Azpilicueta 57 F. Torres 76 Morata 100 Oyarzabal 103
28-June	20:00	FRANCE	3-3	SWITZERLAND	Bucharest (ROM)
ITV		Benzema 57, 59 Pogba 75	(4-5) aet	won on penalties Seferovic 15, 81 Gavranovic 90
29-June	17:00	ENGLAND	2-0	GERMANY	London (ENG)
BBC		Sterling 75, Kane 86
29-June	20:00	SWEDEN	1-2	UKRAINE	Glasgow (SCO)
BBC		Forsberg 43	aet	Zinchenko 27 Dovbyk 120+1

➡️ GROUP A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) ITALY	3	0	0	7	0	+7	9
(Q) WALES	1	1	1	3	2	+1	4
(Q) SWITZERLAND	1	1	1	4	5	-1	4
TURKEY	0	0	3	1	8	-7	0

11-June	20:00	TURKEY	0-3	ITALY	Rome
BBC				Demiral 53og, Immobile 66 Insigne 79
12-June	14:00	WALES	1-1	SWITZERLAND	Baku
BBC		Moore 74		Embolo 49
16-June	17:00	TURKEY	0-2	WALES	Baku
BBC				Ramsey 42, C. Roberts 90+5
16-June	20:00	ITALY	3-0	SWITZERLAND	Rome
ITV		Locatelli 26, 52, Immobile 89
20-June	17:00	SWITZERLAND	3-1	TURKEY	Baku
ITV		Seferovic 6, Shaqiri 26, 68		Kahveci 62
20-June	17:00	ITALY	1-0	WALES	Rome
ITV		Pessina 39

➡️ GROUP B	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) BELGIUM	3	0	0	7	1	+6	9
(Q) DENMARK	1	0	2	5	4	+1	3
FINLAND	1	0	2	1	3	-2	3
RUSSIA	1	0	2	2	7	-5	3

12-June	17:00	DENMARK	0-1	FINLAND	Copenhagen
BBC				Pohjanpalo 60
12-June	20:00	BELGIUM	3-0	RUSSIA	St Petersburg
ITV		Lukaku 10, 88, Meunier 34
16-June	14:00	FINLAND	0-1	RUSSIA	St Petersburg
BBC				Al. Miranchuk 45+2
17-June	17:00	DENMARK	1-2	BELGIUM	Copenhagen
ITV		Poulsen 2		T. Hazard 55, De Bruyne 70
21-June	20:00	RUSSIA	1-4	DENMARK	Copenhagen
BBC		Dzyuba 70pen		Damsgaard 38, Poulsen 59 Christensen 79, Maehle 82
21-June	20:00	FINLAND	0-2	BELGIUM	St Petersburg
BBC				Hrádecky 74og, Lukaku 81

➡️ GROUP C	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) NETHERLANDS	3	0	0	8	2	+6	9
(Q) AUSTRIA	2	0	1	4	3	+1	6
(Q) UKRAINE	1	0	2	4	5	-1	3
NORTH MACEDONIA	0	0	3	2	8	-6	0

13-June	17:00	AUSTRIA	3-1	NORTH MACEDONIA	Bucharest
ITV		Lainer 18, Gregoritsch 78 Arnautovic 89		Pandev 28
13-June	20:00	NETHERLANDS	3-2	UKRAINE	Amsterdam
ITV		Wijnaldum 52, Weghorst 58 Dumries 85		Yarmolenko 75 Yaremchuk 79
17-June	14:00	UKRAINE	2-1	NORTH MACEDONIA	Bucharest
ITV		Yarmolenko 29 Yaremchuk 34		Alioski 57
17-June	20:00	NETHERLANDS	2-0	AUSTRIA	Amsterdam
BBC		Depay 11pen, Dumfries 67
21-June	17:00	NORTH MACEDONIA	0-3	NETHERLANDS	Amsterdam
ITV				Depay 24, Wijnaldum 51, 58
21-June	17:00	UKRAINE	0-1	AUSTRIA	Bucharest
ITV				Baumgartner 21

➡️ GROUP D	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) ENGLAND	2	1	0	2	0	+2	7
(Q) CROATIA	1	1	1	4	3	+1	4
(Q) CZECH REPUBLIC	1	1	1	3	2	+1	4
SCOTLAND	0	1	2	1	5	-4	1

13-June	14:00	ENGLAND	1-0	CROATIA	London
BBC		Sterling 57
14-June	14:00	SCOTLAND	0-2	CZECH REPUBLIC	Glasgow
BBC				Schick 42, 52
18-June	17:00	CROATIA	1-1	CZECH REPUBLIC	Glasgow
BBC		Perisic 47		Schick 37pen
18-June	20:00	ENGLAND	0-0	SCOTLAND	London
ITV
22-June	20:00	CROATIA	3-1	SCOTLAND	Glasgow
ITV		Vlasic 17, Modric 62, Perisic 77		McGregor 42
22-June	20:00	CZECH REPUBLIC	0-1	ENGLAND	London
ITV				Sterling 12

➡️ GROUP E	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) SWEDEN	2	1	0	4	2	+2	7
(Q) SPAIN	1	2	0	6	1	+5	5
SLOVAKIA	1	0	2	2	7	-5	3
POLAND	0	1	2	4	6	-2	1

14-June	17:00	POLAND	1-2	SLOVAKIA	St Petersburg
ITV		Linetty 46		Szczesny 18og, Skriniar 69
14-June	20:00	SPAIN	0-0	SWEDEN	Seville
BBC
18-June	14:00	SWEDEN	1-0	SLOVAKIA	St Petersburg
BBC		Forsberg 77pen
19-June	20:00	SPAIN	1-1	POLAND	Seville
BBC		Morata 25		Lewandowski 54
23-June	17:00	SLOVAKIA	0-5	SPAIN	Seville
ITV				Dubravka 30og, Laporte 45+3 Sarabia 56, F. Torres 67, Kucka 71og
23-June	17:00	SWEDEN	3-2	POLAND	St Petersburg
ITV		Forsberg 2, 59 Claesson 90+4		Lewandowski 61, 84

➡️ GROUP F	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) FRANCE	1	2	0	4	3	+1	5
(Q) GERMANY	1	1	1	6	5	+1	4
(Q) PORTUGAL	1	1	1	7	6	+1	4
HUNGARY	0	2	1	3	6	-3	3

15-June	17:00	HUNGARY	0-3	PORTUGAL	Budapest
ITV				Guerreiro 84 Ronaldo 87pen, 90+2
15-June	20:00	FRANCE	1-0	GERMANY	Munich
ITV		Hummels 20og
19-June	14:00	HUNGARY	1-1	FRANCE	Budapest
BBC		Fiola 45+2		Griezmann 66
19-June	17:00	PORTUGAL	2-4	GERMANY	Munich
ITV		Ronaldo 15, Jota 67		Ruben Dias 35og, Guerreiro 39og Havertz 51, Gosens 60
23-June	20:00	PORTUGAL	2-2	FRANCE	Budapest
BBC		Ronaldo 31pen, 60pen		Benzema 45+2pen, 47
23-June	20:00	GERMANY	2-2	HUNGARY	Munich
BBC		Havertz 66, Goretzka 84		Ad. Szalai 11, Schafer 68

➡️ THIRD-PLACED TEAMS	Group	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) PORTUGAL	[F]	1	1	1	7	6	+1	4
(Q) CZECH REPUBLIC	[D]	1	1	1	3	2	+1	4
(Q) SWITZERLAND	[A]	1	1	1	4	5	-1	4
(Q) UKRAINE	[C]	1	0	2	4	5	-1	3
FINLAND	[B]	1	0	2	1	3	-2	3
SLOVAKIA	[E]	1	0	2	2	7	-5	3

➡️ SCORERS
5 Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Patrick Schick (Czech Republic)
4 Karim Benzema (France), Emil Forsberg (Sweden), Romelu Lukaku (Belgium), Harry Kane (England)
3 Georginio Wijnaldum (Netherlands), Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Haris Seferovic (Switzerland), Raheem Sterling (England), Kasper Dolberg (Denmark), Federico Chiesa (Italy), Alvaro Morata (Spain)
2 Manuel Locatelli (Italy), Ciro Immobile (Italy), Andriy Yarmolenko (Ukraine), Roman Yaremchuk (Ukraine), Denzel Dumfries (Netherlands), Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland), Memphis Depay (Netherlands), Yussuf Poulsen (Denmark), Ivan Perisic (Croatia), Kai Havertz (Germany), Matteo Pessina (Italy), Thorgan Hazard (Belgium), Pablo Sarabia (Spain), Ferran Torres (Spain), Lorenzo Insigne (Italy), Mikkel Damsgaard (Denmark)
1 Breel Embolo (Switzerland), Kieffer Moore (Wales), Joel Pohnjanpalo (Finland), Thomas Meunier (Belgium), Stefan Lainer (Austria), Goran Pandev (North Macedonia), Michael Gregoritsch (Austria), Marko Arnautovic (Austria), Wout Weghorst (Netherlands), Karol Linetty (Poland), Milan Skriniar (Slovakia), Raphael Guerreiro (Portugal), Aleksei Miranchuk (Russia), Aaron Ramsey (Wales), Connor Roberts (Wales), Ezgjan Alioski (North Macedonia), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium), Attila Fiola (Hungary), Antoine Griezmann (France), Robin Gosens (Germany), Diogo Jota (Portugal), Irfan Kahveci (Turkey), Christoph Baumgartner (Austria), Andreas Christensen (Denmark), Joakim Maehle (Denmark), Nikola Vlasic (Croatia), Callum McGregor (Scotland), Luka Modric (Croatia), Aymeric Laporte (Spain), Viktor Claesson (Sweden), Adam Szalai (Hungary), Andras Schafer (Hungary), Leon Goretzka (Germany), Joakim Maehle (Denmark), Martin Braithwaite (Denmark), Sasa Kalajdzic (Austria), Tomas Holes (Czech Republic), Cesar Azpilicueta (Spain), Mislav Orsic (Croatia), Mario Palasic (Croatia), Mikel Oyarzabal (Spain), Paul Pogba (France), Mario Gavranovic (Switzerland), Oleksandr Zinchenko (Ukraine), Artem Dovbyk (Ukraine), Nicolo Barella (Italy), Thomas Delaney (Denmark), Harry Maguire (England), Jordan Henderson (England), Luke Shaw (England), Leonardo Bonucci (Italy)
11 own goals Merih Demiral (Turkey) v Italy, Wojciech Szczeny (Poland) v Slovakia, Mats Hummels (Germany) v France, Ruben Dias (Portugal) v Germany, Raphael Guerreiro (Portugal) v Germany, Lukas Hradecky (Finland) v Belgium, Martin Dubravka (Slovakia) v Spain, Juraj Kucka (Slovakia) v Spain, Pedri (Spain) v Croatia, Denis Zakaria (Switzerland) v Spain, Simon Kjaer (Denmark) v England

➡️ RED CARDS
Grzegorz Krychowiak (Poland) v Slovakia
Ethan Ampadu (Wales) v Italy
Harry Wilson (Wales) v Denmark
Matthijs De Ligt (Netherlands) v Czech Republic
Marcus Danielson (Sweden) v Ukraine

Remo Freuler (Switzerland) v Spain

Euro 2020+1 - And Final-ly...

ENGLAND are in the closing stages of preparations for their first major Final in 55 years after coming back to beat Denmark in extra time at Wembley on Wednesday.

An own goal and Harry Kane's quick reaction to his own missed penalty means the Three Lions will meet Italy tomorrow night at 8pm after the Azzurri beat Spain on penalties in the first semi final.

Taking the tournament as a whole, it genuinely feels as if the correct two teams will play for the chance to win the Henri Delaunay trophy. 

England made a fairly slow start to the competition with only two Raheem Sterling goals against Croatia and the Czech Republic to show for the Group Stage, either side of a disappointing stalemate against Scotland. 

Importantly, though, the defence - over which there had been legitimate concerns going into the tournament - held firm throughout as England made it through a first Group Stage without conceding for the first time since 1966. 

The only apparent issue was that the Group D winners were rewarded for their efforts by being pitched by the draw against one of the giants from Group F. 

Of course, that was no less than runners-up Germany - though, at least, England got to stay at Wembley, a sure advantage against the weakest German team in a generation in the death throes of Joachim Loew's period in charge. 

Nevertheless, the Last 16 match was as intense as expected for a tie between England and Germany. 

In an even first half, the consistently outstanding Sterling almost added to his tally with a curling shot which was well saved by Manuel Neuer - while, at the other end, Jordan Pickford had to be alert to smother an effort from Timo Werner.

England made a slow start to the second half but gradually regained a foothold in a contest which looked to be heading towards an extra 30 minutes - and the possibility of penalties. 

With a quarter of an hour left to play, though, the Three Lions made the breakthrough from a lovely passing move around the box. 

Started by a driving run from Sterling, it was finished off by the same man with the Manchester City forward in the perfect position to tap in Luke Shaw's low cross from the left. 

But Sterling nearly undid all of his good work almost immediately by next gifting the ball to Kai Havertz who played in Thomas Muller behind the England backline. 

Muller looked a certain scorer as he struck the ball beyond Pickford - but, to disbelieving eyes, the Bayern Munich man dragged his shot wide of the post.

England quickly made Germany pay as a four-on-four opportunity developed. Shaw fed Jack Grealish down the fruitful left side - and the Aston Villa man swung the ball perfectly onto the head of Harry Kane to make it 2-0.

Later that evening, Ukraine beat Sweden with a goal in the last minute of extra time to set up a quarter final fixture against England in Rome last Saturday. 

It would be the only time in the competition that England would be asked to play away from Wembley - and the ongoing restrictions surrounding the coronavirus pandemic prevented any England-based fans from making the trip to the Eternal City. 

Not that it mattered. Kane, having broken his duck against the Germans, took less than four minutes to make his mark against Ukraine from Sterling's delightful through-ball for only the second goal scored in a first half by England at these Euros. 

The Three Lions should have had more than one before the interval against Ukraine in a dominant display - but, within seconds of the restart, made up for it anyway. 

An early free-kick midway through the Ukraine half brought a second goal - swung in beautifully by the brilliant Shaw, fellow Manchester United defender Harry Maguire took his international tally to four with a trademark header. 

Within another four minutes of that, it was 3-0 and England could relax a little after Sterling, Shaw and Kane combined nicely to set up the main man with another simple header. 

This drought for Kane was not the first in his career - and it will not be his last - but it is well and truly over now, and he almost scored a glorious hat-trick goal on the volley soon afterwards. 

A poor Ukraine team were reeling and England completed the rout with still nearly half an hour left when Jordan Henderson nodded in a Mason Mount corner for his first international goal on his 62nd cap. 

It really could have been a banana skin - and, even though it was a quarter final, the build-up lacked the tension which was present ahead of the tie against Germany. 

By this stage, however, the England players clearly had their eyes on a bigger prize than a few boasts against the Germans. 

Indeed, against Ukraine, it could be said that the Three Lions produced probably their most complete performance so far in the reign of Gareth Southgate. 

England had waited 22 years for a semi final back in 2018 - but, just like London buses, two had arrived one after another (or three if the Nations League is included). 

Undoubtedly, though, Denmark would prove tougher opposition than either Ukraine or Germany following their own dramatic journey to the last four. 

The Danes had done magnificently to recover from the near-tragic incident of their star man Christian Eriksen collapsing on the field after suffering a cardiac arrest in their opening match against Finland. 

And, while it barely seemed really to matter, the two defeats from their first two games merely compounded Denmark's misery.

News of Eriksen's improvement seemed to galvanise the Danes, however - as they scored four goals twice in back-to-back games against Russia and Wales before beating the Czech Republic in the quarter finals. 

Denmark had made a series of quick starts during this good run - and, at Wembley on Wednesday, went ahead again through a direct free-kick which was sweetly struck by Mikkel Damsgaard from 30 yards. 

It was the first successful direct free-kick of Euro 2020+1 after 36 previous attempts - and, more pertinently for England, the first goal of the tournament conceded by Pickford. 

The Everton goalkeeper will feel he might have done better with the goal and he played throughout the night with a certain fragility which has previously blighted his game. 

Nevertheless, his form up to the semi final had been nothing short of excellent with his place as number one in the national team surely now firmly re-established. 

But, while there were a few more nerves around the England team during the semi final than in previous matches, the Three Lions did not panic - and, not long before half time, it was 1-1.

Teenager Bukayo Saka got round the back of the Danish defence and crossed towards Sterling who would have had a fourth goal of the tournament if skipper Simon Kjaer had not put through his own net in front of him.

England were better in the second half - but, as time ticked by, extra time for the first time this summer became something of an inevitability.

Normally a period racked with nerves, England instead played with fantastic attacking intent from the start. 

Leicester City's Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel was forced into saves from Kane and Grealish before Sterling, on the right byline, attempted to weave around the Denmark defence, only to go down. 

Penalty given - a contentious decision, a soft one perhaps, but it is only the wilfully blind who deny there was contact between the right hip of Joakim Maehle and Sterling's left knee.

In any case, Kane had already been denied a far more obvious shout for a penalty inside the 90 minutes when he clearly had his legs hooked from him by Christian Norgaard.

While it is true that there were also two balls on the pitch when Saka crossed for the first goal, the Danes' complaints about wrong decisions come across as particularly salty when you consider that the free-kick given in the lead-up to the Damsgaard goal was also an incorrect call. 

In their quarter final against the Czech Republic too, Denmark had scored from a corner which should have been given as a goal kick. 

All of this indeed without even flicking the history pages of football back any further than the last couple of weeks.

For sure, England have suffered enough wretched decisions over the years, far worse than that penalty decision on Wednesday night - although the individual with the green laser pen personally lost any such moral debate with his (or her) singular action.

Simply put, though, England were the better team on Wednesday against a Danish outfit which could be forgiven for being emotionally exhausted at the end of this tournament - and which was out on their feet by the end of extra time.

The Three Lions ran the clock down with ease - and, at one stage, engaged a period of spell-binding keep-ball which produced 53 passes across more than two-and-a-half minutes of continuous possesion.

Italy, then, will be another step up again for this young England team who show a greater maturity under Southgate than his selection which reached the World Cup semi finals in 2018.

England have improved their ability to keep the ball, have a more varied attack, a better defence than for which they are given credit - and therefore, a greater ability to ensure matches are played at a tempo of their own dictation.

Just consider how different the semi finals against Croatia in 2018 and Denmark on Wednesday played out.

Three years ago, England made a fast start and took the lead - coincidentally from a direct free-kick - before defending deep and tiring badly in the second half and in extra time.

Against Denmark, there were no such issues - for England at least.

Of course, Italy also head into the Final on the back of a remarkable resurgence inspired by coach Roberto Mancini since his appointment in 2018.

In 2018, Italy were not at the World Cup hosted by Russia - the first time since 1958 that the Azzurri had failed to qualify - following a 1-0 aggregate defeat in the playoffs to Sweden.

Unsurprisingly, the failure caused a crisis in Italian football - but, under the calm and determined tutelage of Mancini, the Italians have rapidly become a force again.

After all, Italy head into the Final on the back of a sequence of 33 unbeaten matches, breaking the previous national record of 30 in their Last 16 tie against Austria. 

And, while starting centre-backs Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci may now have 70 years between them, they have seen and learned every trick in the trade and so still offer valuable protection to 22-year-old goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Not that the much younger age of Donnarumma should fool anyone, for this is a man who already has 32 Italian caps having made his debut in Serie A for Milan at the age of 16.

Unusually, though, Mancini's Italy is not solely based on a solid defence - both full-backs are encouraged to push forwards and goals come from all over the pitch, with six different players in the goals at Euro 2020+1 so far.

Realistically then, Italy - on the back of this tremendous run - should be considered to be the favourites, regardless of the odds which are actually being offered.

Nevertheless, it will be a close-run thing if England continue to play as they have been throughout this tournament - and are buoyed by a fanatical support at Wembley.

Already, England have achieved so much this summer with the improvement on their semi final showing in 2018 and the more convincing manner in which this run to the Final has been achieved. 

There is just one final step now to take for this team, which has thankfully ignored the hot air and obfuscation of politicians and other outsiders to represent truly all that is good about modern England. 

For certain, if they take it, no one shall sleep long on Sunday night for the celebrations which victory would bring. Nessun dorma, indeed.

➡️ SEMI FINAL • 07-July 20:00 ITV • London (ENG) - after extra time
DENMARK 1 Damsgaard 30
ENGLAND 2 Kjaer 39og, Kane 104

DENMARK Schmeichel, Christensen (Andersen 79), Kjaer (c), Vestergaard (Wind 105), Stryger Larsen (Wass 67), Hojberg, Delaney (Jensen 88), Maehle, Braithwaite, Dolberg (Norgaard 67), Damsgaard (Poulsen 67) Unused subs Skov, Skov Olsen, M. Jorgensen, Lossl, Cornelius, Ronnow Booked Wass
ENGLAND Pickford, Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw, Phillips, Rice (J. Henderson 95), Saka ((Grealish 69) Trippier 105), Mount (Foden 95), Sterling, Kane (c) Unused subs Rashford, Ramsdale, Mings, Coady, Sancho, Johnstone, James, Bellingham Booked Maguire
Referee Danny Makkelie (NED)

➡️ SEMI FINAL • 06-July 20:00 BBC • London (ENG) - after extra time
SPAIN 1  Morata 80
ITALY 1  Chiesa 60
• ITALY won 4-2 on penalties
Olmo - Moreno - Thiago - Morata
Locatelli - Belotti - Bonucci - Bernardeschia - Jorginho

SPAIN Simon, Azpilicueta (M. Llorente 85), Garcia (P. Torres 109), Laporte, Jordi Alba, Koke (Rodri 70), Busquets (c) (Thiago 105), Pedri, F. Torres (Morata 62), Oyarzabal (Moreno 70), Olmo Unused subs De Gea, D. Llorente, Sanchez, Gaya, Ruiz, Traore Booked Busquets
ITALY Donnarumma, Di Lorenzo, Bonucci, Chiellini (c), Emerson (Toloi 74), Barella (Locatelli 85), Jorginho, Verratti (Pessina 74), Chiesa (Bernardeschia 107), Immobile (Beradi 61), Insigne (Belotti 85) Unused subs Sirigu, Acerbi, Cristante, Bastoni, Florenzi, Meret Booked Toloi, Bonucci
Referee Felix Brych (GER)

➡️ QUARTER FINALS

02-July	17:00	SWITZERLAND	1-1	SPAIN	St Petersburg (RUS)
ITV		Shaqiri 68	(1-3) aet	won on penalties Zakaria 8og
02-July	20:00	BELGIUM	1-2	ITALY	Munich (GER)
BBC		Lukaku 45+2pen		Barella 31, Insigne 44
03-July	17:00	CZECH REPUBLIC	1-2	DENMARK	Baku (AZE)
ITV		Schick 49		Delaney 5, Dolberg 42
03-July	20:00	UKRAINE	0-4	ENGLAND	Rome (ITA)
BBC				Kane 4, 50, Maguire 46 J. Henderson 63

➡️ LAST 16

26-June	17:00	WALES	0-4	DENMARK	Amsterdam (NED)
BBC				Dolberg 27, 48 Maehle 88 Braithwaite 90+6
26-June	20:00	ITALY	2-1	AUSTRIA	London (ENG)
BBC		Chiesa 95 Pessina 105	aet	Kalajdzic 114
27-June	17:00	NETHERLANDS	0-2	CZECH REPUBLIC	Budapest (HUN)
ITV				Holes 68, Schick 80
27-June	20:00	BELGIUM	1-0	PORTUGAL	Seville (ESP)
ITV		T. Hazard 42
28-June	17:00	CROATIA	3-5	SPAIN	Copenhagen (DEN)
ITV		Gonzalez 20og Orsic 85 Pasalic 90+2	aet	Sarabia 38 Azpilicueta 57 F. Torres 76 Morata 100 Oyarzabal 103
28-June	20:00	FRANCE	3-3	SWITZERLAND	Bucharest (ROM)
ITV		Benzema 57, 59 Pogba 75	(4-5) aet	won on penalties Seferovic 15, 81 Gavranovic 90
29-June	17:00	ENGLAND	2-0	GERMANY	London (ENG)
BBC		Sterling 75, Kane 86
29-June	20:00	SWEDEN	1-2	UKRAINE	Glasgow (SCO)
BBC		Forsberg 43	aet	Zinchenko 27 Dovbyk 120+1

➡️ SCORERS
5 Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Patrick Schick (Czech Republic)
4 Karim Benzema (France), Emil Forsberg (Sweden), Romelu Lukaku (Belgium), Harry Kane (England)
3 Georginio Wijnaldum (Netherlands), Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Haris Seferovic (Switzerland), Raheem Sterling (England), Kasper Dolberg (Denmark), Federico Chiesa (Italy), Alvaro Morata (Spain)
2 Manuel Locatelli (Italy), Ciro Immobile (Italy), Andriy Yarmolenko (Ukraine), Roman Yaremchuk (Ukraine), Denzel Dumfries (Netherlands), Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland), Memphis Depay (Netherlands), Yussuf Poulsen (Denmark), Ivan Perisic (Croatia), Kai Havertz (Germany), Matteo Pessina (Italy), Thorgan Hazard (Belgium), Pablo Sarabia (Spain), Ferran Torres (Spain), Lorenzo Insigne (Italy), Mikkel Damsgaard (Denmark)
1 Breel Embolo (Switzerland), Kieffer Moore (Wales), Joel Pohnjanpalo (Finland), Thomas Meunier (Belgium), Stefan Lainer (Austria), Goran Pandev (North Macedonia), Michael Gregoritsch (Austria), Marko Arnautovic (Austria), Wout Weghorst (Netherlands), Karol Linetty (Poland), Milan Skriniar (Slovakia), Raphael Guerreiro (Portugal), Aleksei Miranchuk (Russia), Aaron Ramsey (Wales), Connor Roberts (Wales), Ezgjan Alioski (North Macedonia), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium), Attila Fiola (Hungary), Antoine Griezmann (France), Robin Gosens (Germany), Diogo Jota (Portugal), Irfan Kahveci (Turkey), Christoph Baumgartner (Austria), Andreas Christensen (Denmark), Joakim Maehle (Denmark), Nikola Vlasic (Croatia), Callum McGregor (Scotland), Luka Modric (Croatia), Aymeric Laporte (Spain), Viktor Claesson (Sweden), Adam Szalai (Hungary), Andras Schafer (Hungary), Leon Goretzka (Germany), Joakim Maehle (Denmark), Martin Braithwaite (Denmark), Sasa Kalajdzic (Austria), Tomas Holes (Czech Republic), Cesar Azpilicueta (Spain), Mislav Orsic (Croatia), Mario Palasic (Croatia), Mikel Oyarzabal (Spain), Paul Pogba (France), Mario Gavranovic (Switzerland), Oleksandr Zinchenko (Ukraine), Artem Dovbyk (Ukraine), Nicolo Barella (Italy), Thomas Delaney (Denmark), Harry Maguire (England), Jordan Henderson (England) 
11 own goals Merih Demiral (Turkey) v Italy, Wojciech Szczeny (Poland) v Slovakia, Mats Hummels (Germany) v France, Ruben Dias (Portugal) v Germany, Raphael Guerreiro (Portugal) v Germany, Lukas Hradecky (Finland) v Belgium, Martin Dubravka (Slovakia) v Spain, Juraj Kucka (Slovakia) v Spain, Pedri (Spain) v Croatia, Denis Zakaria (Switzerland) v Spain, Simon Kjaer (Denmark) v England

➡️ RED CARDS
Grzegorz Krychowiak (Poland) v Slovakia
Ethan Ampadu (Wales) v Italy
Harry Wilson (Wales) v Denmark
Matthijs De Ligt (Netherlands) v Czech Republic
Marcus Danielson (Sweden) v Ukraine

Remo Freuler (Switzerland) v Spain

Euro 2020: England and Wales avoid Group of Death

EURO 2020 FINALS DRAW

12 June 2020 - 12 July 2020
 

	GROUP A  Rome Baku		GROUP B Copenhagen St Petersburg		GROUP C  Amsterdam Bucharest		GROUP D London Glasgow
[A1]	TURKEY	[B1]	DENMARK	[C1]	NETHERLANDS	[D1]	ENGLAND
[A2]	ITALY	[B2]	FINLAND	[C2]	UKRAINE	[D2]	CROATIA
[A3]	WALES	[B3]	BELGIUM	[C3]	AUSTRIA	[D3]	PLAYOFF [C]
[A4]	SWITZERLAND	[B4]	RUSSIA	[C4]	PLAYOFF [D]	[D4]	CZECH REP
			GROUP E  Bilbao Dublin		GROUP F Munich Budapest
		[E1]	SPAIN	[F1]	PLAYOFF [A]
		[E2]	SWEDEN	[F2]	PORTUGAL
		[E3]	POLAND	[F3]	FRANCE
		[E4]	PLAYOFF [B]	[F4]	GERMANY

SEEDING POTS
Teams were seeded based upon their performance during the Euro 2020 qualifiers

Pot (1) Belgium, Italy, England, Germany, Spain, Ukraine
Pot (2) France, Poland, Switzerland, Croatia, Netherlands, Russia
Pot (3) Portugal, Turkey, Denmark, Austria, Sweden, Czech Republic
Pot (4) Wales, Finland, four playoff winners

ENGLAND and Wales were both given seemingly manageable tasks at the Euro 2020 finals next summer after the draw was made in Bucharest last night.

The Three Lions will meet some familiar foes in Group D, most notably a Croatia outfit who they lost against in the 2018 World Cup semi finals but then beat last year in group stage of the inaugural Nations League competition.

Gareth Southgate's men will also face the Czech Republic - who they played twice in qualifying with mixed results - and the winner of Playoff Path [C] which could set up a Battle of Britain clash against Scotland.

England are one of 12 tournament hosts - spread across the width of the continent - with groups having already been allocated to each host nation.

That means if the Scots make it through the playoffs at the expense of Israel and either Norway or Serbia away in late-March, the Tartan Army would also get to watch their own team in two of their three games at Hampden Park in Glasgow.

But, having qualified directly rather than through the playoffs, England will have home advantage in any match between the pair.

Reacting to the draw, Three Lions head coach Southgate said: "I'm never sure whether it's a good draw. We have played two of the teams before and for us to play at Wembley is something special. We are looking forward to the tournament.

"We have to accept that expectations have changed from where we were. We are very critical of ourselves. We would rather be a team that are fancied than a team with no chance."

Wales - who, memorably, reached the last four at Euro 2016 in France - were drawn into Group A, which is headlined by Italy, with matches in the section to be held in Rome as well as Baku in Azerbaijan.

Along with the resurgent Azzurri, the Welsh will also come up against Switzerland and Turkey, neither of whom could exactly be considered as giants on the world stage.

Both did win their qualifying groups, though - and Turkey impressively finished above France - but it could have easily been worse for Ryan Giggs and his fledgling Dragons.

Giggs said: "Logistically looking at it, it's Baku, Baku, Rome, rather than having Rome in the middle - so for the fans it's much better.

"Switzerland are a good team, talented. Turkey were in a group with France and Iceland so have done well to come through that - and Italy have won every game so that will be tough.

"I'll get around and watch the players as much as I can. You hope that, come June, you have a group of healthy players to choose from and if we have that, we're a match for anyone.

"We want to take our chance, just like in 2016."

Of course, Northern Ireland were also in the finals four years ago - and reached the Last 16 before being beaten by the Welsh.

This time, Northern Ireland - like Scotland - will have to navigate their way through the playoffs if they are going to make it into the finals.

Playoff Path [B] firstly takes the Northern Irish to Bosnia-Herzegovina - although, if they win in Sarajevo, they will have home advantage for the final against Slovakia or Ireland.

Meanwhile, Ireland - as one of the host nations - have the additional motivation of knowing they will play two Group E finals games in Dublin if they make it through themselves.

Three-time champions Spain head that section with Sweden and Poland rounding it off.

Elsewhere, the intricacies of the tournament resulted in Group B having been almost completely decided ahead of the draw.

Hosts Denmark and Russia qualified directly and were automatically assigned to the group, of course - while Belgium, as one of only two top seeds without hosting rights, also had no option other than to join them.

That is because Ukraine were the only other non-host among the top seeds - and, for political reasons, the Ukrainians cannot be put into the same section as Russia.

Facing two away games is not something with which the world number one-ranked Belgians were particularly happy - and midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has not been shy about expressing his feelings on the matter.

“It’s a disgrace," he told HLN Sport in Belgium. "For me this feels like competition distortion, a fake competition.

"Football is not really football any more, it's becoming a business."

Nevertheless, the allocation of major finals debutants Finland to the same group will surely go some way to softening the blow suffered by the Belgians.

Meanwhile, Ukraine were instead allocated to Group C - alongside the Netherlands, Austria, and the winner of the lowest-ranked playoff route.

Playoff Path [D] features Georgia versus Belarus and North Macedonia versus Kosovo - with one of those four going on to make it to a finals tournament for the first time.

It would be fair to suggest that the group as a whole does not look like the toughest exercise for the Dutch.

However, the same cannot be said of Group F - and, after much concern that England could get both the current world champions France from pot two and defending European champions Portugal from pot three, the pair were perhaps inevitably drawn together.

Instead, though, they landed in the section headed by Germany in what can only be termed a Group of Death.

At least it would have been in past championships - but, as in Euro 2016, four third-placed teams join the top two from each group in the Last 16 of the competition for the start of the knockout stages.

Therefore, it seems more likely that the Germans, French and Portuguese will all make it through in some shape or form, rather than any of them heading for an early exit.

Rather bizarrely, the foibles of this mis-shapen tournament do not end with the group stage draw - as the path into the latter stages has already been mapped out.

The winners of Group D involving England will take on the runners-up from that top-heavy Group F in Dublin for a place in the quarter finals.

Could it be better then to finish runners-up in Group D and instead run into the runners-up of Group E, most likely Sweden or Poland in Copenhagen?

Either way, if England progress through the group stage, they will head off to neutral territory for the Last 16 - while the hosts of the quarter finals will be Munich, Saint Petersburg, Rome, and Baku.

Of course, both semi finals and the Final itself on 12 July will be hosted back at Wembley - but let us not get too far ahead of ourselves.

After all, not even the full line-up of teams has yet to be decided.

GROUP A

12-June	(8pm)	TURKEY v ITALY	Rome
13-June	(2pm)	WALES v SWITZERLAND	Baku
17-June	(5pm)	TURKEY v WALES	Baku
17-June	(8pm)	ITALY v SWITZERLAND	Rome
21-June	(5pm)	SWITZERLAND v TURKEY	Baku
21-June	(5pm)	ITALY v WALES	Rome

GROUP B

13-June	(5pm)	DENMARK v FINLAND	Copenhagen
13-June	(8pm)	BELGIUM v RUSSIA	Saint Petersburg
17-June	(2pm)	FINLAND v RUSSIA	Saint Petersburg
18-June	(5pm)	DENMARK v BELGIUM	Copenhagen
22-June	(8pm)	RUSSIA v DENMARK	Copenhagen
22-June	(8pm)	FINLAND v BELGIUM	Saint Petersburg

GROUP C

14-June	(5pm)	AUSTRIA v PLAYOFF [D]	Bucharest
14-June	(8pm)	NETHERLANDS v UKRAINE	Amsterdam
18-June	(2pm)	UKRAINE v PLAYOFF [D]	Bucharest
18-June	(8pm)	NETHERLANDS v AUSTRIA	Amsterdam
22-June	(5pm)	PLAYOFF [D] v NETHERLANDS	Amsterdam
22-June	(5pm)	UKRAINE v AUSTRIA	Bucharest

GROUP D

14-June	(2pm)	ENGLAND v CROATIA	London
15-June	(2pm)	PLAYOFF [C] v CZECH REPUBLIC	Glasgow
19-June	(5pm)	CROATIA v CZECH REPUBLIC	Glasgow
19-June	(8pm)	ENGLAND v PLAYOFF [C]	London
23-June	(8pm)	CROATIA v PLAYOFF [C]	Glasgow
23-June	(8pm)	CZECH REPUBLIC v ENGLAND	London

GROUP E

15-June	(5pm)	POLAND v PLAYOFF [B]	Dublin
15-June	(8pm)	SPAIN v SWEDEN	Bilbao
19-June	(2pm)	SWEDEN v PLAYOFF [B]	Dublin
20-June	(8pm)	SPAIN v POLAND	Bilbao
24-June	(5pm)	PLAYOFF [B] v SPAIN	Bilbao
24-June	(5pm)	SWEDEN v POLAND	Dublin

GROUP F

16-June	(5pm)	PLAYOFF [A] v PORTUGAL	Budapest
16-June	(8pm)	FRANCE v GERMANY	Munich
20-June	(2pm)	PLAYOFF [A] v FRANCE	Budapest
20-June	(5pm)	PORTUGAL v GERMANY	Munich
24-June	(8pm)	PORTUGAL v FRANCE	Budapest
24-June	(8pm)	GERMANY v PLAYOFF [A]	Munich

LAST 16

27-June	(5pm)	[38]  RUNNER-UP A v RUNNER-UP B	Amsterdam
27-June	(8pm)	[37]  WINNER A v RUNNER-UP C	London
28-June	(5pm)	[40]  WINNER C v THIRD PLACE D/E/F	Budapest
28-June	(8pm)	[39]  WINNER B v THIRD PLACE A/D/E/F	Bilbao
29-June	(5pm)	[42]  RUNNER-UP D v RUNNER-UP E	Copenhagen
29-June	(8pm)	[41]  WINNER F v THIRD PLACE A/B/C	Bucharest
30-June	(5pm)	[44]  WINNER D v RUNNER-UP F	Dublin
30-June	(8pm)	[43]  WINNER E v THIRD PLACE A/B/C/D	Glasgow

QUARTER FINALS

03-July	(5pm)	(45)  WINNER [41] v WINNER [42]	Saint Petersburg
03-July	(8pm)	(46)  WINNER [39] v WINNER [37]	Munich
04-July	(5pm)	(47)  WINNER [40] v WINNER [38]	Baku
04-July	(8pm)	(48)  WINNER [43] v WINNER [44]	Rome

SEMI FINALS

07-July	(8pm)	WINNER (46) v WINNER (45)	London
08-July	(8pm)	WINNER (48) v WINNER (47)	London

PLAYOFF DRAW
The home team in each of the one-off semi finals was decided on the basis of the respective teams' Nations League ranking. The venues of the four one-off finals in each Path were determined by a draw held on 22 November.

Path
[A]	Semi finals ICELAND v ROMANIA BULGARIA v HUNGARY Final BULGARIA or HUNGARY v ICELAND or ROMANIA	Group F
[B]	Semi finals BOSNIA-HERZ v N IRELAND SLOVAKIA v IRELAND Final BOSNIA-HERZ or N IRELAND v SLOVAKIA or IRELAND	Group E
[C]	Semi finals SCOTLAND v ISRAEL NORWAY v SERBIA Final NORWAY or SERBIA v SCOTLAND or ISRAEL	Group D
[D]	Semi finals GEORGIA v BELARUS N MACEDONIA v KOSOVO Final GEORGIA or BELARUS v N MACEDONIA or KOSOVO	Group C