Laura Woods is ITV’s main presenter for Euro 2024, but fans will be hoping they stay away from England’s fixtures (Photo: Getty)
England’s Euro 2024 campaign hasn’t been going to plan so far, but history suggests it could get a lot worse when they play Slovenia tonight.
As per usual, the BBC and ITV are showing every game from the tournament live, with the former broadcasting the Three Lions’ opening two games against Serbia and Denmark.
But the now crucial clash against Slovenia in Cologne will be on ITV, which will concern fans as over the years it has been noted that the national team perform way better when on the Beeb as opposed to their advert-heavy rivals.
But is ITV’s coverage actually cursed? Metro has crunched the numbers and worked out that Gareth Southgate’s side should indeed avoid Laura Woods and Mark Pougatch at all costs…
ITV’s England record
Since the 1998 World Cup, 30 England matches at major tournaments have been broadcast live on ITV and shockingly, only eight on them have ended in victory for the Three Lions.
This gives the broadcaster a win-percentage of just 26.6%, with the remaining results being 10 draws and 12 losses.
Many of the country’s lowest moments were shown on ITV, including the heartbreaking defeats to France and Croatia at the last two World Cups and the humiliating Euro 2016 exit to Iceland.
England’s humiliating Euro 2016 exit was live on ITV (Photo: Getty)
Going back further, they brought us the World Cup penalty shootout losses to Portugal and Argentina, both of which occurred after England’s star player was sent off – Wayne Rooney in 2006 and David Beckham in 1998.
BBC’s England record
Over the same time period, the Beeb’s form when it comes to England games is far, far better with 20 wins out of 29, which includes their two games at Euro 2024.
That’s a win-percentage of 68.9% for Gary Lineker and co. who have overseen just two draws and seven losses.
Both broadcasters showed the Euro 2020 penalty heartbreak (Photo: Getty)
It’s not all good news though, with the BBC still showing some terrible results over the years including the embarrassing 4-1 defeat to Germany at World Cup 2010.
Both broadcasters showed the Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy on penalties.
Which England games will the BBC and ITV show at Euro 2024?
As mentioned, the BBC showed England’s opening two games against Serbia and Denmark, and while performances were dire they did yield positive results.
It’s now over to ITV for their final game of Group C against Slovenia which kicks-off at 8pm on Tuesday, 25 June.
As ever, Gary Lineker will front the BBC’s coverage (Photo: Getty)
As for the knockouts, ITV have first dibs on what games to show in the round-of-16 and semi-finals, so history dictates that one of those will likely spell the end for the Three Lions, while BBC will get priority on the quarter-finals.
As ever, both will show the final in Berlin on Sunday, 14 July.
What do England need to do to qualify for the Euro 2024 Round of 16?
Despite the disappointment over performances, the Three Lions’ destiny is still in their own hands as they top Group C with four points, ahead of both Denmark and Slovenia on two points and Serbia on one point.
Victory over Slovenia will guarantee they qualify as group winners but even a draw will be good enough if Denmark fail to beat Serbia.
But it is imperative that they break the ITV curse and secure top spot as that means they will play a third-placed team from one of Groups D, E or F in the last-16.
If they finish second in the group, they’ll instead take on hosts and rivals Germany who have looked brilliant at the tournament so far.
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