Key events
The teams
England: Pickford, Konsa, Dunk, Guehi, Trippier, Gallagher, Alexander-Arnold, Bowen, Palmer, Eze, Watkins.
Subs: Ramsdale, Gomez, Branthwaite, Quansah, Rice, Toney, Grealish, Maddison, Kane, Jones, Wharton, Henderson, Trafford.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Vasilj, Ahmedhodzic, Katic, Radeljic, Bicakcic, Hajradinovic, Saric, Tahirovic, Gazibegovic, Gigovic, Demirovic.
Subs: Hadzikic, Hadzikadunic, Huseinbasic, Tabakovic, Dzeko, Mujakic, Burnic, Sosic, Muharemovic, Piric.
Referee: Rohit Saggi (Norway).
Having Said That dept. Bosnia and Herzegovina have a very decent record against the other home nations. Since losing to Scotland in a qualifier for Euro 2000, they’re on a seven-game unbeaten tear-up against British sides, winning four and drawing three in matches against Wales (W2 D2) and Northern Ireland (W2 D1).
England have never played Bosnia and Herzegovina before. As one of the favourites for Euro 2024, they’ll be expecting to start a beautiful new relationship with a win; while Gareth Southgate’s side are currently three matches without a victory, Bosnia and Herzegovina are on a four-game losing run, having lost eight of their last ten, their only two victories during that sequence coming against Liechtenstein.
FULL TIME: Gibraltar 0-2 Scotland. England aren’t the only home nation warming up for Euro 2024. Scotland are preparing for Germany too, in more ways than one, and this afternoon they’ve started that process by beating Gibraltar 2-0 in the Algarve. Ryan Christie opened the scoring on the hour, and Che Adams added the second with five minutes left on the clock. Almost the perfect result for Steve Clarke’s side, as it breaks a seven-game winless run that stretched all the way back to last September, while adding nothing whatsoever in the form of hope or expectation. The sort of stuff that can addle the mind. Mess you up.
The England team has been announced, and as expected it’s an experimental one. Cole Palmer and Eberechi Eze make their first starts, while Trent Alexander-Arnold gets another run-out in midfield, and Ollie Watkins leads the line. With Harry Kane resting up on the bench, Toon hero Kieran Trippier is captain for the evening.
Preamble
Let’s not overthink or oversell this. It’s a pre-tournament warm-up with half the team missing. Kick-off is at 7.45pm BST. It’s on!
