Rio Ferdinand joins England followers for boozy afternoon in Dusseldorf

Rio Ferdinand is making the most of his day off by joining Three Lions fans in Dusseldorf ahead of England’s last-16 clash with Slovakia at Euro 2024 this evening.

Gareth Southgate‘s men have the chance to book their place in the quarter-finals if they can get past Slovakia in Gelsenkirchen, and tonight’s match is being shown on ITV.

This means BBC pundit Ferdinand has some downtime, and he headed into town to join a group of fans on Sunday lunchtime to take in the atmosphere as excitement grows for the knockout game.

The former England and Manchester United defender filmed himself with a pint in hand as fans sang songs on a sunny afternoon in Dusseldorf, as he captioned the video posted on X: ‘ENGLAND taking over Dusseldorf… love it!’

Ferdinand joined in with the chants himself, and was all smiles ahead of a huge night for Southgate and Co.

Rio Ferdinand joined England fans for a boozy afternoon in Dusseldorf on his day off

Gareth Southgate’s England will take on Slovakia in the last-16 of Euro 2024 this evening

England will be looking for an improved performance as they aim to book a quarter-final spot

England failed to impress in the group stages, despite topping their group. They sneaked past Serbia by a single goal before being held to draws by Denmark and Slovenia.

However, they have ended up on what appears to be the favourable side of the draw, avoiding Germany, Spain, Portugal and France. 

Ferdinand has expressed his disappointment at England’s performances so far, but believes they are capable of going all the way.

Following the team’s 0-0 draw with Slovenia on Tuesday, Ferdinand claimed England would turn things around and go on to win the Euros if Southgate picked Kobbie Mainoo, Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon to start for the rest of the tournament.

He is unlikely to get his wish tonight, with Southgate only expected to start Mainoo out of the trio.

The England boss is set to stand by Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden, meaning Palmer and Gordon will have to wait for their opportunity off the bench.

But that team news was not enough to dampen Ferdinand’s spirits as he appeared in a relaxed mood ahead of kick-off on Sunday lunchtime.

A win for England would see them face Switzerland in the quarter-finals next Saturday, after they knocked out defending champions Italy in impressive fashion.