Euro 2016: Group Standings, Tables and Updated Schedule After Monday Results
Action in Group B concluded Monday at the UEFA Euro 2016 tournament in France.
The top three teams in a group can potentially advance to the round of 16, but most third-place teams will have to wait for the completion of the group stage to know their respective fates. At the least, though, two countries from Group B can punch their tickets to the next round.
Entering Monday, England sat atop the group with four points, while Wales and Slovakia each had three points. Russia anchored the bottom of Group B with one point from their first two matches.
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Below is a recap for how Group B's final matches played out.
Monday Results
| B | Russia | 0-3 | Wales |
| B | Slovakia | 0-0 | England |
Group Standings
| 1 | France | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | +3 | 7 |
| 2 | Switzerland | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | +1 | 5 |
| 3 | Albania | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 3 |
| 4 | Romania | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 1 |
| 1 | Wales | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | +3 | 6 |
| 2 | England | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | +1 | 5 |
| 3 | Slovakia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Russia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -4 | 1 |
| 1 | Germany | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | +2 | 4 |
| 2 | Poland | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 4 |
| 3 | Northern Ireland | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 3 |
| 4 | Ukraine | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -4 | 0 |
| 1 | Spain | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +4 | 6 |
| 2 | Croatia | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 4 |
| 3 | Czech Republic | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 1 |
| 4 | Turkey | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -4 | 0 |
| 1 | Italy | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +3 | 6 |
| 2 | Belgium | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 3 |
| 3 | Sweden | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 1 |
| 4 | Republic of Ireland | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -3 | 1 |
| 1 | Hungary | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | +2 | 4 |
| 2 | Iceland | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Portugal | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Austria | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 1 |
Group-Stage Schedule
| Tuesday, June 21 | 12 p.m. | C | Ukraine vs. Poland |
| Tuesday, June 21 | 12 p.m. | C | Northern Ireland vs. Germany |
| Tuesday, June 21 | 3 p.m. | D | Czech Republic vs. Turkey |
| Tuesday, June 21 | 3 p.m. | D | Croatia vs. Spain |
| Wednesday, June 22 | 12 p.m. | E | Iceland vs. Austria |
| Wednesday, June 22 | 12 p.m. | E | Hungary vs. Portugal |
| Wednesday, June 22 | 3 p.m. | F | Italy vs. Republic of Ireland |
| Wednesday, June 22 | 3 p.m. | F | Sweden vs. Belgium |
Monday Recap
Russia 0-3 Wales
Wales knocked Russia out of Euro 2016 with a 3-0 win at Stadium Municipal in Toulouse.
Aaron Ramsey opened the scoring with a goal in the 11th minute. Joe Allen delivered a perfect through ball ahead to the Arsenal midfielder, who deftly chipped Russian goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev:
Neil Taylor delivered a second goal in the 20th minute. The Swansea City defender benefited from some dreadful marking by Russia. Taylor was alone on goal with a wealth of time and space after receiving a pass from Gareth Bale. After what seemed like an eternity, Akinfeev saved Taylor's first shot, but Taylor pounced on the rebound and struck the ball into the back of the net.
ESPN FC's Michael Caley thought Taylor was shocked by how much time he had on the ball:
"Neil Taylor's reaction to his first chance was "can't I pass this?" and then to the second, "how is this even happening?"
— Michael Caley (@MC_of_A) June 20, 2016"
Russia are bad.
The Guardian's Stuart James noted Taylor's last competitive goal came under much different circumstances:
Bale capped off the Welsh offense with a 67th-minute goal. The Real Madrid winger ran in behind the Russian defense to get on a great pass from Ramsey, and after freezing Akinfeev, he hit the ball with the outside of his left boot and into the net.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, Bale is the seventh player in Euro history to score in each of the three group-stage matches:
It was a well-deserved win for Wales. Russia offered little resistance, but credit manager Chris Coleman's side for putting the Russians to the sword. Nobody savored the victory more than Joe Ledley, via beIN Sports:
The loss caps off a disappointing tournament for the Russians. They entered the tournament with Alan Dzagoev, Alexandr Kerzhakov and Yuri Zhirkov all out with injuries, and their collective absence was too big an obstacle for Russia to overcome.
Slovakia 0-0 England
England will have to settle for second in Group B after drawing 0-0 with Slovakia.
Manager Roy Hodgson made six changes to the side that beat Wales 2-1 on Thursday. Daniel Sturridge and Jamie Vardy were the most notable inclusions after they accounted for both goals in the win. Jack Wilshere was a surprising addition, though, as was Jordan Henderson.
Neither Wilshere nor Henderson played all that poorly, but replacing so many players resulted in England looking disjointed on the pitch. Hodgson took a more positive outlook on his team's performance, which ESPN's Alex Shaw thought was somewhat undeserved:
England had 27 total shots, only five of which were on. Slovakia blocked 14 shots, and the Three Lions' other eight attempts missed the mark. Daniel Sturridge should've put England ahead in the second half, but he was unable to get any touch on Eric Dier's pass in the second half, via beIN Sports:
Slovakia owe a lot of the result to Martin Skrtel, who was a rock at centre-back. He earned the highest grade on WhoScored.com:
The Times' Henry Winter couldn't say enough about the Liverpool defender:
"Every aspiring centre-back should get a DVD of Martin Skrtel tonight, organising, heading clear, tackling, intercepting & blocking. #SVKENG
— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) June 20, 2016"
A draw isn't the end of the world for Slovakia. A win would've put them through to the round of 16, but they're still in position to advance as one of the best third-place finishers.
England will face the runners-up in Group F, which could be any one of Hungary, Iceland, Portugal or Austria, depending on how the fixtures play out.
