England's route to Euro 2024 final - fixture, dates and potential path to glory

The 2024 European Championships are right around the corner and once again, the hopes of the nation are rising as we head closer to kick-off.

England are the bookies' favourites to win the tournament and bring football home, but Gareth Southgate's side will be wary of more than one opponent this time around. France, Portugal, Spain, Italy and hosts Germany all pose significant threats to the dream of breaking the 58-year wait for a major tournament trophy lift that England hold.

Following a semi-final exit in the 2018 World Cup, a loss at Wembley in the final of the 2020 Euros and a quarter-final knockout at the hands of France in Qatar 2022, the Three Lions boss is entering what is likely to be his final major tournament and selected his final 26-man squad on Thursday afternoon.

Jack Grealish and James Maddison were both excluded while Manchester United defender Harry Maguire was forced to be left out of the squad due to a calf injury. It did mean that the likes of Eberechi Eze, Cole Palmer, Adam Wharton and Lewis Dunk would be making their first appearances at a major international tournament with England.

With all that said, here's everything you need to know around England's fixtures, who they can play in the knockout stages (provided they qualify) and when each clash could take place...

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Group stage

The top two in each group plus the four best third-placed teams will advance into the Round of 16, with England having been drawn into Group C. Their first clash will be against Serbia, followed by a Euro 2020 semi-final rematch against Denmark while Slovenia will be their final group opponents.

UEFA rules say that if two or more teams in the same group are equal on points, the following criteria are applied in given order:

- Higher number of points obtained in the matches played among teams in question

- Superior goal difference from matches played among teams in question

- Higher number of goals scored in matches played among teams in question

The Three Lions have managed to escape the group stage in either first or second at every European Championships since 2004 - other than the 2008 Euros to which they didn't qualify - having topped their group in two of the last four editions of the competition.

Full details:

Sunday, June 16 - Group C: Serbia vs England (Arena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen - kick-off 8pm UK time)

Thursday, June 20 - Group C: Denmark vs England (Waldstadion, Frankfurt - kick-off 5pm UK time)

Tuesday, June 25 - Group C: England vs Slovenia (RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne - kick-off 8pm UK time)

Round of 16

Ok, this is where it can get complicated. If England top Group C, they'll be scheduled to play against one of the 'best' third-placed sides from either Group D, Group E or Group F. That game is scheduled for Sunday, June 30 at 5pm UK time at the Arena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen, with some of their likeliest opponents being Austria from Group D, Romania from Group E or Turkey in Group F.

If England finish second in Group C, they'll be set to play the winner of Group A on Saturday, June 29 at the Westfalenstadion, Dortmund with kick-off taking place at 8pm UK time. Should this be the outcome, their possible opponents are Germany, Hungary, Scotland and Switzerland with the host nation being the most likely to top that group.

If England were to finish as one of four best third-place teams, there would be two possible outcomes. If three of the four best third-place teams come from Groups A, B, and C, they would face the winner of Group F - either Portugal, Turkey, Georgia or Czech Republic on Monday, July 1 at the Waldstadion in Frankfurt.

However, if the four best third-place teams all come from Groups A, B, C and D, they'd face off against the winners of Group E, with their possible opponents being Belgium, Slovakia, Romania or Ukraine on Tuesday, July 2 at the Allianz Arena, Munich. With a lot of the potential matches hinging on who finishes as one of the 'four best third-placed teams', just how are four best third-placed teams decided?

According to UEFA regulations, the following criteria are applied, in the order given:

- Higher number of points

- Superior goal difference

- Higher number of goals scored

- Higher number of wins

- Lower disciplinary points total based on yellow and red cards received by players and team officials in group matches (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points)

- Position in the overall European Qualifiers rankings or, if hosts Germany involved, drawing of lots

Quarter-finals

If England finish first in Group C and win their round of 16 game, then they'll face the winner of the round of 16 clash between the runners-up of Group A and Group B at the Merkur Spiel-Arena, Dusseldorf on Saturday, July 6 with kick-off at 5pm UK time. Possible opponents at this stage could be Spain, Italy, Scotland or Hungary.

However, if they're to finish second in Group C and then go on to win their round of 16 clash, they'll have to face the winner of the game between the winner of Group B and one of the third-place teams in the MHPArena, Stuttgart on Friday, July 5 with kick-off at 5pm UK time. Once again, Spain could be a likely opponent here, as well as Austria or the Netherlands.

Finally, if England finish as one of four best third-place teams and win their round of 16 game, they will face face the winner of the round of 16 clash between the runners-up of Group D and Group E if three of the four best third-place teams come from Groups A, B, and C. That match will take place on Friday, July 5 at the Volksparkstadion, Hamburg at 8pm UK time.

If the four best third-place teams all come from Groups A, B, C and D, they'll face either the winner of Group D or the runner-up of Group F at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on Saturday, July 6 with kick-off at 8pm UK time.

Semi-finals

The Three Lions have made the semi-final stage twice in the three major tournaments under Gareth Southgate and if they repeat that feat for a third time by finishing first in Group C, winning their round of 16 game and winning their quarter-final, they'll face either the winner of Group E, one of the third best teams from Groups A, B, C, D, the winner of Group D or the runner-up Group F.

That game will take place on Wednesday, July 10 at the Westfalenstadion, Dortmund with kick-off at 8pm UK time. However, if England finish second in Group C, but win their round of 16 game and the quarter-final, they'll play at the Allianz Arena in Munich on Tuesday, July 9 against one of the winners of Group F, one of the third best teams from Groups A, B or C, or the runners-up of Groups D and E with that game kicking off at 8pm UK time.

Alternatively, a third-place finish as one of four best third-place teams in Group C and subsequent wins in the round of 16 and quarter-final would see England face either the same opponents as listed in the example above where they finish second in Group C or one of the winners of Group C, one of the third best teams from Groups D, E or F, or the runners-up of Groups A and B with that game also kicking off at 8pm UK time, this time in Dortmund at the Westfalenstadion.

Final date

If England do make it to back-to-back Euros finals, they'll face off against the other winner of the semi-final on Sunday July 14 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, with kick-off at 8pm UK time.

What is the best route for England to get to the final?

While the Three Lions may be favourites with the bookies, the supporters here at home and many other statistician 'supercomputers' around the internet, there will not be an easy path for them to reach the final.

Inn the past, they've had to overcome many of the national sides around them at the top of the FIFA world rankings, and taking those into account and barring any major upsets, Southgate's men are in for a tough draw.

If they do win Group C, England's first opponents on their way to the final would likely be either Austria/Romania/Turkey at the Arena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen on Sunday, June 30 before facing off against Italy in a rematch of the 2020 Euros final at the Merkur Spiel-Arena, Dusseldorf on Saturday, July 6.

Their semi-final opponents would then likely be France, who knocked them out of the 2022 World Cup before ultimately losing out on penalties to Lionel Messi and Argentina in the final. That game would take place on Wednesday, July 10 at the Westfalenstadion, Dortmund before a meeting with Spain in the final in Berlin on Sunday, July 14.

It doesn't really get much better if the Three Lions go through to the knockout stages in second place in Group C though, with hosts Germany their likely Round of 16 opponents before a quarter-final against Spain, a semi-final against Netherlands and a final against Kylian Mbappe and France.