Euro 2020: England line-up revealed - with fan favourite missing out - as supporters gather in Rome for Ukraine clash
England fans were told not to travel from the UK to Rome for the game, as Gareth Southgate's players aim to reach the last four.
Saturday 3 July 2021 20:01, UK
Football fans have gathered in Rome ahead of England's Euro 2020 quarter-final against Ukraine - with pundits predicting a Three Lions' victory as the players aim to reach the last four.
England supporters were told not to travel from the UK to the Italian capital for the game after Gareth Southgate's team beat Germany 2-0 in their last-16 clash on Tuesday night.
Italy is on the UK government's amber list and travel restrictions mean all British arrivals have to isolate for five days.
It means England fans backing the squad in Rome will either live in Italy or will have travelled from another European Union country to attend the match.
The game sees the England men's team attempt to qualify for their first European Championship semi-final for 25 years.
Millions of fans are set to watch the highly-anticipated tie either at home or in the pub when it kicks off at 8pm, with more than a million takeaway orders predicted.
England manager Southgate has made changes to the team that started against Germany in the last round.
Mason Mount, who was forced to isolate for 10 days following close contact with Scotland's Billy Gilmour after he contracted COVID, returns to the line-up, while winger Jadon Sancho makes his first start of the tournament.
Fan favourite Jack Grealish is on the bench.
England's line-up is Jordan Pickford, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Declan Rice, Kalvin Phillips, Raheem Sterling, Harry Kane, Mount and Sancho.
Ukraine's team, managed by former AC Milan star Andriy Shevchenko, includes Premier League players Oleksandr Zinchenko and Andriy Yarmolenko.
The match, which is airing on BBC 1, will largely have Ukraine supporters in the stands of the Stadio Olimpico.
However some England fans have managed to get tickets for the game as they live outside of the UK.
Luke Curner, originally from Folkestone, Kent, was able to avoid isolation as he travelled from Helmstedt, Germany, where he lives with his wife and children.
The 36-year-old, who bought tickets for the match in 2019 as it falls on his birthday weekend, said: "I feel very privileged to be here, I'm usually on the wrong end of these kind of situations."
Jack Francis, 20, from Southampton, travelled to Rome from France and said he feels "lucky" to be able to go.
"It feels very surreal, and hopefully it will be a memorable game which will be talked about for years to come if we go all the way," he added.
One England supporter called Pete, who had travelled to Rome from Dubai, told Sky News he was desperate for the team to avoid penalties.
"Please don't mention the P word," he said.
"We definitely don't want that and I am going for a confident 3-0 with Harry Kane again on the score sheet."
England fans are also gathering in London's Trafalgar Square, including 26-year-old Sam Carlisle who said he "wanted to get in the eye of the storm".
Asked if he was nervous about the match, he replied: "Not as much as Tuesday, I think we should be able to do it - think of it as two friendlies before the final.
"It's all about the line-up, who's going to play and if we're going to be attacking or not. Trust in (Gareth) Southgate."
An England fan called Luke, watching the match in a park in Manchester, told Sky News: "I think it will do us a favour being away from home because we've played at Wembley for the whole tournament.
"After that Germany game when the pressure was on, we're now in another country, and we're just going to absolutely smash it in Italy."
Former England player Jamie Carragher said Southgate's side are now favourites to win Euro 2020 and end 55 years of hurt after the national team's last major tournament victory in 1966.
But the Sky Sports pundit warned the match against Ukraine "still won't be easy".
"Going to Rome, just that uprooting, you are not in your familiar surroundings, that could have a bearing on the game," Carragher said.
But he added: "With the confidence that England will have, they are favourites now and I don't see that changing."
Former football manager Harry Redknapp is predicting a 3-0 win for England, while ex-England goalkeeper David James said he believes it will be a 2-1 win for the Three Lions.
England players Maguire, Phillips, Rice and Phil Foden would miss a potential semi-final if they receive a yellow card against Ukraine.
All four players were booked in previous games so another yellow card would trigger an automatic ban for the next match.
The winner of England versus Ukraine will play Denmark in the semi-final after they beat Czech Republic 2-1 earlier today.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson posed with a huge England flag outside 10 Downing Street ahead of the match, as he told the team: "We're right behind you."
England's 1966 World Cup hero Sir Geoff Hurst also sent a message of encouragement to the players.
Meanwhile, Frank Skinner posted a video of himself singing along to his England anthem Three Lions (Football's Coming Home) on his Absolute Radio show this morning.
Boxing great Wladimir Klitschko, who is from Ukraine, shared a video of himself wearing his national team's jersey, saying he "wouldn't miss the match for the world".
Hospitality and food industry figures are expecting a flurry of activity tonight, with JustEat predicting more than a million takeaway orders.
Heavy rain and possibly thunderstorms are forecast to hit parts of the UK ahead of the match on Saturday - potentially spoiling barbeque plans.
The Met Office has issued a yellow thunderstorm warning for much of central England on Saturday, while a similar warning of heavy rain is in place for large swathes of the South West.
The weather alerts warn that people could see flooding to homes and businesses, delays or cancellations to transport services and a danger that communities may become "cut-off".