England 2 Belgium 2: Mainoo and Toney shine – but where does this leave Southgate?

England had enjoyed an almost perfect record at Wembley under Gareth Southgate – until the last four days.

But having lost 1-0 to Brazil on Saturday, Southgate’s injury-hit side at least managed to avoid another defeat to Belgium courtesy of a last-gasp equaliser from Jude Bellingham, just when it seemed dreadful individual mistakes from Jordan Pickford and Lewis Dunk were going to cost them.

England have just two games left before Euro 2024, where Southgate’s talented young squad is widely expected to challenge.

So where does this leave them? And who had nights to remember (and forget)? Our experts analyse the major talking points.

Were England that bad?

Naturally some of the Southgate-critical voices out there will see these two friendlies – one defeat, one late draw – as a step backwards, a sign that the team is stagnating at the worst possible moment ahead of the Euros.

But that seems unfair. Firstly because this is an England squad ravaged by injury, having to field teams that will look very little like what we will see in Germany in three months’ time. Even here, John Stones was forced off with less than 10 minutes played, further disrupting Southgate’s plans.

But also because this was a very impressive performance, far better than what we saw against Brazil on Saturday. England pressed high, attacked well and created chances throughout.

The team looked better balanced than they did on Saturday, and stronger for the changes in personnel: Kobbie Mainoo better on the ball than Conor Gallagher, Ivan Toney more of a reference point than Ollie Watkins, Jarrod Bowen more incisive than Anthony Gordon.

They rescued a draw at the end through Jude Bellingham and on another day the chances they made would have seen them score plenty. They have often won international friendlies and been less convincing than this.

Jack Pitt Brooke

Has Dunk played himself out of contention?

It seems more certain than ever that England’s starting centre-back pairing in Germany will be John Stones and Harry Maguire, for the fourth major tournament in a row.

But there are still question marks as to which other centre-backs will go with them. Marc Guehi, who might well have been next in line, is currently injured and has missed this break.

Next in line is probably Lewis Dunk, who started here against Belgium. But he struggled, outmuscled by Romelu Lukaku for Belgium’s second goal, in a manner reminiscent of how the Belgian striker overpowered him to score for Roma against Brighton in their recent Europa League tie at the Stadio Olimpico.

Dunk gets to a bouncing ball first but Lukaku is in hot pursuit…

Under pressure from Lukaku, Dunk goes to ground in a bid to clear but misjudges it horribly…

Lukaku has time and space to collect the loose ball before delivering a perfect pass for Youri Tielemans to score.

Against Brazil on Saturday Dunk lost Endrick, who scored Brazil’s late winner. And while these are just brief moments in games against elite opponents, they are moments that can decide international futures.

This was not a bad break at all for Ezri Konsa and Joe Gomez, both of whom can play full-back as well as centre-back, and who came through these games unscathed. Maybe they are that little bit likelier to be on the plane to Germany now.

Jack Pitt-Brooke

How good was Mainoo?

If ever Kobbie Mainoo was nervous in making his senior international start at just 18 years old, he showed no signs of it.

The 18-year-old was constantly looking for the ball and trying to progress England forward from midfield. If anyone thought his role was going to be more withdrawn to sit alongside Declan Rice at the base of midfield, they were mistaken. Mainoo was regularly picking up positions inside Belgium’s block, or making runs into the channel to stretch the opposition’s midfield.

Kobbie Mainoo looked at home for England (Julian Finney/Getty Images)

When England needed a spark to get back into the game, it was Mainoo who provided it. Rather than play a simple square pass in the centre of Belgium’s half, he scanned the pitch, dropped a shoulder, and changed the pace of the game — stabbing a neat ball to Jude Bellingham whose pass to Ivan Toney led to England’s equaliser.

It was a theme of Mainoo’s evening — brave, penetrative play the looked to get moving in the right direction. As England’s most technical players on the pitch, it was palpable how much Bellingham and Phil Foden were enjoying playing with someone on their creative wavelength.

Sure, it may be a friendly, but it was certainly a job well done on the night — and Mainoo may have just passed the audition to secure a seat on the plane to Germany this summer.

Mark Carey

Has Toney staked his Euros claim?

While Ivan Toney served an eight-month suspension for breaching the Football Association’s betting rules, he mentioned in multiple interviews that he was determined to break into England’s squad for the European Championship. He narrowly missed out on going to the World Cup and will not want history to repeat itself.

The Brentford forward gave his chances of playing in Germany this summer a huge boost with an accomplished performance against Belgium. The 28-year-old was making his full England debut and, having let a great chance to score within the opening 30 seconds slip by, in the 17th minute he earned and converted a penalty.

Ivan Toney wins a penalty after being fouled by Jan Vertonghen, which he then converted (Julian Finney/Getty Images)

For all that, it was his all-round display which will have impressed Gareth Southgate, particularly the moments when he linked up intelligently with Kobbie Mainoo, Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham.

In one example, Toney chested the ball down to Mainoo and received it back before playing a perfectly weighted pass into space for the midfielder with the move ending with Bellingham firing a shot from the edge of the box. Toney’s ability to bring others into play means that even when he is struggling for chances he still positively impacts the game.

If Ollie Watkins struggled in his audition to be Harry Kane’s deputy in the 1-0 defeat to Brazil, Toney showed everybody he belongs at this level. Watkins has been in exceptional form for Aston Villa all season but for now it feels like Toney holds the advantage.

Jay Harris

Was Lukaku’s trivela proof that he is still an elite force?

Romelu Lukaku might have felt he had a point to prove upon returning to England.

There were plenty of good times during spells at Chelsea, West Bromwich Albion, Everton and Manchester United, but the circumstances with which he left west London pointed to an overall disappointing decline.

If anyone in Wembley needed a reminder of his quality, you only need to look as far as Belgium’s second goal. The harrying run that panicked Lewis Dunk into a poor mistake was one thing, but it was what Lukaku did next which took the breath away: squaring Dunk up, and finding the onrushing Tielemans with a delicious trivela pass, with the midfielder heading in his second goal of the game.

Another error from England and Tielemans takes full advantage 🫣#ThreeLions | #ENGBEL pic.twitter.com/jGZjemOeZx

— Channel 4 Sport (@C4Sport) March 26, 2024

In truth, it has become something of a trademark for Lukaku, who performed a similar trick for Inter Milan against Slavia Prague in the Champions League in 2019, and for Everton against Sunderland in 2015.

With one flick of his left foot, Lukaku rolled back the years and reminded the English crowd of his quality.

Mark Carey

What’s next for England?

June 3: England v Bosnia & Herzegovina (7:45pm BST; 2.45pm ET)
June 7: England v Iceland (7:45pm BST; 2.45pm ET)

(Top photo: Alex Davidson – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)