England struck twice in the final 15 minutes to earn a famous victory against Germany in the round of 16 at Wembley Stadium.
England vs Germany: as it happened, reaction
Match in brief
England matched Germany’s 3-5-2 formation and the sides cancelled each other out for much of the first half. The Three Lions had the first efforts of note with Raheem Sterling testing Manuel Neuer from distance and Harry Maguire heading Kieran Trippier’s cross wide. The Mannschaft prised the best opening of the first 45 minutes, though, only for Jordan Pickford to thwart Timo Werner.
The England No1’s agility came to the fore with a fine tip over from Kai Havertz after the break and Gareth Southgate’s side took advantage with 15 minutes to play, Sterling tapping in after Harry Kane and Jack Grealish had worked Luke Shaw into a crossing position down the left.
Thomas Müller dragged wide when one on one against Pickford and that miss was magnified when Kane stooped to head home Grealish’s cross and condemn Joachim Löw to defeat in his final game at the Germany helm.
Star of the Match: Harry Maguire (England)
“He kept the balance of the team in defence and showed great leadership on the pitch.”
Aitor Karanka, UEFA Technical Observer
Check out every Heineken Star of the Match at UEFA EURO 2020.
Simon Hart, England reporter
To follow.
Phil Röber, Germany reporter
Löw’s 15-year tenure ends with a thriller at Wembley. His team will be massively disappointed going out like this. England scored their first when it looked like Germany had a small edge but, on the whole, Die Mannschaft just weren’t able to make the most of their attacking potential at this tournament. The lack of efficiency up front is a severe problem that new coach Hansi Flick will have to tackle.
Reaction
To follow.
Key stats
- This was the first non-group stage match England have won at the EURO finals since their third-place play-off victory against the Soviet Union in 1968.
- England have never lost in the finals of a major tournament at Wembley Stadium (W10 D4).
- The Three Lions have lost only one of their last 15 EURO final tournament matches (W8 D6).
- Southgate’s side are still to concede at these finals after four matches.
- Sterling has scored 15 goals in his last 20 international matches for England.
- England have won all 13 games in which Sterling has scored.
- Germany have won only one of their last six EURO final tournament matches.
- The Mannschaft failed to score for only the third time in 30 matches.
- Löw’s side have only kept three clean sheets in their last 18 games.
Line-ups
England: Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire; Trippier, Rice (Henderson 88), Phillips, Shaw; Saka (Grealish 69), Kane, Sterling
Germany: Neuer; Ginter (Can 87), Hummels, Rüdiger; Kimmich, Goretzka, Kroos, Gosens (Sané 88); Müller (Musiala 90), Havertz, Werner (Gnabry 68)
Next up
England vs Sweden/Ukraine in Rome, Saturday 3 July
