Gareth Southgate insists England's lacklustre finish to the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign will mean nothing when they start their bid to win the tournament in Germany.

Such are the expectations that Southgate is working under these days that qualifying with an unbeaten record from a potentially tricky group including Italy and Ukraine earned him few plaudits.

Being held to a 1-1 draw by North Macedonia on Monday meant England failed to beat a side as low as 66th in the FIFA rankings for the first time since 2016, when they drew with Slovenia.

But with a runners-up finish at the last European Championship in 2021, as well as World Cup semi-final and quarter-final appearances in the Southgate era, England's status as one of the Euro favourites is well earned after six victories from their eight qualifiers.

Read full story on sport.timesofmalta.com

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