At the head of the group … pretty much! But there are much more difficult tests to come | UK News

So now the tournament really begins for England. They did the job against the Czech Republic, pretty much.

It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t emphatic, it was functional. They knew what they had to do to dominate this group and they did. Just about.

All pre-match talks had focused on the missing duo Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell, absent after chatting with Chelsea teammate Billy Gilmour in the tunnel after the Scotland game.

But all eyes quickly turned to Jack Grealish, starting a major game for England for the first time. And it was he who put the cross for Raheem Sterling to score.

Then it’s another home game on Tuesday, in the round of 16.

As they left the stadium, the English fans sang “football coming home”. But they just couldn’t decide who they would rather face.

France world champion? European Champions Portugal? Or Germany? It is quite the choice.

England will know their opponent on Wednesday at 10pm and they will know what they have to do.

Defeat a great nation and reserve a spot for the quarter-finals, a match that will be played in Rome.

For now, they can rest, recover and regroup. Mason and Chilwell will return and there is no major injury issue.

Tuesday night promises to be a blockbuster. Knockout football, big names, huge pressure.

If football is really to come home, the great teams have to be beaten somewhere. And what better than Wembley?