hile England fans celebrated drawing Slovakia as their team’s last-16 opponents at Euro 2024, midfielder Jude Bellingham warned that smaller nations are no pushovers — and the performances of other minnows in Germany is a great example.
England finished top of Group C but stumbled through three tepid first-round games and now face third-placed side Slovakia on Sunday in Gelsenkirchen after a wild race to the finish in Group E where all four teams finished on four points.
“I think people look at the draw and see Slovakia and think it will be an easy game,” Bellingham told England’s in-house “Lions Den” broadcast on Thursday.
“It definitely is not the case because they will be a different type of threat and will be difficult to break down,” he said. “I think when you play nations who come at you a bit more, it’s a lot more open.
“I think that you’re always going to have tough games at this point in the tournament,” Bellingham added.
Georgia’s 2-0 David-and-Goliath win over Portugal in Group F on Wednesday — a team ranked 68 spots above them — is the best example of a nation outperforming expectations in Germany.
Georgia manager Willy Sagnol believes there is less pressure on the underdogs.
“When you’re the small team, you know you have nothing to lose,” the Frenchman said. “It’s difficult when you’re France, when you’re England, when you’re Spain, when you’re Portugal, because you’re under pressure, because people expect you to win.
“The only responsibility we had was to make the Georgian nation proud of their players. And I think we’ve done it the best way.”
Slovakia shocked Belgium 1-0 in their opening match.
“The lesser teams, if you will … the smaller nations, have made progress,” Slovakia manager and former coffee salesman Francesco Calzona said. “We can cause problems for the more prestigious nations.
“We are the Cinderella story of the group stage,” he added.
While England only had 10 attempts on target in the group stage, their defence — considered a weak spot pre-tournament — has become a source of optimism heading into the knockout round. They conceded the fewest expected goals (xG) in the group stage.
England last played Slovakia in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers when they claimed 2-1 and 1-0 wins.
Slovakia won seven and drew one and lost two of their 10 Euro qualifying games, while unbeaten England won six and drew two in a five-team group.
