England's Harry Kane, left, runs with the ball ahead Slovenia's Benjamin Sesko during a Group C match between the England and Slovenia at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament in Cologne, Germany, Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
COLOGNE, Germany (AP) – England advanced to the knockout stage of Euro 2024 as group winner after a 0-0 draw against Slovenia on Tuesday.
The result at Cologne Stadium also saw Slovenia reach the round of 16 and Croatia was eliminated.
In a game of few chances, England substitute Cole Palmer could have sealed the win in stoppage time, but his shot was saved by Slovenia goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
England will play one of the qualifying third-placed teams in the round of 16 and is on the opposite side of the draw to Spain, France, Germany and Portugal.
A masked Kylian Mbappé scored his first goal of the Euros, but France drew 1-1 with Poland to finish runner-up in Group D behind Austria, which beat the Netherlands 3-2.
Mbappé wore a protective mask after breaking his nose in France’s opening game against Austria and scored from the penalty spot. But Robert Lewandowski’s twice-taken spot kick gave already eliminated Poland its first point of the tournament.
___
James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
___
AP Euro 2024: https://apnews.com/hub/euro-2024
