Alan Shearer thinks there will be ‘big issues’ for England if they fail to get past Slovakia.
The two teams meet in the first knockout round at Euro 2024 in Germany, and the winner will then be through the quarter-finals.
A quarter-final would still be a relatively disappointing finish for England if they were knocked out in the last eight, but a first-round exit would be a disaster, and it would be a surprise if manager Gareth Southgate stayed in his post in the aftermath.
Speaking to Betfair, Shearer said he was underwhelmed by the country’s efforts in what was a straightforward group draw.
He said: “We also thought we were in a really good group, you couldn’t have hand picked a better group, but as it turns out we only got one win and two draws against teams you’d expect England to be beating.”
He then issued his warning, adding: “We can’t underestimate Slovakia, of course it will be a tough game but like the group stages, if you could have hand-picked a team to play in the last-16 then Slovakia would have been it.
“If we can’t get through to the quarter finals there are big issues.”
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