PM Rishi Sunak: Violent scenes at Euro 2024 'unacceptable' (2024)

Once the Romania vs Ukraine game is done in Munich, there are still two more matches to enjoy. Here are the details for those two matches:

17.00 BST Belgium vs Slovakia (Group E) Frankfurt, ITV

20.00 BST Austria vs France (Group D) Düsseldorf, ITV

We will be live blogging both of those games.

Reflections on last night:

We’re happy of course, we got a win which was what our objective was. It’s very important to start a tournament with a win and that was our main aim. We definitely didn’t want to lose the game, but we knew had the quality of players to win the game and we proved that.

It was a very difficult game and we had to earn it, but those are the ones which feel even better. Tournament football is really hard and of course we feel we could’ve played better, but we won and in tournament football that’s the only thing that matters to be honest.

We’ll keep up the momentum. It’s the first game so we won’t get ahead of ourselves. We know we earnt today, but at the same time we know we need to improve in the tournament. So there’s things to learn and things we can also look at and be happy with.

On being deployed in midfield:

It’s physically demanding but when you’re playing with the likes of Declan [Rice], Jude [Bellingham] and the others in and around you with an experienced back four behind you, it helps.

With Declan and Jude talking to you and guiding you through it, it’s hard to go wrong. The manager and the staff, Steve Holland especially, we’ve put a lot of work into this role.

So I was well prepared and I knew what was asked of me and what role I needed to do and hopefully they felt like I executed it because we got the win in the end.

Who is the star player?

If his rating was not high enough before, then scoring a hat-trick in the World Cup final proved Kylian Mbappe’s credentials as a bonafide superstar. If France win the tournament, Mbappe will be the reason for it.

How do they play?

Similarly to England, France swap between a 4-2-3-1 and a 4-3-3 formation with Mbappe deployed on the left wing and Antoine Griezmann in the number 10. With Paul Pogba banned and N’Golo Kante ageing, their midfield now relies on Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga.

Chances of victory

France go into the tournament among the favourites. However, England await in the semi-finals should both win their group and many are backing Southgate’s team to gain revenge on their Qatar World Cup defeat. Semi-finals.

Who is the star player?

David Alaba’s ACL injury means Austria will be without their star player and captain so the focus will fall on Marcel Sabitzer, who now plays his trade for Dortmund after a brief spell at Manchester United.

How do they play?

Austria have always attempted to play quick one and two-touch football, but under Ralf Rangnick, it is stressed more so than before. Like at Manchester United, Austria are fluid with their formations under the 65-year-old. They fielded a 4-3-3, 4-1-4-1 and a 4-4-2 line-up in qualifying.

Chances of victory

With their leader and star player ruled out and the toughness of the group, Austria’s chances of making it out the group are slim, even in third place, unless Rangnick can master a miracle. Group stages.

Who is the star player?

Milan Skriniar. The 29-year-old has long been Slovakia’s best player since Marek Hamsik retired. The PSG centre-back can do a good job of marshalling their defence but will fall short in attack.

How do they play?

Francesco Calzona sets his side up in a 4-3-3 formation with full-backs going forward to make up for the lack of wingers in his squad. Skriniar runs a tight ship in defence after conceding just eight goals in qualifying.

Chances of victory

Their defensive capabilities should see them make a run for second place in the group, however, their lack of firepower going forward could see them come up short. Instead they will progress via the best third-placed teams route. Round of 16.

For the two games to come later today, let us take a closer look at the four teams we will see, starting with Belgium:

Who is the star player?

At 32, Kevin De Bruyne’s appearances at a major tournament are numbered. With his minutes managed at Manchester City after a long injury the summer may come just in time for him to be fit and firing once more.

How do they play?

Like many top teams with a good midfield, Belgium prize themselves on a possession-based approach usually in a 4-3-3 formation. Jeremy Doku provides the pace which Romelu Lukaku lacks with Amadou Onana holding firm in midfield.

Chances of victory

Being on what looks like to be the open side of the draw, Belgium could coast their way to the quarter-finals if they find form. Getting past that will be a tough ask, but the Golden Generation have one last dance. Quarter-finals.

They have just gone past the 20-minute mark in Munich and it remains goalless between Romania and Ukraine. A reminder that there are two more games today after the match in Munich is finished:

17.00 BST Belgium vs Slovakia (Group E) Frankfurt, ITV

20.00 BST Austria vs France (Group D) Düsseldorf, ITV

• Simon Young: “The over-rated Foden has never performed well for England. Always goes missing. Should be permantly dropped in favour of the brilliant Palmer, who has played on the left.”
• Steve Turner: “Typical Southgate. Tap the ball around, quick goal then sit back and hope for the best. In the second half they were strolling. Where was the aggression, where was the closing down? They won’t stand a chance against the better sides like that. Attack is the best form of defence Mr Southgate.”

I thought it went well. It’s always very tough in the first game of a tournament. Both teams want three points. It was a tough test but we played well and I’m very proud of the boys tonight.

They have a team of 6ft giants who were very physical but they can play as well. It helps when I’ve got so much experience around me and in front of me. It really helps.

[Why did you struggle in the second half?] You’re playing against good players and it’s a tough system to play against. You’re always worried about them getting in behind and their physical strength.

I don’t like talking about myself, it’s about the team. I’ve settled in well and everyone makes everyone feel welcome.

I saw the player that plays every week for his club. Positionally sound, calm. Tonight was an even bigger test because stature-wise he’s not one of the biggest centre-backs and there was going to be a lot of aerial balls in the box.

He dealt with that really well, so, yeah, I thought he transferred what he does with his club on to the biggest stage and he showed what a good player he is.

On getting a win in the first game:

It’s always massive. You look across the past few tournaments that we’ve had, it is always crucial to get the first win. We knew it would be a tough game, a tough team to play against and we had to defend our box very well, and I thought we did that.

We’ve learned a lot, but the most important thing is the three points. It gives us great momentum, belief. It shows the character of the boys. When it gets tough, you know you have to deal with that.

The subs that came on made a huge impact and that’s what we’ve always talked about - the togetherness of the group, everyone has to be ready. You can be called upon at any moment and the subs were a great impact for us.

On England’s next game against Denmark:

We’re not thinking about a point. We want to go into the Denmark game and we want to win. That’s our only focus. We don’t want to focus on anything else further than that.

We know Denmark are a very good side, good quality players, so now the most important thing is we recover as a team and then we focus on Denmark.

On the importance of a clean sheet:

Clean sheets are massive. As you look through the winners of tournaments, clean sheets are a massive factor. We talk about that lot, defend our box well and certainly we had to defend crosses because they put some dangerous balls in the box.

If you look at the last tournament as well, I think we had the most clean sheets and that can take you far. The most important thing is don’t concede and you see the quality that we have got at the other end to score goals.

On Jude Bellingham:

You don’t need to be at my age to be a leader. You can be 18, 19, 20. You can lead in different ways.

Jude is so young but he leads. Like I said, you don’t need to be an experienced player, you don’t need to be Harry Kane who is the captain, you can lead in any way at any age. We’ve got that in our squad. The new players coming into our squad have done extremely well, they speak up and we have made them feel very welcome.

On their heavy defeat to Germany:

Obviously we’ve had a couple of days. We’ve put [the Germany defeat] to bed. The manager had a couple of meetings last night to go over it and draw a line under it and look forward to the next game.

As players we have got to look at ourselves first and look how we approach the game and perform. This is a group [of players] that’s been together for quite a while now. We’ve had our ups and downs together, we’ve shown before we can bounce back from negative results.

On responding to critics:

I don’t think we need to send a message to critics. Certainly for Scotland supporters, we feel that disappointment as well.

I think supporters see it is a genuine side who want to give their all for the country. We have got a massive opportunity to be successful again.

On if nerves played a factor in their opening defeat by Germany:

These games are huge, a big occasion and everyone wants to play on those types of nights. So obviously there is a bit of added nerves in the atmosphere around the game.

But no I don’t think that’s something we can use as an excuse as to why we didn’t perform like we wanted to on Friday. We have got a really close-knit group in camp and those are only the opinions that we have got to take going forward.

The violent scenes around England’s Euro 2024 opener in Gelsenkirchen “do not reflect the spirit of the tournament”, Downing street said.

Seven Serbia fans were arrested after clashes ahead of the defeat against England, with videos showing tables, chairs and bottles thrown before riot police arrived.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: “The vast majority of travelling England fans were in good spirits ahead of the match, but clearly such scenes are unacceptable and do not reflect the spirit of the tournament.”

The spokeswoman said Rishi Sunak was “delighted” with the opening 1-0 win.

“He is obviously delighted with a win and with a clean sheet for England’s opening game of the Euros.

“It was a strong start to the tournament against tough opponents, lit up by [Jude] Bellingham’s performance and his thumping header to get the only goal of the game.”

Thom Gibbs has a round-up of the best and worst new designs for this summer’s tournament.

• Peter McMahon: “Bellingham was the only one in the side who appeared as if you wanted to move forward. Unfortunately, every time he passed to someone and ran into space, that person passed the ball backwards. In addition, they were unable to play out from the back, even in the most basic manner, and relied on long kicks from Pickford. The only consolation is that they were still exponentially better than Scotland.”
• Julian Hughes: “England looked really sound. In the last Euro final they looked skilful but a bit innocent and done over by a much more cynical and hard headed Italian team. This time they looked a bit more mature, less volatile, really focused on their own performance and not about to be surprised by fate.”
• Sean Browner: “We’ve seen this film before and know how it will end. Yes, Foden should have been hooked for Palmer at h/t. I’d also have got Watkins on for Kane to run the channels and stretch Serbia. Kane held the ball up well and took a battering but he hadn’t got the pace to threaten now.”

Here are all the details of what you can look forward to on day four at Euro 2024:

14.00 BST Romania vs Ukraine (Group E) Munich, BBC

17.00 BST Belgium vs Slovakia (Group E) Frankfurt, ITV

20.00 BST Austria vs France (Group D) Düsseldorf, ITV

We will be live blogging all three of those games.

On Jude Bellingham:

I don’t need to talk about how good it is. I think you see in Madrid every week, seen it again (against Serbia), the match winner.

I feel like he’s a player that when I’m holding I’ve just got to let him flourish and do his thing, let him feel like he’s got the confidence on the pitch to go out there and do whatever he wants.

The more we play together, I feel like the connection and bond we’ve got is really, really good. With Jude, he is just another level isn’t he? That is all I can say really.

On Trent Alexander-Arnold:

Trent I thought played really well. (It was) his first time properly playing like a defensive midfield role. So it’s a really good trio.

On the victory in their opening game:

It’s massive. I think we’ve built this team off clean sheets. In the last Euros, I think we had five out of seven and at the World Cup we had a lot of clean sheets. We have real defensive solidity, it’s just about doing it on the night...it was definitely a game of two halves.

It was a really important victory, to be honest with you, to kick-start the tournament. I thought we started really well, showed some real great composure with the ball. It’s always tough against a back-five and second half they obviously came on to us a lot more and were probably a bit more of a threat.

But in the end, I thought we were comfortable - we’ve just got to use the ball a little bit better in the second half when it starts to get tough.

I think the first half shows why we can score goals against any team, and the second half shows why we can keep a clean sheet against any team. I think obviously, commonly with the team, there’s a negative theme around all our games. You know, sometimes rightly so.

But I think in this case you take the positives from the fact that, OK, maybe we had to hold on at times and suffer a little bit, but we kept a clean sheet. When you keep clean sheet all you have to do is score one goal to win the game.

It’s three points, I think this team is still so new, gelling together with every game. I think inside the changing room we’ll be happy with that. Of course, there will be negatives that we want to kind of rub out but overall I’m pleased with that performance.

On Trent Alexander-Arnold:

I loved it. I think we had a great balance with the ball, without the ball, particularly in possession I thought Trent was brilliant. He conducts games so well. He’s very calm on the ball. His technique and qualities unmatched, I think, in terms of what he can do with the ball.

He’s always positive and that really helps someone like me who wants to get on the ball all over the pitch and try and attack their backline. So, I look forward to having more minutes with him, enjoying how we can develop and how we can get used to each other’s game, and seeing how far we can take the potential.

And of course, as always, Declan [Rice] was fantastic. I think he’s one of the best in the world in that position. He’s a joy.

That’s the reality of tournaments, they’re a strong team and we had to suffer a bit but that’s good for us.

[Jude] writes his own scripts doesn’t he? The timing of his runs. It was a super bit of play in the build-up of his goal. I think all of our forward players looked really good.

[Disappointed not to score more goals?] Today was just the finishing and a good save from the keeper from the header. I’m confident we will score goals. It’s not easy to play against a back five but we created chances.

I said I’m glad we suffered a bit without the ball [because it will stand England in good stead down the line]. I think is really good for us. I think to defend the box the way we did was really good for us. I was really pleased with a lot of the play. Second half we didn’t keep it as well as I would have liked but to get the win is very important.

Jude goes forward a lot and Trent adapted to his positioning really well, used the ball well and had a good effort on goal.

• John Bates: “This result shows exactly the problem with Southgate. In the first half England were good - though why Kane was there who knows and Bellingham had to come and get the ball because they were too slow getting it to him, but the second half was abysmal. If Southgate thinks you can defend a one nil lead for 45 minutes against the likes of Spain, France, Germany or Italy he is delusional. The trouble is the win will flatter him.”
• Lord Balfour: “Nothing has changed with England, very slow attacking movements, panic in defence and very poor substitutions. Cole Palmer one of the best attacking midfielders and a leading goal scorer, sat on the bench. Southgate has always been clueless and England will be lucky to reach the quarter finals. Just like every other tournament but this time with some of the most talented players.”
• Bettina Thwaite: “It was a stressful game to watch, especially the second half. Serbia always looked on the verge of scoring. Faced with a better team England will cut a sorry figure. I was trying to discover without success what their game plan was. Their passing especially in the second half was fractured and over excited. They should have calmed down.”
• Duncan Macdonald: “Sorry but much as I hope they do well I just think Southgate is the most negative thing about the team. It’s all about safety first and protecting the lead once they get it. Sitting on a one goal lead for 70 minutes or 60 if you’re being generous is never going to work against the top teams. He has been found out because of this defensive mindset in two consecutive Championships and unless they are far more positive going forward it looks like he same will happen again. It’s a great shame because England have the makings of a great team but not the manager to capitalise on them.”

• Mal Hunitop: “With the talent England now have I don’t understand the sitting back after a goal; makes no sense & has already cost Southgate dearly, 4 years ago. International football is more “tactical” but games are still there to be won. Despite the ridiculously fawning half-time “analysis” England didn’t create much in the first half. And what a struggle in the second!”
• Donald Troosers: “You have the pick of the nations players and can put whatever player you want in the position that they are perfect for and have played in all season. So why is Trippier playing on the left when he’s a right footed player? And Foden didn’t seem to know where he was supposed to be! Was Southgate trying to trick the opposition? Didn’t really work....”
• The West is going west: “They needed someone to come on and set the game alight like Grealish did against Bosnia. Having bored us to death with the Serbia game, maybe Southgate’s cunning plan is to bring such a player on for the next game.”
• Colin Wolstenholme: “Personally, I think the Foden question has been answered. He is a totally different player for England than he is for Man City, and nowhere near as effective. If anyone can explain the difference I would love to know, but on the last few performances, is he worth a place?”
• Robert Jeans: “Negative and sloppy. This team could and should have overwhelmed Serbia and won 4 or 5- nil. Sitting back was the risky option. Failure to get players into the box when there are good scoring opportunities, is fairly unforgivable and there was some really poor passing. Had Serbia sneaked an equaliser, it would have surprised nobody.”
• Stephen Nix: “It was a win and a clean sheet. Yes they were all over them for the first 20 or so minutes and after that a bit careless at times, but they got the job done. Learn from it, tighten up and go on. It’s a results game, we are not drawing pictures.”

Here is a sample of what you have been saying in reaction to last night:

• Robert Lund: “Compared to the German performance England looked pedestrian, unimaginative and slow. Semis at best.
• Ian King: “One game in and we’ve already seen a situation where it would have helped to be able to bring on Grealish as a substitute!”
• Elephant McGee: “A good win, against physically strong opposition. Bellingham is the real deal. Glad that Kane nearly scored as well. There were a few squeaky-bum moments from the opposition. One goal is not enough to be comfortable.”
• Andrew Marchant: “Man of the match for England was Pickford by a country mile. Not only did he have to deal with constant back passing by England’s defenders and midfield but at one point he was the only England player facing the Serbian goal. Perhaps Southgate needs a compass to work out where the oppositions half is.”
• Singapore Sling: “We were lucky. Should have put fresh legs on sooner during the second half. Also surprised Gordon wasn’t played.”
• Steve Murphy: “Bellingham is such a complete midfielder and leader that he almost makes Foden dispensable unless Foden can get out of the spaces that Bellingham runs into and use his intelligence to play off Bellingham then the unthinkable will have to happen and we leave him on the bench, that is how good Bellingham is and Foden needs to realize it quickly.”
• Jason Hobson: “Dreadful performance against a poor opposition. Southgate seems to have a unique ability to take talented players and make them looks useless by playing them out of position.”

You can continue to have your say.

Mike McGrath has been having his say on how the England players fared against Serbia. Here is a snippet of Mike’s piece:

Jude Bellingham

Was everywhere on the pitch. Inside penalty area for his goal, or back in his own penalty area carrying the ball out of defence. Coped with Serbia trying to kick him. 9/10

Phil Foden

Early kick from Gudelj and then almost on the end of a chance but frustrated not to get a clear sight of goal, dragging a long shot wide when he tried his luck. 6/10

You can read the full piece right here.

Good morning and welcome to day four of Euro 2024. England kicked off their campaign last night with a win, just, against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen courtesy of Jude Bellingham’s first-half goal. Not the most enthralling and convincing victories for Gareth Southgate’s men but, as they say, a win is a win. Considering England’s poor record in opening games at the European Championship, three points is all that matters. England were strong in the first half but just seemed to get more and more defensive as the game wore on. It felt like they were holding on in the latter stages.

You can look forward to reaction to England’s win in their opening match from the likes of Jamie Carragher, Sam Wallace, Oliver Brown and Mike McGrath.

Remember you can have your say on last night’s game and Euro 2024 general. Can England win Euro 2024 with Southgate at the helm? What changes would you make for England’s next match against Denmark on Thursday? Tell us your opinions in the comments section at the bottom of the blog.

Attention will now turn to Thursday and England’s next match against Denmark. The other game in Group C took place in the hours before England’s game as Denmark drew 1-1 with Slovenia, which strengthens England’s position already at the summit of the group. Manchester United’s Christian Eriksen had given Denmark the lead before Erik Janza equalised for Slovenia. The first match in Group D also took place yesterday with the Netherlands coming from behind to beat Poland 2-1. Adam Buksa had given Poland the lead before goals from Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo and Wout Weghorst turned it around for Ronald Koeman’s side.

Over the course of the first weekend of the tournament, all the big hitters like Germany, England, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands secured victories in their opening matches. There are three matches to look forward to today. In Group E, Romania take on Ukraine at 14.00 BST and Belgium face Slovakia at 17.00 BST. The final game on day four at Euro 2024 sees Austria play France at 20.00 BST.

Stay with us throughout the day for all the reaction to England’s victory last night and a preview of the games you can look forward to later today.