Slovenia stalemate secures top spot for England and 'easier' side of Euros draw 

Simply beat Slovenia, ranked 57th in the world, and they would have won Group C comfortably. But it was another laboured display, no goals and little to cheer their supporters, save for the fact that Gareth Southgate's side are through to the last 16 and in the 'easier' side of the draw, unlikely to face France, Spain, Germany or Portugal unless they reach the final.

But you cannot help thinking that England will struggle to make it that far, and will fall as soon as they come up against more challenging opponents than the spirited Slovenians, who got a third successive draw to ensure their own qualification to the knockout stages for the first time.

You cannot argue that Southgate did not try to change things around. In their opening two games, England started brightly, scored early on and then got progressively worse. This time Southgate's men skipped stages one and two and went straight into ditchwater dull mode from the off.

The tone was set by their bizarre kickoff routine, which they used last week too, presumably is something they worked on in training. Basically one of the wide players – Bukayo Saka last time, Phil Foden this week – passes the ball straight from the centre spot to Jordan Pickford who boots it upfield, where the opposition immediately regain possession.

If it is from a coaching manual, one can only assume it was from the bad old days of Route One, stick it in the mixer football played by Wimbledon, Sheffield United and the likes back in the 1980s.

UEFA's tactics boffins worked out that Pickford has already hit more long balls than any other keeper so far, and it is baffling to see why with Harry Kane barely winning a single aerial duel with his marker, the imposing Jaka Bijol.

Kane was criticised in the opening games for dropping too deep too often, but you could understand why the England captain kept coming back to his own half in search of the ball.

Without a truly creative player in the centre of midfield, and the wide players reduced to marginal figures, Kane was starved of service. It was a similar situation for Jude Bellingham, who was given licence to roam forward but found nothing coming his way.

It was not just that Southgate made life hard for himself by leaving playmakers such as James Maddison out of his squad. Slovenia's coach Matjas Kek also set out a simple but effective game plan, by allowing plenty of possession for England's least dangerous players – the back four and holding midfield pair of Conor Gallagher and Declan Rice.

Gallagher came in for Trent Alexander-Arnold but the Chelsea man added little apart from a willingness to run around. He almost cost his side dear by giving the ball away twice in his own half, and Rice was not much better at keeping control of the ball.

The men behind them were also sloppy. John Stones, Marc Guehi, Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier all gave the ball away or miscontrolled it in vulnerable areas.

If it were not for the wastefulness of Andraz Sporar and Benjamin Sesko, England could have been behind by half-time. They could have been ahead, too, with a bit more adventure and better timing.

Saka put the ball past Jan Oblak in the 20th minute, but Foden was offside when he ran on to Rice's forward pass before crossing.

Trippier did curl in one dangerous cross shortly before half-time, but Kane was unable to make contact as he slid in at the far post. It was a rare half-chance for Kane in the penalty box, and the England captain resorted to shooting from long range.

One 25 yarder went straight into Oblak's hands after half-an-hour, the Atletico keeper's first save. Another Kane shot was deflected over the bar, and moments later a promising run by Saka came to nothing after Bellingham made a mess of his return pass.

Those efforts were few and far between, however, in a pedestrian first half and it was little surprise that England left the field to a smattering of booing at the break. Southgate responded by sending on Kobbie Mainoo for the hapless Gallagher, and the Manchester United youngster added urgency to the team's tempo.

England were more attack-minded, but still unable to find a way through. Mainoo got to the right byline but his cutback evaded Kane and Rice shot wide of the far post after exchanging passes with Foden.

Southgate then made another move popular with England's fans, who hardly let up with their singing and support, by sending on Cole Palmer for his tournament debut, and the young Chelsea midfielder added creativity.

But Slovenia were always a threat on yhe break, and Guehi was booked for cynically pulling back Sporar after making a hash of a clearance. Bijol suffered the same fate after wrestling Kane to the ground, as the match became scrappy.

To complete a hat-trick of crowd-pleasing substitutions, Southgate sent on Anthony Gordon to give a genuine threat on the left, but the Newcastle winger's first action was to run the ball out of play.

And at last with the sort of line-up critics had been urging Southgate to play, there was a stylish swift counter, which ended with Kane setting up Palmer for a shot that Oblak saved.

Alexander-Arnold, on as a late substitute went straight to his preferred position at right-back but could not help roaming forward to fire a shot over the bar.

Minutes later Clement Turpin blew the final whistle, more booing from England fans but joyous scenes among the Slovenians, who remained undefeated with three draws and finished third and going through to the knockout stages But still some soul-searching for Southgate to do if England are to have any chance of winning Euro 2024.

ENGLAND (4-2-3-1): Pickford 6; Walker 6, Stones 6, Guehi 6, Trippier 6 (Alexander-Arnold 85); Rice 6, Gallagher 5 (Mainoo 46); Saka 6 (Palmer 70) , Bellingham 6, Foden 6 (Gordon 88); Kane 6.

SLOVENIA (4-4-2): Oblak 7; Karnicnik 6, Drkusic 6, Bijol 7, Janza 6 (Balkovec 89); Stojanovic 6, Cerin 6, Elsnik 6, Mlakar 5; Sporar 6 (Celar 86), Sesko 6 (Ilicic 76).

Referee: Clement Turpin (France) 9.