Euro 2024: ENGLAND - SERBIA (2 AM, June 17)

Three years ago, England played brilliantly at Euro 2020 and reached the final at home at Wembley. Unfortunately, they could not overcome Italy in the penalty shootout - another missed opportunity to win a major tournament title since 1966. The pain of the English people was prolonged when they received "bitter fruit" at the 2022 World Cup with an unacceptable defeat to neighbors France in the quarter-finals.

Thông tin toàn cảnh trận Anh - Serbia Ảnh: REUTERS — Overview of the England - Serbia match. (Photo: REUTERS)

With a star-studded squad worth over 1 billion euros, England are theoretically the favourites to win Euro 2024. The squad of players with outstanding technical quality gives coach Gareth Southgate a huge advantage, but at the same time puts a lot of pressure on the shoulders of a coach who has not had the chance to conquer large-scale campaigns. The 53-year-old coach has announced that if England do not win the cup, he will leave, even though his contract does not expire until December 2024.

The heavy-handed dismissal of many veterans has made the preparation process of the England team in the past time encounter many difficulties and that is the reason why coach Southgate hopes for the return of Harry Kane. The captain striker has not played in the last 2 matches, including the shocking 0-1 defeat of England against underdogs Iceland.

At the moment, Harry Kane is completely ready for the opening match against Serbia in the early morning of June 17. Bayern Munich's top attacking star last season is eager to step onto the field and score. His scoring role is highly appreciated in this tournament as it is an important factor that can decide the success of the England team.

Supported by a high-quality attack including Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham, Kane is looking forward to making history for England. Bookmakers are betting heavily on him winning the Euro 2024 Golden Boot - England's all-time top scorer and one of the world's top scorers over the past 6 years.

As the top scorer at the 2018 World Cup, Harry Kane has always dreamed of winning a similar title at Euro 2016, thereby realizing England's dream of winning a major tournament for the first time in more than half a century. He has scored for Bayern Munich in most German stadiums since last summer and hopes to repeat the feat in the England team's colors, starting in the early morning of June 17.

Without many big names, Serbia finished second in a qualifying group and returned to the European arena after a 24-year absence. In the pre-Euro 2024 friendly series, after a 1-2 defeat to Austria, coach Dragan Stojkovic's team "crushed" Sweden 3-0 just a few days before traveling to Germany.

Since 2004, England have never lost their opening match at Euro 2016. So what the English are waiting for from the Three Lions is the way they play and how they will win against the 33rd ranked team in the world, despite the chaos caused by Serbian fans.

"After beating Hungary 3-1 on the evening of June 15, Switzerland finished second in Group A, behind the host team Germany in goal difference. This victory helped the Central European team increase their chances of winning one of the top two tickets to the round of 16. In the next match, Hungary will face Germany, while Switzerland will play Scotland.