Jude Bellingham scored in the dying seconds at Wembley to salvage a 2-2 draw a against Belgium, denying the visitors a first ever win in England.
The Three Lions dominated for much of the game but found themselves behind at the break, with Ivan Toney’s equalising penalty sandwiched in between two preventable Youri Tielemans goals.
Lewis Dunk cost England a goal as Ivan Toney scored his first for the Three Lions (The FA via Getty Images)
Phil Foden, Ivan Toney and Kobbie Mainoo all had openings to level terms after the interval, but it would be in the fifth minute of four added on that England found parity, with Bellingham slotting home after brilliant work from Ollie Watkins and James Maddison kept the ball alive.
It spares Gareth Southgate’s blushes of suffering back-to-back home defeats, with the England boss now turning full focus to his squad selection for Euro 2024.
Here are how the players rated at Wembley
Jordan Pickford, 6
Massive error early on as his lackadaisical pass fell right into Belgian possession – a gift that was eaten up by Youri Tielemans, who fired smartly into an open net. However, he did redeem himself by later producing a couple good stops to deny the likes of Jeremy Doku. Nothing he could really do about Tielemans’ second.
Ezri Konsa, 7
Started wide before moving into his favoured central position when Stones was forced off. Defensively sound when called upon, while using the ball well. Solid from the Villa man.
John Stones, N/A
Picked up an injury within nine minutes and was forced off. More misfortune for England and Manchester City fans, who saw Kyle Walker limp off on Saturday.
Lewis Dunk, 6
Put in a relatively solid display up until Belgium’s second goal, for which he was solely at fault. Sliding in with the wrong leg, he failed to clear the ball which allowed Lukaku to gain possession on the right-side of the box – but to be fair to Dunk, there wasn’t much he could do about the stellar cross that came from the Roma striker’s left-boot.
Ben Chilwell, 5
Didn’t do much to silence the critics he earned from Saturday’s underwhelming outing against Brazil. Not hugely involved going forward and often beaten by his man down the left flank, whether it was Trossard or Lukebakio.
Declan Rice, 7
Wearing the England armband for the first time, he had a couple of shaky moments early on, losing possession in dangerous positions only for his error to go unpunished. Grew into the game and pounced on a weak Sels pass, giving England a great opportunity to score – only for the chance to go awry thanks to a wayward Bellingham shot. Cleaned up when asked after the break.
Kobbie Mainoo, 8
Put in a very encouraging first-half display from the teenager, slotting Toney through to force Vertonghen into giving away a penalty. Really energetic in the centre of the park, fighting for the ball and using possession well. Could have even had a goal, storming into the box to drill one at Sels’ goal, only to be denied. Living up to the hype, much?
Jude Bellingham, 8
Always involved in the attacking stages, dictating play well but final product had something to be desired, firing over from close range before failing to generate enough power on a snap-shot to really test Sels in net. Mistimed a header after the break after latching onto a beautifully weighted Gomez cross. However, came up good in the final moment of the game, slotting home with ease when England needed it the most to equalise.
Jarred Bowen, 8
Lively during the early stages, whipping in a dangerous ball for Toney within 25 seconds only for the Brentford man to whack the ball onto his own arm. A constant threat down the right, controlling the ball well and giving Theate major problems. Unlucky not to have a goal to his name in the first-half as he headed in from a well-worked corner, only to be given offside.
Ivan Toney, 7
Immediately involved going forward as he latched on Bowen’s delivery, only for his touch to ricochet off his own arm. Fouled by Vertonghen to win England a penalty – a spot-kick he laid claim to, taking the ball and slotting into the bottom-left corner with aplomb. Fans thought he had a second as his shot rippled the side-netting, helped on by a save from Sels.
Phil Foden, 6
The least involved of the three forwards in the first-half, but still popped up with flashes of brilliance here and there. Hit and miss with his corners – unfortunate not to be credited with making a goal as Bowen was ruled out for offside. Picked up after the break, driving into the opposition box on numerous occasions and making himself a threat.
Substitutes
Joe Gomez: Entered the field much earlier than expected as he replaced Stones on nine minutes. An assured performance, fighting hard in a one-on-one battle with Jeremy Doku, while also contributing going forward – 7
James Maddison: Moved the ball after his introduction and did brilliantly to set up Bellingham for the equaliser, keeping his cool in the box to slide the ball across to the Real Madrid man. A fine cameo from the Spurs midfielder – 7
Ollie Watkins: A late introduction and wasn’t too involved until the last moment, doing superbly to keep the ball alive on the byline which effectively brought about the equaliser. An important action to leave Southgate pondering after Toney made his mark – 7
Anthony Gordon: Would have felt hard done by not to start and didn’t really have the time to prove himself, struggling to get into the game for his 15 minutes. – N/A
