30 June 2024 , 14:55
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England are once again bidding to end 58 years of hurt as they kick off their knockout stage campaign at Euro 2024.
The Three Lions face Slovakia this evening in Gelsenkirchen looking to book their place in the last eight after a less than convincing group stage.
Gareth Southgate's side beat Serbia 1-0 before draws against Denmark and Slovenia, but crucially topped their group to land a more favourable route to the final... at least on paper.
Should they overcome Slovakia, they will take on Switzerland in the last eight after they got the better of Italy on Saturday.
But tonight's big game will take place on ITV - a broadcaster that England have traditionally struggled on in previous major tournaments.
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Since 1998, England have won just seven of the 31 matches which have been broadcast on ITV. That figure consists of 14 draws and 10 defeats, the latter of which includes the quarter-final loss against France at the 2022 World Cup.
By contrast, England have a fine record on the BBC, who co-cover the tournament. The Three Lions have won 20 of their 29 matches which have been shown on the BBC across the same period, including the 1-0 win over Serbia earlier this month.
The Rest is Entertainment podcast shed some light on how the BBC and ITV share coverage of the tournament in the build-up to the Slovenia match, explaining that both take it in turns to select matches.
Co-host Marina Hyde explained: "ITV and the BBC share out games at the Euros and, in fact, all tournaments. They take it in turns to pick matches but this time around it was ITV's turn to pick first. You can choose anything right from the start, it's like a draft. But they thought, 'Okay, we'll do semi-final pick one because we think England will do well in this tournament', so when the semi-final line-up is decided, ITV will get to choose the first choice of that, hopefully with England in it.
"So, the BBC then counter with their next pick - and this is what happened in the room, we're giving you the inside track here - they countered with quarter-final pick one. So then ITV are like, 'Right, what's next?'. Honestly it's like game theory. So then [ITV] go, 'We're going to do the Round of 16 first pick because that's not a risky choice, England's group is manageable and they're going to get out it so this is worth it'.
England are hoping to kickstart their tournament against Slovakia (2024 Getty Images)Will England reach the last eight? Have your say below.
"The BBC then go, right, England v Serbia, that is 8pm Sunday night, maximum possible audience, we'll have that. ITV next, England v Slovenia. That's also a peak time game but that's the third match in the group, so if England have already qualified it could be dead. It could really be a knockout if England haven't done well so really they've got to have that. Then the BBC took the one remaining England game, that was 5pm on a Thursday.
"But then the big dilemma: ITV could have had the second semi-final at this stage and are sitting their thinking, 'What do we do', because the BBC will be sort of shut out for the final week of the tournament until the actual final. But if England have already gone then the interest level is gone. So ITV then said we'll have game one of the whole tournament, which is Germany against Scotland, a home nation, which is peak time on a Friday night. That paid off brilliantly for them because so many people watched that."