Well this is maybe a little bit surprising...considerably more of you who took to the thumbs in reaction to Mike's call for Harry Kane to be dropped have agreed that it is time for Gareth Southgate to bench the England captain.

At the last count, 860 clicked the thumbs up in favour of dropping Kane, while 552 gave the idea a thumbs down.

Netherlands

Arthur Renard, Dutch football journalist covering Euro 2024:

"In a way, you could say England did what they needed to do, which was finishing first, and they have probably a good position in the knockout stages.

"But you could see the team doesn't gel, and only two goals in the group stages is not a lot if you consider the attacking talent they have."

What do other countries think about England? Find out here.

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I can't decide if you are being serious, Mike, about potentially playing England's record goalscorer at centre-back? But you are not actually the first person to mention the possibility of dropping Kane. What do you think folks? Thumbs up if you think Kane should be dropped for the next match, thumbs down if you don't...

Image source, Getty Images

France

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Pierre-Etienne Minonzio, French journalist for L'Equipe who covers England at major tournaments, says Southgate has "lost his golden touch".

"I was a huge supporter and sometimes as a joke at L'Equipe they told me I was obsessed with him - I always defended him and thought in the past some English people were unfair with him.

"For the first tournament I don't really understand some of his decisions."

Click here from more opinion on the England team from across Europe..

Guillem Balague
Spanish football journalist

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We in the Spanish media are all very disappointed. We built this England up because we like the people in it, because we like Gareth Southgate, because of the potential, because of the success with the clubs, we built them up as one of the candidates.

Check what other European countries think of England at the Euros here.

Are you plumping for Wharton over Mainoo in midfield Anon?

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Underpeforming England sides at a major tournament can spark a nationwide echo chamber of opinions - through grumbles and moans, backward passes and a lack of Kalvin Phillips, it can be hard to see the light.

England may have so far failed to excite at Euro 2024 but the Three Lions did qualify for the last 16 by topping Group C and face an arguably favourable route in the knockouts, starting with Slovakia, ranked 45th in the world, on Sunday.

So is the home view of England too pessimistic? Are we expecting too much from Gareth Southgate's side? Are the media too critical?

World Cup and two-time European Championship winner Cesc Fabregas, for example, says the Spanish press are even tougher on their national team.

"The English media is not that tough with the players," he added. "It is the opposite. In Spain, we are much more critical."

It begs the question - what does the rest of Europe think of England?

Read the full story here.

So the stats tell us England are still well in the running at the Euros, but what do other competing countries think of their performances so far?

Simon Gleave
Head of sports analysis, Nielsen Gracenote

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Gracenote

England are also third favourites to reach the final, after Spain (27%) and the Netherlands (25%). England's chance is 22% according to Gracenote's forecast.

We have also calculated the chance of all the possible finals happening. Spain v England (5.7%) and England v Germany (5.0%) are both in the top five most likely Euro 2024 finals.

The favourite is a repeat of the 2010 World Cup final between Netherlands and Spain but this only has a 7% chance of coming to fruition.

England are the fifth favourites to win Euro 2024, behind Spain, Germany, Netherlands and France. Gracenote's forecast gives England around a 10% chance of winning the competition.

Image source, Gracenote

Simon Gleave
Head of sports analysis, Nielsen Gracenote

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Well Julien Laurens remains confident about England's chances at Euros 2024, but what do the statisticians think?

According to Simon Gleave, head of sports analysis at Nielsen Gracenote, England are third favourites to reach the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 after being matched with Slovakia in the last 16.

"The chance of England progressing from this match is 73% according to Gracenote's forecasting model which is based on our men's world ranking," he said.

"England's chance is only bettered by Spain (80% to knock Georgia out) and the Netherlands, who are given 76% chance of progressing at Romania's expense."

Gracenote's world football ranking uses similar methodology as Fifa's women's world ranking. The most likely quarter-finalists are Spain, Netherlands, England, Germany, Portugal, Austria, Italy and France according to the Gracenote forecast. However, the forecast also suggests that there will be two or three surprise teams in the last eight.

Check out the quarter-final stats below.

Image source, Gracenote

BBC Radio 5 Live

The Euro Leagues panel of Guillem Balague, Julien Laurens, Mina Rzouki and Rafa Honigstein were asked for their mid-tournament predictions in the latest episode of Football Daily. Here is what they had to say:

Balague: France for me. Knockout stages is something else. It happens in the minds of the French players, they got the know-how, [Didier] Deschamps knows as well - it's not about how pretty you are but how effective you are. They have still got so much room for improvement that they will probably take it.

Rzouki: I'm going to have to go for Spain. The way that they play through central channels, wings they know how to do everything.

Honigstein: I'm sticking with my pre-tournament prediction of France and ditching my pre-tournament prediction of England being the second-best team.

Laurens: England, it's coming home! I've told you a long time ago.

Listen to the recent full episode of Football Daily here.

OK, as promised, we are going to spend a bit of time this morning reflecting on the tournament so far while also building up to the start of the knockout stages, which kick off with Switzerland v Italy at 17:00 BST on Saturday.

Lat's start by taking a look back at the best goals of the group stage.

Take a look at the video above and then click here to vote on which is your favourite.

The Times

We finish our round-up of Friday's newspapers with a report from the Telegraph on Phil Foden's return to the England camp and the news that Newcastle winger Anthony Gordon is fit to play in Sunday's last-16 tie against Slovakia after taking a tumble from an e-bike in the grounds of the team hotel.

Image source, The Times

I think it is important to say Antony that the reaction of a minority of fans in throwing cups towards the England manager after their draw with Slovenia in Cologne was not representative of the overall support. The support inside Cologne Stadium was magnificent during the match, and while the boos that rang out at the final whistle was a clear sign of the frustration felt by fans, it is just another indication of their passion for the Three Lions and an overwhelming desire to see this team do well.

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Another story that broke following England's qualification for the knockout stages of Euro 2024 was the departure of Manchester City's Phil Foden for the birth of his third child.

It has been revealed that the England midfielder was expected to return to Germany on Thursday.

Foden, who has 37 caps, has started all three of England's group games at the tournament, including Tuesday's draw with Slovenia.

England play Slovakia (17:00 BST) in the last 16 of Euro 2024 on Sunday in Gelsenkirchen and Foden should be involved in training today (Friday).

Read more on that story here.

Crystal Palace midfielder Eberechi Eze also said that Gareth Southgate's willingness to shoulder the blame for England's poor performances and protect his players was "key" for the dressing room:

"It's a testament to his character [and] the type of person he is that his main focus is what can he do to get the best out of everyone and that's what he's trying to do.

"It is key for players and key for the dressing room knowing that you've got the full support [of the manager and his staff].

"Of course, you don't wish for that type of situation where you've got the negativity around but again it is football, people have got opinions and stuff like that, so its understandable. But as we've said, the main focus is what we've got, what we believe in and the fact we've got everyone in the dressing room supporting each other, that's the main focus."

Listen to Eze's full interview from 17mins 15secs on Friday's edition of Football Daily.

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Speaking to Football Daily, England attacking midfielder Eberechi Eze says he was "shocked" by the reception that the team received from supporters after the 0-0 draw with Slovenia.

"Firstly you understand that it's not everyone that feels that way," said Eze.

"There's so much support and we know that we've got the majority of people behind us and believing in us.

"Us sticking together is the most important thing. There's going to be difficult points along the journey but its full faith across the team we've got."

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