Euro 2024 is here and the excitement is building across the nation as England prepare for yet another tournament. It all gets underway for the Three Lions on Sunday when they take on Serbia, before meeting Denmark and Slovenia in the group stages.
Gareth Southgate’s side are the pre-tournament favourites and they’ll be expected to go deep into the competition as a bare minimum as they bid to end 58 years of hurt. There is some debate about Southgate’s starting XI for the opening game, but how did Football Manager 14 expect the Three Lions to shape up?
We’ve downloaded the decade-old game and simulated to this summer’s tournament to find out. Check out how the game predicted England to look below.
(As anyone who has played the game will expect, the squad did feature a number of re-gens - computer generated players created by the game to replace real life players who age out. We did not include these players in our starting XI and replaced them with the next best player in the squad in their position)
1. GK: Joe Hart
Hart was England's and Manchester City's number one in 2014 but his career took a turn when Pep Guardiola arrived at the Etihad Stadium. He had loan spells with Torino and West Ham United but lost his spot for the Three Lions with his last cap coming in 2017. Spells at Burnley and Tottenham followed before Hart, who retired last month, rounded off his career with three seasons with Celtic. | Getty Images
2. RB: Phil Jones
Jones was still only 31 when he announced plans to hang up his boots and go into coaching last year. Since then he has been working as a coach within Manchester United's academy. He spent 12 years at Old Trafford before his release in 2023 with his 27th and last England cap coming in 2018. | Manchester United via Getty Imag
3. LB: Luke Shaw
FM14 got this one spot on. Shaw is expected to miss England's Euro 2024 opener due to injury but once he returns to full fitness, he should line up at left-back for the Three Lions. | AFP via Getty Images
4. CB: Eric Dier
The 30-year-old is currently at Bayern Munich, having joined the club from Spurs last January and he may feel as though he still has something to offer England. Dier has 49 caps under his belt and has featured for the Three Lions at three tournaments. | Getty Images