England edged past Slovakia to reach the Euro 2024 quarter-finals, but only after staring a humiliating defeat in the face.
Anyone hoping for an improved version of England in the knockout stages was left sorely disappointed during a disjointed and dispiriting first half. Sloppy defending from Gareth Southgate’s team let Slovakia in on several occasions in the first 20 minutes, a foreshadowing of the opening goal from Ivan Schranz on 25 minutes — the 30-year-old taking advantage of acres of space to slot past Jordan Pickford.
And there wasn’t even much of a response — the first half ended with England having failed to record a shot on target in the first half of a knockout game at a major tournament for the first time since the 1986 World Cup quarter-final.
England did get the ball in the net early in the second half, but Phil Foden’s effort was ruled offside. A Declan Rice shot against the post in the 81st minute was a sign of a slight mounting of pressure and England’s first shot on target — an overhead kick from Jude Bellingham in the 95th minute — took the game to extra time.
And within a minute of the additional period, England were ahead, Harry Kane heading home from a recycled set piece. That gave Southgate’s team a lead that they defended successfully for the remainder of extra time to retain their place in the tournament… just.
Jacob Whitehead, Oliver Kay, Mark Carey and Peter Rutzler break down the key moments from the match.
What next for England at Euro 2024?
The theme from The Great Escape reverberated around the AufSchalke Arena throughout extra time. On a dramatic evening in the Ruhr, it could hardly have felt more apposite for Gareth Southgate and his players.
With barely a minute left in stoppage time, England were staring into the abyss: they were 1-0 down to Slovakia, on the verge of elimination from Euro 2024, and Southgate’s tenure was seemingly about to end in ignominy.
But then Kyle Walker hurled in a long throw-in — so often the refuge of a desperate team — Marc Guehi flicked it on and Jude Bellingham leapt and produced a scissors kick to break Slovakia’s resistance and send this round-of-16 tie into extra time.
Barely a minute into the extra half-hour, Harry Kane headed England into a 2-1 lead and suddenly all those of us who had spent so long tearing our hair out at Southgate’s reluctance to make substitutions were left to reflect on the impact of Cole Palmer, Eberechi Eze and Ivan Toney when they finally came off the bench. Was that vindication for Southgate, or for his critics?
England will play Switzerland in the quarter-final and it seems fair to say they will need to play an awful lot better in Dusseldorf next Saturday if this comeback is to do more than merely delay the inevitable. But they deserve some credit for the patience and persistence they showed in circumstances in which previous England teams have frozen.
They have come back from the brink — and sometimes in sports, that can prove quite a catalyst.
(Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Oliver Kay
Breaking down Jude Bellingham’s 95th-minute intervention
Necessity is the mother of invention.
England were lacking ideas when they resorted to a long throw-in deep in Slovakia’s defensive third. Stoppage time, packed penalty area, a flick-on, and a world-class overhead kick from Jude Bellingham.
If not for the desperation that they were feeling with seconds left on the clock, you would be forgiven for thinking this was a neat, choreographed set piece from England. Walker’s throw to the near post found Marc Guehi with two Slovakia bodies closing in on him. A perfectly glanced header found Bellingham on the penalty spot, whose acrobatic kick not only hit the target but slotted the ball into the right corner beyond Martin Dubravka. It was England’s first shot on target.
Bellingham’s Adidas campaign ahead of the tournament had the tagline “You Got This”. Never has that been more true of an England player in recent major tournaments. As Bellingham ran away in celebration, a declaration of “Who else?” was befitting of the confidence that defies his age.
Was it a deserved equaliser? No. A creative piece of magic to spark England’s comeback? You bet.
Mark Carey
Another problematic game for Gareth Southgate
England escaped humiliation on Sunday afternoon. The damning aspect is that we could see it coming.
Their performances at this year’s European Championship have fallen well below expected standards. For a team with this much quality individually — not just in the starting XI but throughout the 26-man squad and indeed talent left at home, too — it has been extremely underwhelming.
Across their four matches at this tournament, England showed consistent failings that have not been addressed. They lack tempo on the ball. They can not find their most creative players with line-breaking passes. They have relied on Kieran Trippier, a right back playing on the left side of defence, to try to stretch the back line.
Southgate’s piecemeal interventions to the starting line-up of cycling through Trent Alexander-Arnold to Conor Gallagher and then Kobbie Mainoo had limited impact.
(Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Most damning of all was that England did not appear to have a discernible playing style, nor show patterns of play that were individually identifiable. This match, against Slovakia, was the same story. Another poor first-half showing was met with no intervention from the sidelines at the interval, not just in personnel but in tactical structure. His ship was sinking, but he stood motionless at the wheel.
This match was poised to become Southgate’s ‘Iceland moment’, but the key difference today compared to 2016 is that England have players of the quality of Jude Bellingham. His iconic bicycle kick saved England — and almost certainly Southgate’s job.
He can take some credit for one late change, although it still came far too late in the day and it feels fortunate that it worked. Ivan Toney stepped onto the pitch with just 120 seconds to make an impact, a nonsensical amount of time, but his run created space for Jude Bellingham’s inspirational moment. Toney then set up Harry Kane’s winner. He should have had more time to affect the game in normal time.
England’s overall level of underperformance — reiterated here against the 45th-best team in the world — will leave a mark on the coach responsible for it unless things change. Southgate has done impressive work in charge of England. He has overseen a cultural overhaul and taken the team to a World Cup semi-final and their first major final, at the European Championship three years ago, since 1966. But a drastic improvement is needed against Switzerland, otherwise, his reign will end with a whimper.
Peter Rutzler
Was the first half England’s worst of the tournament (so far)?
England’s opening 45 minutes was best summarised by one image: a defender stood with arms outstretched, furious at the lack of options in front of them.
Slovakia’s midfield three were packed tight and though Kobbie Mainoo’s one-touch football had its moments, they preferred to play it out wide. There, they found Slovakia marking man-to-man — and a viewer could have been forgiven for thinking that Gelsenkirchen was a quagmire rather than a football pitch, such was the lack of England movement. And so the full-back or winger passed the ball back to the centre-back — and the process began again.
Gareth Southgate’s name was booed when it was read out pre-match, while the first boo at England’s staid play came after 11 minutes, then, when the half-time whistle blew, his team were booed off again for a second consecutive match. They had created nothing of note.
Of course, on this occasion, they already found themselves 1-0 down. When a team plays so conservatively, it is generally expected that there is a trade-off with increased defensive competence — but even that was deserting England. Of course, it could be argued that this was not a team playing conservatively, but a team playing with no plan at all.
(Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Kieran Trippier sold Marc Guehi short with a pass after just three minutes, leading to a booking, Guehi and John Stones made positional errors for Ivan Schranz’s goal, while Kyle Walker was frequently caught out by runners in behind.
0 – This is the first time England have failed to record a shot on target in the first half of a knockout stage game at a major tournament (World Cup/EUROs) since the 1986 World Cup quarter-final versus Argentina. Restricted. #EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/dVD1QsHeso
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 30, 2024
In theory, every half at a tournament should be a chance to get better. In their opening 45 minutes on Sunday, England went entirely in the other direction.
Jacob Whitehead
A distinct lack of tempo from England… again
Sometimes, a team’s match performance can be easily summed up with a statistic or two — whether that is expected goals, territorial dominance, or pressing intensity.
England’s performance in Gelsenkirchen could not be explained by statistics because it would not come close to explaining their approach when they had the ball. You might look at their passing accuracy and think they looked after the ball well, but event data does not show the options that were not offered or the passes that were not made.
A theme that has plagued England across the tournament has been their passing tempo, with an inability to work the ball from their defensive third into threatening areas with any zeal or conviction.
All too often, England’s players would take one extra touch on the ball before looking up and assessing their options. When they did scan the pitch, there was an alarming lack of movement — either towards the ball or in behind — which forced the player on the ball to turn back, play a simple backward pass, and burden their team-mate with the same issue. Rinse and repeat.
Kobbie Mainoo was brave in midfield in looking to receive the ball inside Slovakia’s 4-4-2 block, but on the occasions where he was in space to receive the ball and turn forward, he was rarely found at the opportune moment. If the tempo is slow and laboured, those passing angles close very quickly, and England’s lack of coherence was self-inflicted by their own inability to zip the ball across the field and disrupt Slovakia’s defensive structure.
Mark Carey
What next for England?
Saturday, July 6: vs Switzerland, Dusseldorf, 5pm UK, noon ET
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(Top photo: Getty Images)
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