Is it time for England to end their title drought at EURO 2024?

Since the 1966 World Cup, they have seen Germany, Italy, Spain, France, the Netherlands and Portugal succeed at the World Cup or the European Championship. In addition to these giants, the former Yugoslavia, Denmark and Greece have also won European titles during England's wait.

Is it the Three Lions' time?

If Alf Ramsey, the coach who led England to World Cup glory in 1966, were alive today, he might well be asking: What have we been doing wrong all this time? In fact, England haven’t done much wrong. The luck of the penalty shootout wasn’t on their side, and Bukayo Saka was the latest to need a shoulder to cry on after the EURO 2020 final.

In the EURO 96 semi-final against Germany, if Paul Gascoigne had touched the ball from Alan Shearer’s pass as the game went into extra time with the score at 1-1, England would have reached the final, only to lose on penalties. On other occasions, the Three Lions were simply not strong enough or failed to fulfil their potential.

And then the worst came at EURO 2016 when England lost to Iceland. Roy Hodgson's team lost to a team with the same population as Coventry, and he announced his resignation just minutes after the game in Nice.

The next England manager was Sam Allardyce, but for just one game. And then Gareth Southgate, promoted from the U21s. The upcoming Euros will be Southgate’s fourth major tournament with England, culminating in reaching the Euro 2020 final, a World Cup 2018 semi-final defeat to Croatia and a narrow defeat to France in the Qatar 2022 quarter-finals.

In major tournaments, Southgate has had a similar record to Alf Ramsey, but it is Ramsey who has helped England surpass the 1966 mark. With the current squad depth, perhaps the best of any team in Germany next June, England are expected to win the tournament, although France, Portugal, Germany and Spain are also potential candidates.

Asked about England's chances of ending their title drought, Racing Post journalist Mark Langdon said the lack of strong contenders and the strength of Southgate's current squad only added to the belief that this was the Three Lions' moment.

"England can play well and get knocked out but I think this is a golden opportunity to make something happen. If you look around Europe, there are not many teams doing particularly well - apart from France and Portugal," he told RTÉ Sport.

"England played France at the last World Cup, it was a 50-50 game, Harry Kane missed a penalty and England were the better team in the second half. Germany were the home team but they often conceded too many goals and didn't have anyone like Kane or Bellingham to score. Spain had Gavi injured and were a team that relied on possession but didn't have the lethality.

"Italy have just qualified and are not at the World Cup. Portugal have a lot of talented players but they should start putting Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench. However, they have not done that and that may be the reason for the defeat. Croatia are past their peak, as are Belgium. So England have every reason to think this is a great opportunity for them."

Southgate is the weak point

Speaking about the England squad, Langdon assessed: "It's a talented squad that has been involved in major tournaments for a long time and is developing together. I don't see too many weaknesses, maybe just in the centre-back position. Who will play with John Stones? England's goalscoring ability will be the best in the tournament with the likes of Bellinghan, Kane, Foden, Grealish and Saka."

While Langdon believes England can go far in Germany, he is less of a fan of Southgate's coaching style, citing the Euro 2020 final defeat and the manager's cautious approach after England took the lead as examples. "Southgate worries me because he's not a top manager. If he leaves the team and takes a job in the Premier League, it won't be at any top club. I don't agree with the view that he's done better than any other England manager apart from Alf Ramsey because I think the squad is so good. It's unfair to compare Southgate to other managers who don't have such a talented squad," Langdon stressed./.