Poor Euro 2024 about to get lift-off and that is good news for England

And so the European Championship is down to the grateful eight. Eight nations left, the quarter-finals and England have nothing to fear but fear itself.

An exit to Slovakia would have brought echoes of the round-of-16 defeat by Iceland in Euro 2016 and accusations that Gareth Southgate had left England as he found them: having come full circle and exiting embarrassingly. It would have been brutal.

That has now changed. For the fourth successive tournament – all four of the tournaments Southgate has overseen – England are in the quarters and are, therefore, in a realistic position to win it.

That is unprecedented, compared to every one of his predecessors, and suggests that England have reached a level of consistency which means they will eventually triumph.

Maybe that will not be under Southgate. It feels like this will be his last tournament whatever the outcome. His concern was always that he might outstay his welcome and there is a danger of that being played out.

It is undeniable that England have not played well. But the anger does appear disproportionate, with Southgate the target. Maybe it is just time to go.

The manager is also right: tournaments such as Italia ‘90, especially, and Euro ‘96, when England reached the semi-finals, are viewed through rose-tinted spectacles. They only played well in a couple of games.

England are still in it – again – and, even if they go out to Switzerland, it will not be a humiliation. It will be hugely disappointing; it will not be good enough and that anger will grow. But it will not be an Iceland-like shock or exiting prematurely as England did so often prior to Southgate.

It will hopefully be liberating for a squad that has become increasingly beleaguered by the criticism it has faced. John Stones talked of the victory over Slovakia as being a “turning point emotionally” and England have struggled with the pressure up to now.

If they play like they have done so far at the Euros they will be out and Southgate’s 100th game as manager, a record only bettered by Sir Alf Ramsey and Walter Winterbottom, will be his last.

In truth, it has not been a classic tournament and certainly not one where teams have consistently impressed. But surely it is about to spark into life with such intriguing last-eight ties, two of which would be worthy finals themselves.

Undoubtedly Spain have been the best so far, with their front-foot approach and vibrant young wingers, but they face Germany on Friday. So, one of the best two teams is going out.

Similarly, it is France against Portugal. Neither have played that well with Portugal fortunate to squeeze past Slovenia in a penalty shoot-out after a goalless draw – the same result that England achieved.

The Portuguese were regarded as having the strongest squad but have not shown that while France, rather like England, have depended upon their defence and struggled to score in open play. Neither have convinced. But four of the strongest five teams so far – the other being the Netherlands – play each other.

So, it will be one of that quartet who reach the final in Berlin on July 14 while, in the other half of the draw, England – the highest-ranked nation – would face either Turkey or the Dutch in Dortmund next Wednesday should they defeat the Swiss.

How lucky can they be! Well, for all of the criticism of Southgate, fortune has nothing to do with it. However unconvincingly, they did their job. They won their group. Again. They should not be attacked because France and Belgium – who the French knocked out – or holders Italy failed to do so.

It has also been a relatively low-scoring tournament. There have been 100 goals up until the end of the last-16 phase – compared to 135 at the previous Euros. In 2016, the first to be expanded to 24 teams, there were 103 goals by this stage.

What the Euros have proven is that virtually every nation can be organised and competitive and hard to beat. Take Slovenia, in England’s group. England did not defeat them – but then no one did outside of a penalty shoot-out. Not Denmark, Serbia or Portugal. England’s last-16 opponents Slovakia only lost once outside of extra time and beat Belgium, ranked the third best team in the world.

Defences on top? Defence has been England’s strength. They are not alone in that, even if they will have to adjust to the loss of suspended Marc Guehi, who has been their best defender, and may do so by switching to a back three which has been Southgate’s most successful formation.

But then the most defensively sound teams tend to win tournaments: Argentina at the World Cup, Italy at the last Euros and France at the World Cup before that. Even Manchester City and Arsenal, the two best teams in the Premier League, depended more on defence than attack in the second half of the season.

And so it is no surprise that seven of the eight nations in the quarter-finals have the best defensive records with Turkey the outlier.

There is absolutely no question that England have underperformed. They have been one of the dullest teams at the Euros. But a squad with Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice and Stones simply must be able to play better than this and will have to play better to beat Switzerland.

There is a huge amount of room for improvement. The capacity is there. And that, as well as the sheer fact that England are still in it, gives them hope.