Three years on from their Wembley heartache in the Euro 2020 final, this year’s continental championships may represent Southgate’s last-chance saloon to finally deliver another slice of international glory to the Three Lions faithful, who have little time for excuses from a manager with an incredible array of talent at his disposal.
Following a 2022 which was best consigned to the back pages of the FA history books, where England suffered World Cup quarter-final dejection and lost their top-tier status in the Nations League, Southgate’s men only dropped four points en route to a first-placed finish in their Euro 2024 qualifying section.
Two victories over ailing Euro 2020 conquerors Italy arrived in that sequence, while a pair of draws with Ukraine and North Macedonia – the latter being England’s most recent result – were the only blots on the English notebook before Southgate’s men drew Denmark, Slovenia and Serbia in a relatively kind group.
Before Southgate’s troops can dream of European supremacy, or begin their bid to rise back into League A of the Nations League against Greece, Finland and the Republic of Ireland in tier two, the Three Lions have four friendlies on the 2024 calendar, the second of which sees Belgium make the trek to Wembley three days after Brazil’s stopover.
Iceland and Bosnia-Herzegovina will represent England’s final pre-Euro 2024 tests in June before the world’s third-ranked nation board the plane to Germany, and Southgate’s men host Brazil on a 10-match unbeaten run since their World Cup 2022 campaign ended at the hands of France, or the head of Olivier Giroud to be more precise.
While England navigated 2023 without suffering a single defeat, Brazil’s post-Tite era has got off to a largely disastrous start, as the five-time champions of the globe arrive at Wembley on a three-game losing run in qualification for the 2026 World Cup.
Slowly regressing in the 10-team CONMEBOL section since taking seven points from nine against Bolivia, Peru and Venezuela, the Selecao fell short to Uruguay, Colombia and Argentina in their previous three fixtures under Fernando Diniz, their worst streak of form in an astonishing 22 years.
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Despite their uncharacteristic streak of red, Brazil are still on course for qualification to the 2026 World Cup – they sit in the sixth and final automatic spot in the CONMEBOL table – but reigning world champions Argentina are streets ahead at the top, boasting an eight-point lead over the Selecao.
Two exhibition fixtures with England and Spain represent a prime opportunity for Dorival Junior’s men to revert to type, or alternatively decrease national morale further ahead of the 2024 Copa America, where Colombia, Paraguay and either Costa Rica or Honduras will await in the group stage.
Some solace can be taken from Brazil’s head-to-head record versus England, whom they have only lost to four times from their previous 26 competitive and non-competitive matches, but the most recent friendly between the two sides in November 2017 ended in a drab goalless draw
