Euro 2016 daily: England and Wales in huge games tonight, starting elevens

Euro 2016 rolled onto the last round of group games as France and Switzerland bored us to death. England, and perhaps Chelsea’s Gary Cahill, are in action tonight.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Teams announced during publication, please see below for your starting elevens for Wales and England.

For the final round of Euro 2016 group stage games, the two matches within a group kick off simultaneously. France and Switzerland bored viewers to death with a 0-0 draw, while Albania registered their first victory at an European Championships over Romania.

The unadulterated joy and elation on the faces of Albanian players and coaches told you all that you needed to know about what their 1-0 win meant. Armando Sadiku netted in the 43rd minute to give Albania a lead they would not surrender.

Their first goal in a major football tournament saw Albania finished in third place with three points. They now have an outside chance of reaching the next round.

There was literally nothing to talk about in the France game, bar Paul Pogba’s long-range effort that struck the crossbar. With France’s qualification assured and Switzerland only needing a point to avoid complicated permutations, little happened.

Tonight, two of the home nations take part in a group that is far from decided. Daniel Sturridge’s injury-time winner against Wales last time out means that England control their destiny.

However, you never know what to expect from Roy Hodgson or the men he selects, so there will certainly be nerves flooding England fans ahead of kick-off.

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The Daily Mail claims that there may be as many as six changes for the fixture, although Hodgson seemed to suggest otherwise in his pre-match press conference.

Wales, meanwhile, take on Russia and will need to win to ensure that they automatically qualify regardless of other results. Can Gareth Bale help Wales get the job done effectively and efficiently?

A Welsh win will leave England with the prospect of finishing third if they lose to Slovakia. Then it is down to results in other groups to determine whether the Three Lions progress as one of the third-place qualifiers.

Gary Cahill should not be one of the players rotated, with the Chelsea man set to take up the armband should Wayne Rooney start on the bench.

Next: Chelsea FC summer homework: Midfielders

This should be a fairly simple evening for England, but that never seems to be the case. Join us over on our Twitter account for live updates and general great chat.