Euro 2024: Austria shocks Oranje to top Group D, is England in trouble?

Austria tops group, France's group stage curse continues, Southgate faces lineup calls, and Group E remains wide open with every team on three points.

Marcel Sabitzer celebrates after scoring the winner against the Netherlands on Tuesday, helping Austria to the top of Group D in the ongoing European Championship. (Photo credit: GOAL)

Tuesday provided delicious games, especially with Austria shocking the Netherlands. Who would have thought that Austria would top the group that had France and the Netherlands in it?

The Netherlands will go through as the best third, but they’re unconvincing and should step up or risk elimination. While Denmark and Slovenia advanced after drawing three games, England continued to be boring.

Does Le Bleu have a group stage curse?

This might sound strange, but it is true: regardless of the opposition or the circumstances, the last time France won their last group stage game in any tournament was in 2006 against Togo.

Since then, France has participated in eight major tournaments, and if you include their game against Poland on Tuesday in that list, it will have been nine tournaments since they last won their group stage match. Bookmakers must be preparing something now.

Should Southgate reconsider his lineup?

You can bet it’s not going to happen, but fans across the world are asking Gareth Southgate to hand Cole Palmer and Kobbie Mainoo a starting role in their next game, which will be a knockout affair in the ongoing Euro Championships.

The 3Lions labored to a goalless draw against Slovenia on Tuesday, with Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden struggling to shine. While it wasn’t down to poor performance from the duo as both combined to get the ball into the net, the Manchester City man was offside in the build-up. Is it Palmer's time?

All to play for in Group E

Belgium will fight for the rights to top group E when they file out against Ukraine in their final group game on Wednesday, with every single team in the group on three points and a realistic chance of topping the group.

Slovakia surprised Belgium in the opening game but struggled against Ukraine; now, they need to earn points against Romania to have a chance of progressing to the next round. It will be fascinating to observe the outcome; keep a close watch on both sides.