England secure crucial advantage at Euro 2024 – despite North Macedonia draw
England stumbled to a frustrating draw away to North Macedonia – but there was one silver-lining from a frustrating evening in Skopje.
Gareth Southgate's side needed Harry Kane to come of the bench to score and rescue a draw against the Balkan nation. Before the Bayern Munich man's introduction into the game, England were trailing 1-0 after Enis Bandhi converted a close-range rebound from a penalty that had initially been saved by Jordan Pickford.
With Euro 2024 qualification and top spot already confirmed, there appeared to be little jeopardy for England. However, they did manage to completely solidify one advantage they will take into the tournament in Germany.
READ MORE: England concede 'one of worst penalties' fans have seen as ref is labelled 'joke'
READ MORE: Four things Gareth Southgate learned as England stutter to North Macedonia draw
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The Three Lions will be in pot one when the draw for the Euro 2024 groups takes place on December 2. This means they will definitely avoid hosts Germany and World Cup runners-up France when it comes to the group stage. Barring a sensational piece of bad luck, England will get an easier draw than if they were to fall into pot two.
The Three Lions were knocked out by the French in the World Cup quarter-finals, while the Germans' record against England in major tournaments is far superior. Having missed a penalty against Germany in Euro 96, Southgate will surely be relieved to not have to face the two goliaths in the group stage.
How do you think England will fare in Euro 2024? Let us know in the comment section below
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In the face of questions of perhaps experimenting with his starting elevens, Southgate insisted he was focussed on ensuring a strong finish to ensure England's position in the world ranking was as high as possible.
When asked if he was particularly fussed about the FIFA world rankings, he replied: "Yeah, because ultimately you achieve that through consistency.
"You've got to play well in the tournaments as well because the ranking points are higher in the tournaments. Also, it sets behaviours every day on the training pitch, off the training pitch.
"If you are going to be the top-ranked team, there's no room for sloppiness or casualness. That's got to be our drive."
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