Jamie Carragher has named the team England must avoid to stand any chance of winning Euro 2024.
Gareth Southgate’s side kick-started their Euros campaign with a nervy 1-0 win over Serbia on Sunday night.
Jude Bellingham’s 13th-minute header gave the Three Lions the perfect start in Germany and, despite some late Serbia pressure, England held on to move to the top of Group C.
England are aiming to win their first major trophy since 1966, having reached the latter stages of the last two World Cups and previous Euros, when they suffered a penalty shootout defeat to Italy in the final.
Carragher views England as one of the standout teams in Germany but believes they must avoid France to win the tournament and end 58 years of hurt.
France knocked England out in the quarter-finals of the last World Cup in Qatar and Carragher believes a similar scenario would play out if the European giants met at Euro 2024.
Didier Deschamps’ side, who finished as runners-up at the 2022 World Cup, begin their Euros campaign on Monday night against Austria.
‘I don’t see how England beat France, Carragher told The Telegraph. ‘That’s just my feeling.
‘I think England’s best team vs France’s best team is a toss of a coin. Some of the players who can’t get in the French team they’re winning Champions Leagues, they’re playing for some of the biggest clubs in the world.
‘I keep going back to the squad of France and who they can bring off the bench. I think Germany will reach the final because they’re at home and the experience they’ve got with players who won the World Cup.
‘But I think France will also have enough to beat Germany in their own backyard.’
England legend Alan Shearer, meanwhile, said there were plenty of ‘positives’ to take from the Three Lions’ nervy win over Serbia, though he admitted there is ‘work to do’ for Southgate and his squad.
Euro 2024 favourites England return to action on Thursday night against Denmark, before finishing the group stage against Slovenia a week on Tuesday.
‘The plan worked early on,’ Shearer told BBC Sport. ‘We had plenty of energy, Bellingham was brilliant – he was superb all game – and Bukayo Saka was absolutely unplayable down the right in the first half, but he did not have a look-in once Serbia came into the game after the break.
‘When we scored after 13 minutes, I was thinking we would go on and begin this tournament with the same sort of convincing wins that Germany and Spain started with, against Scotland and Croatia respectively, but we certainly did not do that.
‘Instead, from the last 10 minutes of the first half onwards, we really suffered. We could not get possession and Serbia increased their tempo, their aggression and everything else.
‘England could not really handle that, and we could not keep the ball either – so we had to defend well to hold out, and relied on Jordan Pickford to make a really good save to hang on for the three points.
‘It was a reminder of how, despite all the talent in this England squad, going the distance in Germany is going to be an extremely difficult task.
‘At the same time, we should remember that tournaments are not won or lost in the first game.
‘Before kick-off, Cesc Fabregas was talking about how his Spain side lost to Switzerland in their opening match at the 2010 World Cup and, at Qatar in 2022, Argentina were beaten by Saudi Arabia. Both teams went on to lift the trophy.
‘We have beaten Serbia and kept a clean sheet, so there are some positives to take into our next game in Group B against Denmark on Thursday – it is just there is plenty to chew on and work to do to improve.’
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