England top group at Euro 2024, France falter
England grounded out a 0-0 draw with Slovenia to claim top spot in Group C and avoid a last-16 meeting with hosts Germany, but France face a complicated path to the final after failing to beat Poland on Tuesday. Gareth Southgate's side have struggled to find their best form in the tournament and delivered another unimpressive performance in Cologne, one that will do little to silence the mounting criticism back home. It was still enough to advance as group winners though after an equally turgid 0-0 draw between Denmark and Serbia in Munich, which saw the Danes finish second ahead of Slovenia despite an identical record. England must wait to find out which of the four best third-placed teams they will meet in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday for a place in the quarter-finals. Denmark pipped Slovenia to the runners-up spot by virtue of a better qualifying ranking after both nations finished with three draws, the same goal difference, number of goals scored and disciplinary points. Germany await Denmark in the last 16, while Slovenia celebrated reaching the knockout phase of a major tournament for the first time. France blew the chance to finish first in their group despite Kylian Mbappe scoring his maiden goal from the spot in a 1-1 draw with Poland, as Austria won a thriller against the Netherlands to snatch top spot. Austria, who lost their opening game to France, grabbed a 3-2 victory over the Dutch to wrap up a last-16 berth and relegate their already-qualified opponents to third place in Group D. Les Bleus will face the runners-up from Group E in the last 16. As a result of coming second, France also now find themselves in the half of the draw with Germany, Spain and Portugal. Mbappe -- playing in a mask after breaking his nose against Austria -- finally broke his Euros duck in the 56th minute, as he slotted in a penalty after Ousmane Dembele was felled by Jakub Kiwior. But Poland were awarded a spot-kick themselves with 13 minutes remaining for a foul on Karol Swiderski. While Dutch fans turned Berlin orange as they continued to light up the tournament, it was the Austrians in full voice early on when Donyell Malen inadvertently fired into his own net. But the Netherlands drew level less than two minutes after the restart, as Austria midfielder Florian Grillitsch lost the ball in midfield before Cody Gakpo cut inside and finished off a rapid counter-attack. Austria reclaimed the lead as Romano Schmid's header found the net via a deflection off Stefan de Vrij on the line. Memphis Depay struck with an excellent touch and volley to equalise again after a good header down by substitute Wout Weghorst. Ralf Rangnick's men now have a match against either Turkey, the Czech Republic or Georgia as they bid to reach the quarter-finals for the first time. The Netherlands will play the winners of either Groups C or E. (AFP)