Are England the Best They’ve Ever Been?

Twenty-four teams, fifty-one matches, twelve host cities – the UEFA Euro 2020 championship is right around the corner, meaning all eyes are on the England team as they prepare for the tournament. Euro 2020 is set to be one of the most highly anticipated sporting events of the year and the coming months will include the play-off semi-finals and finals that will determine how the competition plays out. 

But will the new decade start off with a win for England?

A London Win for England?

England will be playing all three group games at Wembley, and the stadium will also be hosting two semi-final games and the much-awaited final itself. With the venue being commonly declared as the ‘home of football’, will this be the incentive the team need to earn their place in the final match? Southgate has been vocal about the competition being a brilliant experience for the players and fans to have the final matches of the tournament at home. There are rumours that it could even be an advantage, but Southgate was quick to point out that many teams will have the opportunity to play group matches at home, so they will also benefit from that advantage. With that in mind, this could be an entirely different tournament to ones we’ve seen before. 

Fourth Place Last Time

Having finished fourth in the last world cup, bookmakers have placed England at 4/1 odds, with France being the current infogol betting favorite to win despite their recent loss to the Netherlands in the Nations League. After gaining positive press from a long run of recent successes in outside tournaments, the team’s training has begun, and with promising new young players having recently joined, will 2020 be the year in which it comes home for England? Southgate recently spoke of his new team, stating that England has gained a lot of young, exciting players. He went on to say that the team has a strong bond that could well go in their favor going towards victory this year. 

More Respect from Other Teams

Southgate revealed that the team have gained some respect and believed that other teams would now be viewing them as a threat. With promising words for fans, Southgate went on to note that it’s hard to assess exactly where the team are following the qualifying campaign, but looking towards the World Cup semi-final, a Nations League semi-final, and qualifying with the most goals in Europe, they’ve done all they can. Southgate believes that the team is on a good track. It still may be early days in terms of predicting England’s future. Whether or not Euro 2020 will end in victory or not, only time will tell. But one thing has been apparent from the start, the team has a loyal and hopeful nation right behind them once again.