UEFA Euro 2020 Points Table: England beat Croatia in Group D opener; Austria, Netherlands win in Group C

Raheem Sterling scored his first tournament goal as England registered a 1-0 victory over Croatia in the opening game at the Euro 2020 on Sunday. The Manchester City forward got on the end of a through ball from Kalvin Phillips and slipped it into the net in the 57th minute. It’s the first time that England have opened the continental tournament with a win in 10 attempts. England now lead the Group D points table and will square off against Scotland on Friday.

In the Group C opener, Austria defeated debutants North Macedonia 3-1 at the Euro 2020. Michael Gregoritsch and Marko Arnautović came off the bench to score a goal each and help Austria win the game. It was Austria’s first win at a major soccer tournament in 31 years and its first-ever at the European Championship.

In another Group C clash, Denzel Dumfries picked a pretty good time to score his first international goal in the 85th minute to hand the Netherlands a 3-2 win over Ukraine. The Dutch team was paying its first major soccer tournament in seven years. The last time was at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil when they reached the semifinals.

Austria now lead the Group C points table while the Dutch side is placed second. Both teams have 3 points each in their kitty.

Earlier on Friday, Italy defeated Turkey 3-0 in the tournament opener at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico. Roberto Mancini’s side had been frustrated by Turkey’s defensive approach in the first half but broke through in the 53rd minute when a hard-hit cross from Domenico Berardi flew in off defender Merih Demiral for an own goal.

On Saturday, Romelu Lukaku struck twice as Belgium registered a confident 3-0 victory over Russia. In another Group B match, Lukas Hradecky saved a penalty to give Finland a 1-0 victory over Denmark.