England - Group B
Following a really poor showing in the 2014 World Cup, Roy Hodgson's men have followed it up with a eye-catching qualification campaign, where they were the only nation with a 100% record. Could this finally be their year? Nah...
Get to know: England
30 years of hurt has quickly turned into 50 years of hurt as England have time and time again failed to show up in major tournaments – at the very least learned to hold their nerve in penalty shoot-outs! This time round there is genuine cause for optimism as a perfect record of 10 wins out of 10 in qualification, eye-catching friendly wins against some of Europe’s big names, coupled with a new generation of talent all means that England fans finally feel this is a side who can challenge for the biggest prizes.
In the group stages, they won 10 games out of 10, scoring 31 goals, conceding 3 and ending up with a +28 goal difference.
In the draw for the main event, England were placed in Group B, alongside Russia, Wales and Slovakia.
Fixtures:
June 11 vs. Russia 7pm – Stade Velodrome, Marseille
June 16 vs. Wales 1pm – Stade Bollaert-Delelis, Lens
June 20 vs. Slovakia 7pm – Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Etienne
Goal scorers:
During qualification, England scored 31 goals
Their goal scorers were:
- Wayne Rooney (7)
- Danny Welbeck (6)
- Harry Kane (3)
- Theo Walcott (3)
- Ross Barkley (2)
- Raheem Sterling (2)
- Jack Wilshere (2)
- Phil Jagielka (1)
- Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (1)
- Andros Townsend (1)
- Own goals (3)
Qualification Stat Truths:
- The only team with a 100% record in qualifying.
- Scored at the second highest rate: 31 goals in 10 games.
- Conceded at the joint-second lowest rate: 3 goals in 10 games.
- Shot the second most frequently: 18.6 per game.
- Faced shots the second-least frequently: 5.4 per game.
- Scored in every qualifying match.
- Lowest percentage of goals from inside the 6 yard box of any qualifier with 3.2% (1/31).
- Spent 2.4% of their time (22 minutes) losing during qualifiers – the lowest of any team.
- Had the highest share of shots blocked of any qualifier: 22.6% (over double the average of 10.9%).
All data based on England’s Euro 2016 qualification campaign. Courtesy of the Press Association.