Football fans are feeling optimistic ahead of England’s first Euro 2024 match – with almost half saying they expect Gareth Southgate’s side to reach the semi-finals.
England will face Serbia in the first of their three group matches on Sunday, before playing Slovenia and Denmark next week.
Ahead of the game, a YouGov-Sky News poll has found 47% of football fans think England will make it to at least the semi-finals – with 12% saying they expect England to win the whole tournament.
A total of 6% of those asked said they think England will make it to the final but lose, and 29% think they’ll bow out in the semi-finals.
Just 3% of fans think England won’t make it past the group stages and 33% predict the side will be knocked out in the quarter-finals.
The poll saw 2,111 adults surveyed on 10 and 11 June.
Preparations are currently under way in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, where England will face Serbia in a match that has been deemed “high risk” by police.
This is “because of the history, because of the hooligans both sides have,” Chief Inspector Christof Burghardt previously told Sky News.
“Serbia has many hooligans,” he added. “The English guys, with alcohol, they are sometimes very aggressive. So it’s a great job to do this, to prepare, so that hopefully nothing will happen.”
British police have been sharing intelligence and will send its largest deployment of officers since 2016.
Heightened security measures will include fans being served low alcohol beer and banned from drinking in the stands.
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The England squad jetted out to Germany on Monday – after receiving a visit from Prince William, who passed on advice for the team from his youngest son, Prince Louis.
England were beaten 1-0 by Iceland in their final warm-up friendly on Friday and Jack Grealish, James Maddison and Harry Maguire were all left out from the final squad.
Source Agencies
