England won Group C at Euro 2024 in the most underwhelming way possible on Tuesday, playing out a tame 0-0 draw against Slovenia that saw little to no improvement from the first two games of the campaign.
Ultimately Gareth Southgate's side clinched the top spot because another 0-0 result took place at the same time between Denmark and Serbia in Munich.
In stark contrast to the other groups in the tournament, this one turned out to be an absolute snoozer. We saw five draws from six games, and only seven total goals.
Despite boasting an array of firepower including Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka, England was unable to show anything cohesive, with a slight improvement coming late when substitute Cole Palmer was introduced for his first action of the competition.
The results left Denmark and Slovenia tied on points, goal differential and goals scored after each recorded three ties, meaning that second place was decided on a disciplinary record tiebreaker based on the number of yellow cards received.
That countback — Denmark received one fewer yellow card than Slovenia (6 to 7) — put Denmark in second and gave it the dubious reward of facing host nation Germany in the round of 16 on Saturday.
Third place conferred a potentially better outcome for Slovenia, but they must wait to see where they wind up in the knockout stage. Serbia was eliminated after managing just two points from three games.
Phil Foden had a pair of long-range shots blocked, while sub Trent Alexander-Arnold, dropped for Conor Gallagher after Southgate ended his midfield experiment, fired over in the final moments.
Meanwhile, Serbia threw players forward late in a desperate attempt to save themselves and were frustrated when Strahinja Pavlovic was denied a penalty in injury time.
Group C has been a forgettable one. Groups A, B and D all saw wild twists and late goals that changed the outcome. England won't be complaining about going through at group winners. Their skeptical press and public might.
Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter @MRogersFOX and subscribe to the daily newsletter.
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