England's potential path to the 2024 Euro Final: Old foes Italy in the quarters, Kylian Mbappe's France in the last-four... and a showdown with Portugal, Germany or Spain in the grand final

England enter Euro 2024 as one of the strong favourites to go all the way and be crowned European champions for the first time in their history.

The Three Lions looked invincible during their qualification campaign, managing to be one of the few teams to go unbeaten in the UEFA Euro Qualifiers, although they did have a dip in their performance during their recent friendlies. 

Gareth Southgate's team, which is armed with both experience and youth, are tipped as one of the favourites to win the tournament, but seven games stand in the way of them and glory, and their potential opponents in the knockout stages are quite daunting no matter what route the end up on.

England's path to the final could see them face Austria, Italy and France in the knockout stages before a potential final meeting with Spain, Portugal or Germany - and that's even if all goes to plan in Group C

Here are all the potential pathways Southgate and his England squad could take en route to the 2024 Euro Final. 

Group Stage Games

Before talking about who they could face, lets look at who they are guaranteed to play in Germany this summer.

England were drawn into Group C alongside Denmark, Slovenia and Serbia.

Opening group game 

England's opening game on Sunday, June 16 will see them go up against Serbia at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen.

It will be Gelsenkirchen's first game to host at Euro 2024. The opening game of Group C should be a fantastic spectacle as very little separates the two country's when looking at their head to heads. 

Serbia have managed four wins, whilst England have registered six, with five ending as a draw.

In terms of goals, the two sides have a history of finding the net against one another with Serbia scoring 21 goals and England slotting home 25 goals in 15 games.

Second group game 

Next up for England after Serbia in Group C will be Denmark on Thursday, June 20. 

Although stats never tell the full tale, England fans will be quietly confident they can get the job done against Denmark considering England have won 15 times, drew five and only loss five against the Scandinavian side. 

They were however handed a scare against Denmark in the semi-finals of Euro 2020, although England eventually came through 2-1 in extra-time. 

Third group game 

England's third and final group game will take place on Tuesday, June 25. Southgate's men will face 52nd-ranked in the world Slovenia at Cologne' RhenEnergieStadion at 8pm. 

The two sides have only gone up against one another six times in both their country's history's. 

Out of those six games, Slovenia have failed to win against the Three Lions, managing to lose to them on five out of the six occasions and earning just the one draw.

If England win Group C 

Round of 16 opponents 

If England top their group like many have projected them to they will face the best third place finisher from either Group D, E or F in the Round of 16.

Based on the current betting odds and expert knowledge, Austria are poised to clinch third in Group D, Romania is likely to claim the spot in Group E whilst the Czech Republic are poised to take third in Group F. 

Quarter-Finals

If England beat their Round of 16 opponents and advance to the quarter-final stage, they will either face the runner up of Group A or B.

At the minute both Switzerland and Hungary are tied with the bookmakers for finishing second in Group A, whilst Italy are favoured to be Group B runners-up.

As such, that could mean a mouth-watering repeat of the 2020 Euro final between England and Italy is on the cards in the last-eight.

Semi-Finals 

If England end up walking this path to the 2024 Euro final, the semi-finals is where the competition heats up and England may face one of the world's truly elite teams.

This pathway will see England likely paired with either of predicted Group E winners Belgium or Group D winners France for the semi-finals. 

There is a possibility depending on previous results that they could face Turkey, Switzerland, Croatia, Serbia or Austria respectively.

Meaning a final showdown between hosts Germany or Spain may be on the cards for England this year, if everything goes to plan.

If England finish as runners-up in Group C

Round of 16

Not what many fans will be hoping and expecting to see this summer but a slip up in the group stage could see one of the tournament favourites not top their group.

Resulting in them having to take a much rockier path than wanted. If they finish second in Group C they will be matched up against the winners of Group A.

Host's Germany are tipped to top Group A, which would make the tie a thrilling watch for supporters.

Scotland could also be a potential round of 16 opponent, if they manage to cause an upset in Group A. 

Quarter-Finals

If England manage to win their round of 16 tie in this scenario, their route to the final doesn't become an easier. 

A date with either the winner of group B or the third best placed team from Group A,D,E or F will await the Three Lions.

Group B is one of the stronger groups at this year's Euros, as it could be won by any one of Spain, Italy or Croatia. Whilst the third placed teams could be Switzerland, Austria, Romania or Czech Republic.

Semi-Finals

If they advance past the quarter-finals, England's opponents will either be the winners of Group F (Portugal are favourite), or the runners up of either Group D (most likely the Netherlands) or Group E (which is predicted to be Ukraine). 

If England finish third in Group C

A disastrous scenario for Gareth Southgate's men could see the Three Lions finish third in their group. 

However all would not be lost as they could still manage to qualify for the knockout stages as one of the best placed third placed teams and if you think the previous two routes were messy, you are not prepared for this one.

Round of 16

If England qualify as one of the best third place teams there are two potential round of 6 routes they could take. 

They will either go up against the winners of Group F (Portugal are favourite) or the winners of Group D, where Belgium are backed by the bookmakers. 

Quarter-finals 

This is where it gets a bit hazy...

If England beat the Group A winners, lets say it is Portugal they will go up against the runners-up of Group D (Netherlands) or Group E (Ukraine) in the quarter-finals.

However if they beat Belgium, there quarter-final fixture will be between themselves and either the winner of Group D (France) or the runner up of Group F (likely to be Turkey). 

Semi-finals

The possibilities of paths extends further if England manage to progress past the quarter-final stage.

If they overcome Portugal in the above scenario they will face either the winner of Group A (Germany is most likely), the winners of Group B (Spain are favourites), the runners-up of Group C (Likely to be Denmark or Serbia) or the third placed team in Group A, D, E or F. Switzerland, Austria, Romania and Czech Republic are most likely to be in contention for that spot.

The other scenario which sees them beat Belgium in the quarter-finals would mean a semi-final showdown between with any of the following teams.

The teams they could most likely face in this scenario are the winners of Group C (likely to be Denmark), the runner-up of Group A (could be Switzerland, Scotland or Hungary) or the third placed team from Group D, E or F await.

Those teams are most likely to be Austria, Romania or Czech Republic.