England vs Denmark LIVE: Final score as Southgate gives blunt verdict after Three Lions booed at Euro 2024
Harry Kane gave England the lead before Southgate’s side dropped off with Denmark hitting back to secure a point in Frankfurt
England were far from convincing in a 1-1 draw with Denmark on Thursday, even if it likely ensured advancing to the round of 16 at the European Championship.
Harry Kane gave England another fast start at Euro 2024, scoring it the 18th minute, but the captain was substituted off in the second half as the team faded. England coach Gareth Southgate removed his forward line in a triple substitution with 25 minutes to play.
Denmark leveled in the 34th when Morten Hjulmand fired in a powerful low shot from long distance, after Kane gave away the ball in defense. The Danes made England look ragged in the second half, attacking the end from where English fans’ anxiety and jeers increased late in the game. England has four points from two games, after edging past Serbia 1-0 in its first match.
That points tally always has been enough to advance in the 24-team Euros format. Still, England can finish in any position from first to third in the Group C standings after playing unbeaten Slovenia next Tuesday.
Slovenia drew 1-1 with Serbia earlier Thursday, four days after getting the same result against Denmark. Serbia and Denmark also play Tuesday evening. Relive all the action and reaction from England v Denmark below:
Walker explains where England can improve
England’s Kyle Walker told BBC Radio 5 Live: “We take away the point and we are top of the group - I cannot stand here saying it was a fantastic performance.
“Collectively we need to know when to go or when not to go. We have to go as a full team and that is something we need to practice because you come to the knockout stages and slight things like that can cost you.”
Kylian Mbappe injury latest as France captain unveils specially designed mask for broken nose
Kylian Mbappe has unveiled the mask he will wear for the rest of Euro 2024 after suffering a broken nose in France’s opening game
The French captain picked up the nasty injury in his side’s 1-0 win over Austria on Monday.
He was pictured at France’s training base in Paderborn on Wednesday wearing a protective covering on his nose, and later trained on his own away from the rest of the squad, before getting involved in shooting drills.
Kylian Mbappe unveils specially designed mask to protect broken nose
France have prepared a protective mask for Mbappe to wear when he returns to the pitch during the Euros
No Manchester United representation
This was England’s first major tournament game (World Cup/Euros) without fielding a single Manchester United player since their Euro 1996 semi-final loss against Germany (on penalties).
Gareth Southgate was the only player to miss in the shootout.
England caught between midfield ideals amid search for attacking balance
There was a problem with the team of all the talents. It wasn’t a team. In as much as there is any agreement on anything concerning the England team, Gareth Southgate may have thought he had given the people what they wanted. He had crammed in his four most gifted attackers and a generational talent of a passer, primed to supply them.
And in Trent Alexander-Arnold’s parting contribution, he almost got a glimpse of what might have been.
Southgate thinks Alexander-Arnold is a quarterback of a midfielder. And if an up-and-under seemed borrowed from rugby rather than American football, it resulted in Bukayo Saka heading into the side netting. But by then, the decision had been made. A minute later, Alexander-Arnold was withdrawn, Conor Gallagher introduced in the 1-1 draw with Denmark.
England caught between midfield ideals amid search for attacking balance
Conor Gallagher and Trent Alexander-Arnold represent two very different approaches to control games
A worrying statistic
England have won just two of their last seven games.
They lost to Iceland and Brazil, have drawn with North Macedonia, Belgium and Denmark. The wins came against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia.
This isn’t the kind of form that will take them through to the end of the tournament. Can Gareth Southgate turn things around?
More from Southgate
In his post-match interview with the BBC Gareth Southgate address some concerns around Harry Kane and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Speaking about the defender-turned-midfielder he said: “He’s had some moments where he’s delivered what we thought he would. We know it’s an experiment. We know we don’t have a natural replacement for Kalvin Philips. We’re trying different things and at the moment we’re not flowing as we’d like.”
Southgate again emphasised England’s lack of energy on the pitch and explained that was a reason why he took off Kane: “We needed energy. We’ve had two games in a short turnaround and we needed fresh legs, energy to press. I think Harry has only had one 90 minutes in over a month so that was the decision we took.
“There’s a huge amount of work, that’s evident from the two performances we’ve given and we’ve got to be tight. We understand people will be disappointed with the performances and rightly so and we’ve got to make them better.”
‘Clearly not what we hoped for’ says Southgate
England manager Gareth Southgate, speaking to BBC One: “Clearly not what we would have hoped [for]. We’re not using the ball well enough and we have to accept that if you do that you will suffer at times as we have tonight. We know there’s another level we have to find.
“I think we’ve played teams that are quite fluid in back threes and it’s not easy to get pressure on them but we’ve got to do that better than we have in these last two matches. Not keeping the ball has been another problem.
“I wanted Conor [Gallagher] on [to replace Alexander-Arnold]. We needed energy, we needed to press better. Conor does that very well.”
England fans celebrate Harry Kane’s opening goal against Denmark in Euro 2024 match
This is the moment England fans celebrated Harry Kane’s opening goal against Denmark in their second Euro 2024 group match on Thursday (20 June).
Fans at London’s Wembley Box Park went wild as Kane hit the back of the net in the 18th minute of the game.
Kyle Walker raced around Victor Kristiansen before squaring the ball for Kane, who made no mistake from inside the six-yard box.
Morten Hjulmand equalised for Denmark with a glorious strike in the 38th minute.
Following a sloppy pass from Kane, Hjulmand received the ball outside of the penalty area and struck the ball into the far corner.
Trippier proud to reach 50 caps
More reaction from England’s players. Here’s Kieran Trippier speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live about making his 50th appearance for the Three Lions tonight.
He said: “Very proud to get 50 caps for my country, but my main focus is the result - it wasn’t there for us tonight.
“Four points two games and we know there is so much to improve on. We stay will calm, stay positive and stay together - that is the most important thing.
“We understand the supporters’ frustration from the outside, but as a staff and a team we need to stay together. It is tournament football, it is difficult no matter who you play against.
“We know as players we can take it up so many levels. There is no need to panic, the performances we know we can do better. One game left in the group and we look forward to that one.”
More from Harry Kane
Harry Kane addressed the question about England repeatedly dropping deep after scoring. He said: “I think it’s something we’ve got to get better at.
“I think we’re starting games well but when the teams are dropping deeper we’re not quite sure how to get the pressure on and who’s going.
“In the second half we tried to change a little bit but it was difficult. Credit to Denmark, they caused us some threats. Overall we’ve got to look back and see where we can improve.”
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