Serbia vs England LIVE: Euro 2024 team news, line-up and buildup as Three Lions prepare for opener in Germany

Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer has urged England to “make it a summer to remember” ahead of their Euro 2024 opener against Serbia.

Thousands of Three Lions fans have descended on Gelsenkirchen, in western Germany, as they hope to witness Gareth Southgate’s men make a winning start to Group C.

Sunday’s exciting opener in Germany is already underway, with Poland (with Robert Lewandowski out due to injury) up front against a Dutch side who many think will be on their way over the next few weeks. You can follow all the action from Hamburg here – flick through the other tabs and enjoy the Euros action!

On Friday night, as Germany set the pace for the tournament by beating Scotland, Gareth Southgate assembled the England squad for a meeting. This theme is more reflective, almost a final mission statement before it all begins. Southgate spoke about the tournament he has played and the lessons his staff and senior players have learned. This is more important than usual, because 12 out of 26 have never experienced this condition. Southgate also showed how some elements from the past that have served England well can now be discarded.

However, this does not apply to running games. England actually have a good record in that game under Southgate, who is really good in every tournament. In 2018, there was a 3-1 win against Tunisia. At Euro 2020, there was a professional – and vengeful – victory over Croatia. In 2022, there is a 6-2 evisceration of Iran. England almost became Germany in the tournament.

Whether Southgate’s side can keep up with the hosts on Sunday, as Spain did by demolishing Croatia, as well as his own style, remains to be seen in the first leg against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen. That’s why this feels more important than the previous two opening games, perhaps the most famous since Tunisia.

Miguel Delaney, chief football writer, ahead of England vs Serbia:

The midfielder was rewarded with a first England call-up to the June training squad and was enough to earn a place in Southgate’s 26-man squad for the Euros.

Injuries, late pressures to enter and some bold choices have all affected Southgate’s approach, and England now look set to peak with their attacking vision.

However, before his mind turns to defeat, he needs to get through the group stages where he looks solid. Next to them will be Denmark, Slovenia and Iceland, each with real hopes of qualifying through the group and each presents a different and difficult challenge to break down in the 90-minute encounter.

Denmark was at the center of several talking points at the last Euros, not least when Christian Eriksen collapsed on the pitch – he is back in the squad this time after a full recovery.

Here’s everything you need to know about Group C and what England are up against.

Things should get tougher from there, but if England can top Group C, the third-placed qualifiers from either Group D, E or F will be their opponents in the last 16, before a quarter-final against Germany, Spain or Italy. Win it and it will be just two victories away from glory.

Three years ago in the same competition, England agonizingly fell short at the final hurdle when they were beaten for the trophy by Italy, losing on penalties in the final at Wembley Stadium. This time, Gareth Southgate will be hoping to lead his side to their first major men’s trophy since the 1966 World Cup.

Here’s a closer look at England’s possible route to the final in Germany.

In the final few sessions ahead of Euro 2024, Gareth Southgate is keen to ensure that England’s new raft of strikers can get up to speed with some of the moves the team has been training. He could see the full picture, but the lines were still a little blurry. The team does not yet have a visible connection in the Euro 2020 qualifiers, he said, but it is promising. How can we not promise Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane? Southgate was delighted.

That “automatism” — where attackers instinctively execute moves from practice over and over again — is one part of the preparation that tells the whole story. England have approached the line in a similar fashion.

Euro 2024 has long been considered one of the tournaments when the entire St George’s Park project will finally deliver the trophy.

This could be Southgate’s final campaign, further instilling a sense of peak. Even the last tournament before this seemed to outline the final step needed, as England lost to France in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup by the narrowest of margins. Since Kylian Mbappe’s team has been announced as the best in Europe, your guess is to win against him and win the tournament.

Except now, near the line, everything is a bit blurry.

Miguel Delaney ahead of England opener:

With the kick-off for the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament in sight, international teams have been arriving across Germany to set up camp before hitting the pitch.

But where will the England team base themselves to keep the ball before their first game against Serbia come Sunday 16 June?

Here’s a look at the luxury resort where the players will be kicking their calves during the UEFA Euros.

Denmark’s male footballers have decided to turn down a pay rise to play for the national team to ensure their female counterparts receive the same basic salary, global players’ union Fifpro said on Friday.

The national football association (DBU) has tried to ensure equal pay for both teams, but players from both squads are not happy to take money from the men’s team to pay the women.

The players’ union, Spillerforeningen, and the players instead come up with a plan in which people will refuse to pay up and both teams will receive the same basic remuneration to appear for the national team.