It wasn’t to be for England at the 2018 World Cup as they suffered a 2-1 loss in the semi-final against Croatia. After taking the lead early in the match and dominating the first half, England could not hold out, visibly tiring and letting Croatia back into the game. England will face off against Belgium in the third/fourth place match on the weekend.
Even though that place in the World Cup Final did not come for the Three Lions, they will go home with their heads held high after exceeding expectations. Really the expectation was a quarter-final place at best for them, but they Gareth Southgate’s men went one better than that and could still finish on a huge high of coming home with the third place.
UEFA Nations League
But in this new positive era of the England national team, there is plenty to look forward to now. This could be a great stepping stone forward for better things to come for this young team. The next challenge to come for England will be going into the new UEFA Nations League which starts later this year and is the thing that has been designed to get rid of pointless friendly games.
England are in Group 4 of League A there where they will be facing up to Spain and yes, Croatia in a round robin forward. That all starts in early September. The winner of each of the four groups in League A will go through to a semi-final knockout competition in June 2019. Spain are the 7/2 outright favourites here to take the title followed by Germany at 4/1 odds* (betting odds taken at 9:57 pm on July 11th, 2018).
UEFA Nations League Winner Odds*
Spain 7/2
Germany 4/1
France 5/1
Beligumm11/2
Italy 9/1
England 12/1
Portugal 14/1
Croatia 20/1
Switzerland 33/1
Poland 40/1
Netherlands 50/1
Iceland 80/1
* (betting odds taken at 9:57 pm on July 11th, 2018)
Euro 2020
In two years time, England will be hoping to find themselves taking part in Euro 2020. England are 8/1 odds to win Euro 2020* (betting odds taken at 9:57 pm on July 11th, 2018). All we know for that is that it is going to be held across 12 cities in 12 European countries which sounds like a logistical nightmare. But still, with the semi-finals and the final of Euro 2020 to be held at Wembley, then that should be some extra incentive for the Three Lions to push hard for the title. Just imagine where this side could be in a couple of years and if they could find a creative midfielder.
Euro 2020 Odds*
France 4/1
Germany 5/1
Spain 11/2
Belgium 8/1
England 8/1
Portugal 11/1
Italy 14/1
Netherlands 20/1
Croatia 25/1
Poland 50/1
Bar 66/1
* (betting odds taken at 9:57 pm on July 11th, 2018)
