Gareth Southgate Is Optimistic About England's Chances At Euro 2024 After Securing Qualification

England manager Gareth Southgate believes his side are capable of winning the European Championships in Germany next summer. Southgate's remarks come after the Three Lions secured qualification for the tournament thanks to a 3-1 win over Italy on Tuesday night.

Southgate was asked in his post-match press conference about England's chances of success at Euro 2024 and he responded by saying: "Pressure comes when expectation is different to reality and reality is, we are going to be one of the teams capable of winning. There are others, you've only got to look through the top ten European nations and on any given night one can beat another."

Southgate also touched on what traits he thinks England have that make them a favourite to win next summer's European Championships. He commented: "I think the biggest thing for us is the mentality. We have good technical players, good physicality, but we have to keep winning big matches like tonight."

England came into Tuesday's qualifier against Italy at Wembley Stadium knowing that a win would guarantee them a spot at Euro 2024 and would be done with two qualifiers left to spare. Southgate's men were tasked with defeating the nation which broke their hearts in the Euro 2020 final on the same pitch.

Italy's penalty shoot-out win over England in the final of the last European Championships still lingers in the back of the minds of England fans and is something Southgate and his players would have wanted to correct.

England did not get off to the best of starts as Italy took the lead in the 15th minute thanks to a close-range finish from Gianluca Scamacca. England pushed to find an equaliser and got the chance to do so from the penalty spot just after the half-hour mark as Jude Bellingham made a forward run into the penalty box and was subsequently brought down by Giovanni Di Lorenzo.

England's captain, Harry Kane, made no mistake from the spot and brought England back into the game, with the score remaining level until half-time. England came out in the second half with much more purpose and penetration in their play, and it resulted in Marcus Rashford putting the home side in front in the 57th minute after he cut inside from the left channel and struck his shot into the bottom corner.

England's victory was sealed when Italy's defence failed to deal with a long ball played forward and Harry Kane took full advantage as he burst forward and slotted in his second goal of the night to give England a 3-1 win.

Despite Kane netting twice for England, Bellingham was awarded the player of the match award for his impressive display, making it his ninth this season for both Real Madrid and England. After the game, Bellingham spoke to Channel 4 about England's win and his own performance.

The midfielder stated: "It was a really good night for us, we all remember what happened a few years ago when they played us here. You always aim for progression. We are heading in the right direction and a very important win for us."

"I am loving football at the minute. My management at club and country are giving me freedom to play it how I see it," the Real Madrid player continued.

Now that England have confirmed their spot at Euro 2024, Southgate and his staff will be sure to begin working on how to make England perform better than the last Euros and win the nation's first major trophy since 1966. He will also want to finish the qualification process on a high next month when England face off against Malta and North Macedonia in order to finish unbeaten in qualifying.

Other nations that have also booked their place at next summer's tournament in Germany include Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, Scotland, Austria and Turkey. Also, Germany automatically have a place at the tournament due to being the hosts.

France are expected to be one of England's main challengers at next year's Euros, having reached three of the last four finals in major international tournaments. They also knocked England out of the last World Cup in Qatar with a 2-1 win in the quarter-finals, so Southgate's side will be keen for revenge if the two sides are to come across each other next summer.

France and Portugal are the two sides who have maintained a 100 per cent winning record in the qualification stage for Euro 2024, whilst England and Belgium are unbeaten with just one draw stopping them from having a perfect record.