England vs Australia LIVE: Result and reaction as Ollie Watkins’ goal secures Three Lions victory

The Three Lions kick off their October matches with a friendly against the Socceroos at Wembley

Minute's silence held ahead of England v Australia in honour of victims of Israel-Palestine war

England edged past Australia in an international friendly at Wembley to keep their recent winning run alive and give them a touch of momentum heading into a crucial Euro 2024 qualifier against Italy next week.

After Gareth Southgate named an inexperienced starting XI to take on the Socceroos, the Three Lions took their time to settle. The controlled possession but failed to make much of an impact in the first half with Ollie Watkins - leading the line in the absence of Harry Kane - missing two great chances.

At the other end of the pitch, Australia should have gone ahead through Ryan Strain whose shto from the right side of the box was beautifully kept out by a back-tracking Lewis Dunk.

After the break things were different. England upped the tempo and operated higher up the pitch. Trent Alexander-Arnold found Jack Grealish in the box and the Man City man picked out Watkins at the far post who tapped in the winner.

Relive the action from Wembley and get all the latest odds and tips for the match right here:

England vs Australia live

• Ollie Watkins and Lewis Dunk emerge with credit on England’s audition night against Australia
• England defeat Australia 1-0 in an international friendly at Wembley
• Levi Colwill and Eddie Nketiah made Three Lions debuts
• 90+3’ FULL-TIME! - England maintain their unbeaten run (ENG 1-0 AUS)
• 57’ GOAL! - Watkins taps in Grealish’s pass (ENG 1-0 AUS)
• 45’ CHANCE! - Dunk blocks Strain’s shot to keep things level (ENG 0-0 AUS)
• 30’ CHANCE! - Watkins’ effort is cleared off the line (ENG 0-0 AUS)
• 21’ CLOSE! - Duke’s volley goes wide from inside the box (ENG 0-0 AUS)
• 12’ SAVE! - Johnstone called into action from long range (ENG 0-0 AUS)

[13 October 2023 19:59 · Mike Jones]

England 0-0 Australia

9 mins: Ollie Watkins will be disappointed about that missed chance. He had a great opportunity to send England in front but couldm’t shift his feet in time.

Trying to oust Harry Kane as striker is a difficult task and he needs to be taking those chances.

[13 October 2023 19:56 · Mike Jones]

England 0-0 Australia

6 mins: England look to be slowly building themselves into the game as this new look line-up attempts to gel with each other.

Close! Jarrod Bowen and Conor Gallagher combine brilliantly on the right wing to slip Gallagher into the box. He passes it across the six-yard box where James Maddison lunges for the ball.

He misses it and the loose ball skips through Ollie Watkins’ legs before Australia scramble it away.

[13 October 2023 19:51 · Mike Jones]

England 0-0 Australia

3 mins: Australia collect the ball and work it over to the right side of the pitch where they win a couple of throw ins. The second is sent into the box but is dealt with by Trent Alexander-Arnold.

England are on the back foot here.

[13 October 2023 19:48 · Mike Jones]

Kick off! England 0-0 Australia

Jordan Henderson kicks off the match and England work the ball over to the right wing. Ollie Watkins tries to win the aerial ball and takes an elbow to the cheek in the process.

[13 October 2023 19:41 · Mike Jones]

England vs Australia

Here come the teams.

The players make their way out of the tunnel and onto the pitch and Wembley. Gareth Southgate has named a team that lacks some international experience.

How will they cope against Australia tonight?

Kick off is up next...

[13 October 2023 19:40 · Mike Jones]

England vs Australia

England have only lost one of their seven previous matches against Australia (four wins, two draws) - a 3-1 defeat at Upton Park in February 2003 with Francis Jeffers scoring in his only cap and Wayne Rooney making his debut that game.

This is the first meeting between England and Australia since May 2016 in a friendly at the Stadium of Light, won 2-1 by England with goals from Marcus Rashford and Wayne Rooney.

[13 October 2023 19:35 · Mike Jones]

England vs Australia

England have scored 19 goals in six games in 2023 (3.2 per game), only three fewer than they scored in 13 games in 2022 (22).

It’s currently only the second year in the last 60 years that England are averaging three or more goals per game, along with 2019 (38 goals in ten games, 3.8 per game).

[13 October 2023 19:30 · Mike Jones]

England vs Australia

Harry Kane has scored 22 goals in 31 England appearances at Wembley, just one behind the record for goals scored at the national stadium for the Three Lions, set by Bobby Charlton, who scored 23 times in 44 games there between 1958 and 1970.

Both Kane (Bayern Munich) and Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid) scored in England’s last game against Scotland, but only one player has netted at Wembley this century while playing for a non-English team, with Jadon Sancho doing so in November 2020 against the Republic of Ireland while playing for Borussia Dortmund.

[13 October 2023 19:25 · Mike Jones]

Harry Kane: ‘Ronaldo and Messi got better after 30 – my career is only at half-time’

Harry Kane doesn’t drink. He enjoyed Bayern Munich’s annual trip to Oktoberfest in full lederhosen and ate a giant pretzel, but his jug of beer was barely touched. At the hotel where he lives, meals are carefully planned by his chef: breakfast is an omelette or yoghurt and granola; lunch and dinner consists of salad and vegetables topped off by a rotating carousel of white fish, chicken or beef. Sometimes he has salmon as a treat.

He lives away from his wife and children, in a country where he does not speak the language after only a handful of lessons, in a city he cannot enjoy without being mobbed. His family will move over but for now it is a solitary, unremitting existence: eat, sleep, play, recover, repeat. It is not quite the life of a monk, but when children dream of becoming England captain, they probably don’t dream of this.

[13 October 2023 19:20 · Mike Jones]

Grealish on winning an international trophy

England midfielder Jack Grealish hopes he can add an international trophy to go with the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League he won last year with Manchester City.

"I don’t mean this to sound weird but it is difficult in a way because you have such a high of winning the treble and then you do think ‘what would ever top that?’" he said.

"Obviously doing something at international level definitely would."