England v Slovakia LIVE: Latest Euro 2024 build-up, updates and team news

Under-fire Southgate says he is enjoying the “ultimate challenge” of trying to steer the England “juggernaut” to Euros glory as attention turns to improvements and knockout progress.

The road to Berlin has begun in unconvincing fashion for the Euro 2020 runners-up, with boos greeting the end of the 1-1 draw with Denmark and Tuesday’s 0-0 stalemate with Slovenia.

But England won Group C having started with a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Serbia at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, where they return for their first knockout match on Sunday.

Harry Kane believes he will be at “peak sharpness” as he looks to continue his fine knockout goalscoring record for England at Euro 2024.

Captain Kane may be England’s all-time leading goalscorer but his strike in the draw with Denmark was his first in the group stage of a major finals since the 2018 World Cup.

However, he will be buoyed by his recent record once the business end of the tournament begins against Slovakia on Sunday, having scored four in four at Euro 2020 as England were eventually beaten on penalties by Italy.

Under-fire Gareth Southgate is embracing expectations and the “ultimate challenge” of trying to win the Euros rather than worrying whether Sunday’s last-16 clash with Slovakia could be his final match.

Boos, and even some plastic cups, were aimed the long-serving manager’s way after Tuesday’s miserable 0-0 draw with Slovenia, which saw them win Group C but left fans and pundits unhappy.

Southgate knows the team have to find their “next level” as the knockout phase gets under way against Slovakia in Gelsenkirchen, where they recorded their only win of these Euros a fortnight ago against Serbia.

Welcome to The Independent’s coverage of today’s Euro 2024 action which sees England back on the pitch as they take on Slovakia in the last-16.

Gareth Southgate’s men had failed to impress so far following three lacklustre performances though they did manage to finish top of Group C and set up a more favourable route to the final.

Their opponent’s today snuck through Group E after all four teams finished on four points. The Slovaks’ goal difference of zero was enough to secure them a spot in the knockouts rounds as Ukraine were eliminated.

Slovakia’s goal for the tournament was to qualify for this stage and now that they’re here they will believe that they can cause England a few problems and possibly even beat the struggling team.

Kick off for this one is at 5pm and we’ll have all the build-up, team news and updates throughout the day so stick around.