England will face Slovakia in the Euro 2024 last 16 after avoiding a potential crunch clash with the Netherlands. Georgia’s shock 2-0 victory over Portugal in Gelsenkirchen has given the Three Lions a favourable tie in the first knockout round.

There were only two minor scenarios in which England would not face the Dutch on Sunday. One of those was that Georgia, ranked 74th in the world, had to beat Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal.

Another was that Czechia had to beat Turkey by a margin of one or two goals. That did not happen, with the 10-man Czechs losing 2-1 in Hamburg.

Georgia defeated Portugal thanks to goals by Kvicha Kvaratskhelia and Georges Mikautadze, sealing their own historic passage into the knockout rounds.

England topped Group C and were therefore scheduled to play one of the best-performing third-place teams. That country has now emerged as Slovakia, who finished third in Group E. All four teams in that group - which consisted of Romania, Belgium and Ukraine - finished on four points.

Slovakia will pose a tough test to England. They defeated Belgium 1-0 on matchday one and can call upon players who feature for teams including Paris Saint-Germain, Napoli and Newcastle.

If England beat Slovakia, they will play the winner of Switzerland vs Italy in Berlin on July 6 in the quarter-final.

England were poor despite topping Group C and will need a major improvement to reach the last eight and beyond. The Three Lions scored only two goals and won just one of their three matches against Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia.

Manager Gareth Southgate was targeted by beer cups thrown by dissenting supporters after England’s tepid performance against Slovenia. A goalless draw gives Southgate plenty of thinking to do, with his 4-2-3-1 system struggling to click.

Speaking about the negative reaction from supporters, Southgate said: “I understand it. I’m not going to back away from it. The most important thing is we stay with the team. I understand the narrative towards me.

“That’s better for the team than it being towards them but it is creating an unusual ­environment to operate in. I’ve not seen any other team qualify and receive similar.”

He added: “We’ve made England fun again and it’s been very, very enjoyable for the players,” he said. “We’ve got to be careful it stays that way.”

Meanwhile, Phil Foden has left the England camp and temporarily returned to the United Kingdom. It is widely reported that his partner had been due to give birth to their third child. It is unclear when Foden will return to Germany.