England EURO 2020 Preview - History and Expectations

Published on 29 Feb 2020 | Last updated on 01 Jul 2026 | Reading time: 5 minutes

Everyone in England looks forward to the European Football Championship in 2020. The English national team showed very good performance in the last major international tournament - the World Cup 2018-after finishing 4th place. The Three Lions will be expected to perform well at Euro 2020, and they have definitely a team that can win the tournament. The players have many talents and if all of them are available to Gareth Southgate, England can reach the final stages of Wembley. This is an additional incentive for England to give everything, because the semi-finals and the final will be played at home, at the mythical stadium. In the group stage, they will compete against Croatia, the Czech Republic, and Scotland. These games also will be played at the Wembley stadium.

Check out our preview of England at the 2020 European Championships and what we can expect from the "Three Lions".

England European Championships - History and successes

England's greatest achievement at the UEFA European Championships is third place. They have reached it in 1968 at the Italian Championships and in 1996 when they hosted the competition. England has no other major success in the European Finals. They have dropped to the 1/8-finals at the last tournament 4 years ago. In 2012 at the Championships in Poland and Ukraine, the Three Lions were eliminated in the 1/4 finals. In 2008, England did not even qualify for the finals, and 4 years earlier reached the 1/4-finals.

The Road to Euro 2020

Gareth Southgate's selection was in a qualifying group with Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Kosovo, and Montenegro. The Brits recorded 7 wins and 1 loss in their 8 games in the group, scoring 37 goals and allowing 6 hits. The team finished with 6 points more than the second Czech Republic and ten points ahead of third Kosovo.

England's most successful player was Harry Kane, who scored 12 goals and became the top scorer for the qualifying campaign. Man City football player Rahim Stirling also made a strong impression in the qualifying, contributing 8 goals, followed by Ross Barkley with 4.

Euro 2020 fixtures

England is in Group D of Euro 2020 with the teams of Croatia, the Czech Republic, and Scotland.

• June 13, 2:00 pm: England - Croatia / Wembley Stadium, London /
• June 18, 8:00 pm: England - Scotland / Wembley Stadium, London /
• June 22, 8:00 pm: Czech Republic - England / Wembley Stadium, London /

England squad for the European Football Championship 2020

The coach Gareth Southgate can count on a large number of top-class players. Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford looks like a sure-choice number 1. He is 25 years old and has recorded 24 games for the national team, with his competition being Nick Pope and Tom Heaton. In defense, the team of England has many young and talented players such as Trent Alexander-Arnold, who is one of the big stars in the team, Ben Chilwell, Fikayo Tomori, and Joe Gomez. More experienced defense players include Kyle Walker, John Stones, Danny Rose, and Harry Maguire.

England midfield is the weaker unit in the squad than the other leading teams on the Old Continent. England will rely mainly on Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson in midfield, with the backing of Ross Barkley, Eric Dier, Dele Alli, and James Madison. England's attack is simply impressive, with the names of Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, and Tammy Abraham in the squad.

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Manchester United), Sam Johnstone (West Brom), Jordan Pickford (Everton)
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Ben Chilwell (Chelsea), Conor Coady (Wolves), Reece James (Chelsea), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Tripper (Atletico Madrid), Kyle Walker (Manchester City)
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Kalvin Phillips (Leeds United), Declan Rice (West Ham United)
Forwards: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jack Grealish (Aston Villa), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)

Source: www.premierleague.com

The Big Star: Harry Kane

Harry Kane is the big star in England. The Tottenham striker will play a key role in England's Euro 2020 squad. The 26-year-old striker has 45 national team appearances and 32 goals. Harry Kane performed very well at the 2018 World Cup, scoring 6 goals and winning the Gold Shoe. With that achievement, Tottenham's star ranked up to Gary Lineker, who became the goalscorer of the 1986 World Cup (also with six goals). Harry Kane is expected to make another strong showing at Euro 2020 as one of the favorites to score in the finals. The England captain is healthy again and hungry for goals.

Expectations for England at Euro 2020

We expect the England team to qualify for direct eliminations without problems. The Three Lions will play at home, so it is likely that they will record three wins in the group stage of the tournament. However, the match with Croatia can be not so easy for them, but the silver medalists at the 2018 World Cup are not so strong nowadays. Direct eliminations will be difficult for England, but we still think the team has the potential to reach the semi-finals of the race and fight for the medals.

Odds for England

As we already mentioned, England's group looks easy. This is our personal view, but maybe the bookmakers are thinking the same way. They are giving a very high probability to win the group and go through the 1/8 finals. England is the big favorite for winning the European title in 2020, accordingly the leading online betting house - betwinner. Here are the current odds for the "Three Lions":

To win Euro 2020	6.00
To win Group D	1.40