Having led England into a fourth major tournament as manager, Southgate’s future remains uncertain – especially given the criticism he has faced in Germany.

He was jeered following the Slovenia game and had plastic beer cups thrown in his direction from fans frustrated by the performance.

It is a far cry from when Southgate guided England to the World Cup semi-finals in 2018 and the Euro 2020 final at Wembley three years ago and an exit at the hands of Slovakia would likely see his tenure come to an end.

That’s especially true after a surprising 1-0 win against Belgium, the Group E favourites, in their opening game of the tournament. After the match, Slovakia’s players danced and sang along to a popular folk song Macejko, Macejko with a huge group of travelling supporters in Frankfurt, among which sat former internationals Martin Skrtel and Jan Durica.

Goalkeeper Martin Dubravka praised the fans, calling them “fantastic” and said he heard them in the second half even though he was in front of the Belgian stand. Slovakia have managed to get supporters on their side again – and they will see there’s another struggling giant out there for the taking.

Slovakian journalist Lukas Vrablik gives us the lowdown on today’s opponents:

The Arsenal winger has operated as a left wing-back earlier in his career while Gareth Southgate has used Kieran Trippier out of position on the left of his defence in the extended absence of Luke Shaw.

Saka’s mentor Ian Wright has voiced his opinion that he could fill in to give England a natural left-footer and someone who can provide more attacking incision from defence.

But the 22-year-old told BBC 5 Live: “No, obviously I love Ian Wright and he says so many great things about me but I don’t think putting me out of position is the solution. But at the end of the day, I think we can we can talk about this but it’s in Gareth’s hands so we will just have to trust whoever Gareth selects on the day.”

Bellingham and Kane are England’s two goalscorers so far but they only exchanged one pass in the 0-0 draw against Slovenia and they have studied video footage as they look to dovetail better.

Bellingham turned 21 on Saturday and the England players sang “Happy Birthday” to him at training but Kane has also had more serious conversations about how they can bring the best out of each other.

The BBC punditry crew seem to have been enjoying their downtime in Germany!

For Gareth Southgate, there is always the possibility it will come back to penalties. It is his history; England’s, too. It is also the nature of international football. The last World Cup final was decided on spot kicks, along with two quarter-finals and two last-16 ties. In Euro 2020, they determined a last-16 game, a quarter-final, a semi-final and, as England know to their cost, the final.

And yet this season’s Champions League contained its first shootout since the 2016 final. Maybe it is a consequence of one-off ties in neutral venues, maybe the way the margins can be narrower in the international game when managers lack the same time to develop a style of play and a level of cohesion to win games in regulation time. Or perhaps it is just something innate to the England manager and his team.

It is 28 years now since Andreas Kopke dived to his right to parry Southgate’s rather tame spot kick in Euro ’96. Southgate himself is responsible for bringing more thought, more practice, more science to the discipline a variety of players and managers used to describe simply as “a lottery”. Perhaps it wasn’t when England got their cathartic win against Colombia in the 2018 World Cup. Planning and practice did not make perfect against Italy in the Euro 2020 final, however. Even the tournament when his England did not have a shootout featured a crucial penalty, ballooned by Harry Kane over Hugo Lloris’ bar as France won a 2022 World Cup quarter-final.

And so to England against Slovakia. With Southgate’s side low-scoring and drawing their last two matches, with Slovakia having three tight group games, the chances of a shootout in Gelsenkirchen seem still greater. “We’ll prepare as thoroughly as we always do but we are always refining that process,” said the England manager. “We want as much control of that process as we possibly can. We have prepared over a period of time.”

Read Richard Jolly’s take on the possibility of a penalty shootout:

In the last few days before tonight’s Slovakia game, Harry Kane has been sitting with Jude Bellingham to watch clips of their play together in the group so far. It is telling that there isn’t that much of it. Bellingham has already earned a reputation as a young player who will tell almost anyone what he thinks, but he knows to listen to the captain. Kane has been talking to him about what they can do to become more fluid.

It is also why Southgate tends to leave the final words before big games to Kane, and some of the other senior players. The striker isn’t the most expansive speaker, but he can be to the point. That’s all Southgate feels England need now.

“There are moments where you touch on certain things, but we have been delivering messages all week,” the manager said. “By the time you get to the kick-off, less is better. The players are normally ready and you expect them, with their experience, to be in the right zone and the right frame of mind.”

Read Miguel Delaney’s full preview of England v Slovakia:

Gareth Southgate’s team toiled in all three matches, struggling to create chances as they edged Serbia 1-0, drew 1-1 with Denmark and then endured a drab 0-0 stalemate with Slovenia in their final game. It was enough to win the group, however, mainly because all three matches not involving England ended in draws.

England will need a huge improvement in the knockout phase of the competition if they are to live up to their pre-tournament billing as one of the favourites, but they have had a stroke of fortune with the draw.

Austria’s surprise conquest of Group D has sent France over to what now looks like the toughest half, containing hosts Germany and previous champions Spain, Portugal and Denmark.

So, will England take advantage? Here is their route to the final of Euro 2024.

Gareth Southgate ruled Luke Shaw out of England’s final Euro 2024 group match against Slovenia but there are hopes that the left-back will be fit to play a part in balancing out the defence especially after Kieran Trippier seemingly picked up a knock in the game.

The manager is still searching for his ideal midfield pairing with Kobbie Mainoo putting forward a strong case to start alongside Declan Rice with his performance against Slovenia. Expect him to get the nod ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Conor Gallagher.

Phil Foden left the camp temporarily for personal reasons but returned to Germany on Friday. Southgate will need to assess whether he is fit to start with options to bring in Eberechi Eze or Anthony Gordon, with the Newcastle winger perhaps favoured to match Bukayo Saka’s pace on the opposite wing.

Predicted England XI: Pickford; Walker, Guehi, Stones, Trippier; Rice, Mainoo; Saka, Bellingham, Foden; Kane

The match will kick off at 5pm BST on Sunday 30 June at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, the only venue England have won at so far in the tournament.

It will be shown on ITV1 with coverage starting around 3.30pm. The match can also be streamed live online via the ITVX platform and app. You can find a full list of which channel is showing each match here.

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