England tops group and Slovenia also advances at Euro after scoreless draw

England advanced to the knockout stage of Euro 2024 as group winner after a 0-0 draw against Slovenia on Tuesday in Germany.

The result at Cologne Stadium also saw Slovenia reach the round of 16 and Croatia was eliminated.

In a game of few chances, England substitute Cole Palmer could have sealed the win in stoppage time, but his shot was saved by Slovenia goalkeeper Jan Oblak.

England had already been assured of advancing but doing so as Group C winner means it will play one of the qualifying third-placed teams in the round of 16 and is on the opposite side of the draw to Spain, France, Germany and Portugal.

But it was another unconvincing performance from a team that went into the tournament as one of the favourites to be crowned European champion.

Gareth Southgate and his players have faced heavy criticism despite having already advanced before the final group game.

Its performance against Denmark was so uninspired that former captain and now BBC presenter Gary Lineker used an expletive to describe it in a brutal assessment.

Again England looked short of ideas and could have gone behind early on when Benjamin Sesko had a free header from inside the box. His effort lacked power and direction and was easily collected by keeper Jordan Pickford.

Bukayo Saka had a first-half goal ruled out for offside and Palmer came close late on, but England rarely looked like finding a winner.

England was a beaten finalist at the last Euros when it lost a penalty shootout to Italy and has not won a major tournament since its only triumph — the World Cup in 1966.

This was Slovenia's first appearance at a Euros for 24 years and only the second time it had qualified for the tournament. It advanced to the knockout phase for the first time.

France 1, Poland 1

Kylian Mbappe scored from the penalty spot on his return after breaking his nose before France conceded a spot kick by Robert Lewandowski in a draw with Poland in Dortmund, Germany.

Mbappe removed his protective mask to celebrate in front of France's fans after converting his 56th-minute penalty for his first goal at a European Championship. It wasn't enough to secure his team first place in Group D at Euro 2024, though.

Lewandowski had his penalty saved in the 77th minute by France goalkeeper Mike Maignan, who was adjudged to have come off his line.

The Poland striker found the bottom corner with his second attempt.

France finished as runner-up to Austria in the group and will play the runner-up in Group E, which could be Belgium, Romania, Slovakia or Ukraine, in the last 16 on July 1.

France has yet to score an open-play goal at Euro 2024, having beaten Austria 1-0 on an own-goal and then drawn 0-0 with the Netherlands -- when Mbappe was missing after breaking his nose against the Austrians.

Mbappe returned to the starting lineup against last-place Poland, which was already eliminated before the match began, and was clearly impaired by wearing a mask that limits his peripheral vision.

He largely kept away from overly physical challenges and didn't compete for the ball in the air.

Still, Mbappe remained France's most dangerous attacker and finally got his first goal in six matches at the tournament —  taking in four at Euro 2020 and two at Euro 2024 — after Ousmane Dembele was tripped in the area.

Mbappe played the full game, starting as a central striker before ending up on the left wing, in another unconvincing display from France, a two-time European champion and the World Cup runner-up in 2022.

Austria 3, Netherlands 2

Marcel Sabitzer scored late for Austria to advance to the knockout stage of the European Championship as group winner with a 3-2 win over the Netherlands on Tuesday in Berlin.

Austria topped Group D thanks to France drawing with Poland 1-1 in the other game. Both France and the Netherlands were already assured of progress thanks to results in other games.

The Austrians had needed a point to be sure of progress and got off to a great start with Dutch forward Donyell Malen scoring an own goal in the sixth minute.

First-half substitute Xavi Simons set up Cody Gapko to equalize two minutes after the break, but Romano Schmid headed Austria back in front in the 59th.

Memphis Depay equalized with a brilliant finish in the 75th, though he had to endure a VAR check as referee Ivan Kruzliak felt he handled the ball. The check found Depay hadn't.

But Sabitzer restored Austria's lead two minutes later with a fierce strike from a difficult angle.

It proved to be the winner despite a frenetic finale with chances at both ends.

Denmark advances to last 16

Denmark advanced to the last 16 at the European Championship after a 0-0 draw with Serbia in Munich.

The Danes finished Group C with three points, the same as Slovenia, but ended up in second place because of a better qualifying ranking. Slovenia, which drew 0-0 with group-winner England, also advanced to the knockout stage at Euro 2024.

Denmark had most of the chances even though Serbia needed a victory to reach the next round. And almost all of those Danish opportunities came through Christian Eriksen, who was making a record 133rd appearance for his country.

Denmark and Slovenia finished even on points, goal difference, goals scored and disciplinary points.

Slovenia's result against England also eliminated Croatia, which finished third in Group B.

Tennis great Novak Djokovic was in the stadium in Munich to cheer on Serbia. He walked on the field before the match to chants of "Nole, Nole" from his country's fans.

Tuesday's match had the longest wait for the first attempt in a Euro 2024 game, with Denmark defender Alexander Bah heading the ball wide in the 16th minute.

The Danes went closer five minutes later when Eriksen's shot was pushed around the right post by Serbia goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic.

Denmark put the ball in the net moments later but it was disallowed because Jonas Wind had wrestled Rajkovic to the ground as both players and the ball went over the line following a corner from Eriksen.

Serbia also had a goal ruled out early in the second half. Luka Jovic, one of three halftime substitutes for Serbia, was offside before Joachim Andersen bundled the ball into his own net.

Disappointed Serbian fans hurled plastic cups onto the field after the disallowed goal, causing a brief stoppage as stewards ran to clear them.