This Euro 2024 Group C match between Serbia and England will take place on Sunday 16th June 2024 at 8pm (BST).
The game will take place at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, the home of FC Schalke 04 which has a capacity of 50,000. This stadium notably hosted the 2004 Champions League final and the 2006 World Cup quarter-final.
Match Preview & Prediction
The group will get underway a couple of hours before this game as Slovenia take on Denmark in the earlier kick-off.
Serbia enter this Euro 2024 competition for the first time since 2000 (As Serbia & Montenegro), this is the first European tournament that Serbia have qualified for as an independent nation.
Match Result and Both Teams To Score - England and No
The Eagles will be looking to get out of this group with the players they have, group winners might be a tough ask but I think Dragan Stojkovic’s side can definitely fight for that second place, Denmark should be the team up there with them.
England head to the Euro 2024 Championships in Germany after an unbeaten campaign in the group stage, the Three Lions shared a group with Italy, Ukraine, North Macedonia and Malta, despite being favourites to qualify, doing so without losing a game is always a good confidence boost when heading into a major tournament.
Gareth Southgate’s side were losing finalists at Wembley three years ago (delayed Euro 2020 tournament), beaten on home soil to Italy on penalties, it was a frustrating end given many England fans thought this should have been their time, so close to a trophy for the first time since their 1966 World Cup win, will this England team finally give their supporters some glory?
The Three Lions head to Germany as one of the favourites to win the lot, I’m expecting them to get out of this group without any problems, leaving the remaining three to battle it out for the second automatic place into the round of 16.
Therefore, I think we’ll see England get a victory here but given it’s the first game for both sides, it’ll not be straight forward and England will be hoping they can control the game from the start and get themselves into a good position heading into their second game against Denmark just four days later.
Serbia vs England History
This is the first time these two nations have met at senior level, England did face Serbia and Montenegro in Leicester in a friendly back in 2003, but they’ve never met whilst Serbia have been an independent nation.
The English came out victorious with a 2-1 win in a game which England boss Gareth Southgate participated in.
England v Serbia Betting Odds
The sports betting odds have England as the favourites to get their campaign off with a victory, at the time of writing, England are currently 1/2 to take all three points.
1st Half - 3-Way - England
Serbia will be looking to cause a couple of upsets along the way in this competition, they are currently 5/1 to get their campaign off to a winning start.
Click here to find the latest odds for this fixture!
Serbia Squad Euro 2024
Goalkeepers
Vanja Milinkovic-Savic (Torino), Dorde Petrovic (Chelsea) and Predrag Rajkovic (Mallorca).
Defenders
Nikola Milenkovic (Fiorentina), Strahinja Pavlovic (Red Bull Salzburg), (Filip Mladenovic Panathinaikos), Srdan Babic (Spartak Moscow), Strahinja Erakovic (Zenit Saint Petersburg), Erhan Masovic (VfL Bochum) and Milan Gajic (CSKA Moscow).
Midfielders
Dusan Tadic (Fenerbahce), Filip Kostic (Juventus), Sergej Milinkovic-Savic (Al-Hilal), Sasa Lukic (Fulham), Andrija Zivkovic (PAOK), Mijat Gacinovic (AEK Athens), Srdan Mijailovic (Red Star Belgrade), Lazar Samardzic (Udinese) and Sasa Zdjelar (CSKA Moscow).
Forwards
Aleksandar Mitrovic (Al-Hilal), Luka Jovic (AC Milan), Dusan Vlahovic (Juventus) and Samed Bazdar (Partizan)
England Squad Euro 2024
Goalkeepers
Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal) and Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace).
Defenders
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), John Stones (Manchester City), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle United), Lewis Dunk (Brighton), Joe Gomez (Liverpool) and Ben Chilwell (Chelsea)
Midfielders
Declan Rice (Arsenal), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Jordan Henderson (Ajax), Connor Gallagher (Chelsea), James Maddison (Tottenham), and Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid).
Forwards
Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich) Jack Grealish (Manchester City) and Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).
England and Serbia Euro 2024 Predictions
Here are my Euro 2024 predictions for these two nations.
Serbia – I think Serbia will qualify from this group, I have them to finish second and if that’s the case, they will likely come up against Germany in the Round of 16.
It’s a game which might be a step too far in this campaign but they’ll definitely give a good account of themselves. Round of 16 for Stojkovic’s side.
England – They should top this group, they’ll then play the third-placed team from either Group D, E or F, in which they should be victorious.
We could see a repeat of the Euro 2020 final in the quarter-finals and it’s likely England could meet France in the semi-finals, the winner of that will win the competition in my opinion.
In terms of the Euro 2024 odds, the Three Lions are currently 11/8 to reach the final.
*Credit for the main photo belongs to Alamy*
