How England have performed at every major tournament under Gareth Southgate, with surprising rating for Euro 2024 - Opinion
Euro 2024 was Gareth Southgate’s last major tournament in charge of England as he has now stepped down from the role. The former Middlesbrough boss...
Euro 2024 was Gareth Southgate’s last major tournament in charge of England as he has now stepped down from the role.
The former Middlesbrough boss replaced Roy Hodgson in 2016 after the Three Lions flamed out of the European Championship at the hands of football minnows Iceland.
Since then, Southgate has overseen a huge improvement in the results of the national team, but he has not been able to achieve the ultimate goal of winning a trophy.
With many different outlooks on the 53-year-old’s tenure, TBR Football assesses England’s performance at each of the four tournaments with him on the touchline.
How did Gareth Southgate and England do at the 2018 World Cup?
England went into the 2018 World Cup in Russia with low expectations, having performed so badly at the Euros two years prior.
The Three Lions were placed into Group G, a rather favourable draw, alongside Belgium, Tunisia and Panama.
England beat Tunisia 2-1 in their opening game of the tournament, thanks to Harry Kane’s injury time-winner.
Kane then scored a hattrick in the second group game, a 6-1 victory over Panama, in which John Stones also scored twice.
Having already achieved qualification to the knockout rounds, Southgate picked a heavily rotated team for the final group match against Belgium – a 1-0 defeat.
World Cup 2018 Knockout Phase for England
The Three Lions face Colombia in the round of 16, and a Kane penalty looked to be enough for a place in the quarter-final until former Everton defender Yerry Mina scored in the 92nd minute.
Neither team could score in extra time and so it went to penalties, where England held their nerve to many people’s surprise.
And, Harry Maguire and Dele Alli were on the scoresheet as England cruised to a comfortable 2-0 victory over Sweden.
Southgate’s side were stopped in their tracks by Croatia in the semi-final, however, after Ivan Perisic and Mario Mandzukic replied to Kieran Trippier’s fifth-minute goal. England lost again to Belgium, this time 2-0, in the third-place play-off.
Little was expected of Southgate’s side at the 2018 World Cup so making it to the semi-final was an achievement. The Three Lions did have an easy run, though, and had a better squad than Croatia on paper.
- TBR Football’s rating of England’s performance: 8/10
How did Gareth Southgate and England do at Euro 2020?
England’s group for Euro 2020, which was postponed until 2021, consisted of Croatia, Scotland and the Czech Republic.
The Three Lions got a small sense of revenge on Croatia with their 1-0 victory in the first match of the tournament.
They followed that up with a 0-0 draw with close rivals Scotland before Chelsea winger Raheem Sterling scored his second of the competition in the 1-0 win over the Czech Republic.
Euro 2020 Knockout Phase for England
Southgate’s side defeated Germany at Wembley Stadium in the round of 16, with Kane and Sterling scoring in the closing stages.
England were excellent in their 4-0 thrashing of Ukraine in their quarter-final clash at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
And, a 2-1 semi-final success against tournament underdogs Denmark meant that England had reached just the second major tournament final in their history – the first, of course, being the 1966 World Cup.
Luke Shaw’s strike put the home side in front after just two minutes but they failed to double their lead, instead coming under pressure for much of the remainder.
And, Leonardo Bonucci’s second-half goal ensured that the two sides would go to extra time, where neither team could score before Italy came out victorious in a heartbreaking penalty shootout for Southgate’s men.
England’s second-best tournament in their history deserves a high rating but losing a home Euros final against Italy has to go down as a missed opportunity.
- TBR Football’s rating of England’s performance: 8.5/10
How did Gareth Southgate and England do at the 2022 World Cup?
England’s penultimate opportunity to achieve their first major tournament success since 1966 came at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
One of the favourites to win the World Cup on the back of an impressive Euro 2020 campaign, England were once again dealt a favourable group.
The Three Lions got off to an almost perfect start with the 6-2 thrashing of Iran but followed that up with a disappointing 0-0 draw with USA.
A Marcus Rashford helped England to a 3-0 win over Wales in their final group game, ensuring that they finished in first place in Group B.
World Cup 2022 Knockout Phase for England
England beat Senegal 3-0 in the round of 16, as Jordan Henderson scored just the third goal of his remarkable international career.
Unfortunately for Southgate’s side, however, they came up against 2018 winners France in the next round.
It was a close game but England ultimately paid the price for Kane’s missed penalty Les Bleus progressed to the semi-finals.
England were unlucky to face France in the quarter-final but as the saying goes, ‘if you want to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.’
- TBR Football’s rating of England’s performance: 6/10
How did Gareth Southgate and England do at Euro 2024?
England went into Euro 2024 as the favourites to win, having reached the latter stages of each of the past three tournaments.
Southgate’s side played more like underdogs, however, in their group-stage matches against Serbia (1-0 win), Denmark (1-1) and Slovenia (0-0).
Despite the abundance of talent within the squad, they showed a worrying inability to control games against inferior opposition.
That being said, England’s defence, albeit unbalanced with Trippier on the left, was not only solid but the key factor towards topping the group.
Euro 2024 Knockout Phase for England
England’s tournament was defined by moments of brilliance from their many talented players.
Against Slovakia in the round of 16, it was Jude Bellingham’s 95th-minute overhead kick that prevented one of the worst defeats in the nation’s history.
Bukayo Saka saved the day against Switzerland with a wonderful left-footed strike, before England scored all five penalties in the shootout to advance to the semi-finals.
And, it was substitute Ollie Watkins’ turn to be the hero against the Netherlands with a stunning last-minute strike into the bottom corner.
So, without playing well at all, England found themselves in the final. Once again, Southgate’s side struggled, but Cole Palmer’s second-half equaliser gave fans belief that they had one more ‘smash and grab’ in them.
Unfortunately, it was not to be. Instead, Spain, who were by far the most impressive team throughout the tournament, found a late winner to break English hearts for the umpteenth time.
- TBR Football’s rating of England’s performance: 7/10
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