Jude Bellingham’s 95th minute strike rescued England a 2-2 friendly draw at home to Belgium at Wembley Stadium, London.
Bellingham fired in from James Maddison’s 95th minute cutback pass as England fought back to deny Belgium a first friendly win on English soil.
Tielemans fired Belgium ahead with a 11th minute strike following Amadou Onana’s interception, before he headed in his second via a 36th minute header from Romelu Lukaku’s cross.
Ivan Toney meanwhile netted a 17th minute penalty for England after he had been fouled by Jan Vertonghen, as the Brentford striker got his maiden international goal for the Three Lions in only his second senior appearance.
Speaking post-match to Channel 4, Bellingham joked that he had spared England from a media lashing and two consecutive defeats at Wembley – having last lost twice at the national stadium in November 2013 to Chile and Germany.
“I liked it. I knew the rubbish we would’ve got if we had lost two games on the bounce. A lot of these lads I’ve never played with before.
“We should be winning with all the chances we’ve made. But these are two games that will stand us in good stead. I know people will be negative but we have to take the positives.”
England and Belgium will name their UEFA Euro 2024 squads in May before playing two warm-up friendlies in early June.
After a wasteful performance in their defeat to Brazil, England benefitted from five changes and a quick start as Jarrod Bowen’s 25-second cutback pass was fumbled by Toney.
With several regulars already sidelined for this match through injury, England’s crisis got deeper just ten minutes in as John Stones had to be replaced by Joe Gomez.
That enforced change briefly knocked the Three Lions’ early momentum which Belgium capitalised upon a minute later, as Onana intercepted Jordan Pickford’s goal-kick and teed up Tielemans to fire into an empty net to put the visitors ahead.
England however weren’t down for long as Toney pounced upon a 14th minute pass into the box but was fouled by Vertonghen and after a VAR check, he calmly thumped his penalty into the bottom-left corner three minutes later to restore parity.
Bowen and Bellingham meanwhile seemed to quickly form a partnership as the West Ham forward found Bellingham to shoot in the 20th minute, only for the 20 year-old’s shot to be blocked.
The pair once again combined six minutes later but Zeno Debast blocked Bellingham’s cutback, which led to a corner that Dunk knocked down for Bowen to nod in but VAR disallowed the goal for offside.
Belgium once again punished some lax play by England in the 36th minute as Dunk lost his footing as he gathered the ball on a counter-attack, which allowed Lukaku to curl in a cross for the incoming Tielemans to thump into the net to put the Belgians back in front.
England soon began to cut out their errors and almost found a 52nd minute equaliser but Matz Sels flicked away Toney’s shot after the striker had been played in by Phil Foden.
Bellingham then nodded wide two minutes later from Gomez’s cross whilst Sels blocked Bowen’s 63rd minute shot from Gomez’s cutback pass, as England continued to push for a second goal.
Foden blew a huge chance in the 79th minute as he met Bowen’s pass but dragged his shot wide of the far-bottom right corner.
Belgium eventually dug deep to extend their unbeaten run under new manager, Domenico Tedesco to 12 matches in all competitions, although their winless friendly streak on English turf extended to seven matches after Bellingham smashed in from Maddison’s 95th minute cutback pass.
What’s Next?
England will host Bosnia & Herzegovina on 3 June at St James’ Park, Newcastle, in a UEFA Euro 2024 warm-up friendly, before facing Iceland at Wembley Stadium, London, on 7 June in their second warm-up friendly ahead of the tournament.
Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions will then face Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia on 16, 20 and 25 June respectively in the Group Stages of Euro 2024.
Belgium will host Montenegro and Luxembourg in Brussels on 5 and 8 June respectively in friendlies, prior to the start of their Euros campaign where Slovakia, Romania and Ukraine/Iceland await in the Group Stage on 17, 22 and 26 June respectively.
Teams
England: Jordan Pickford, Ezri Konsa, Lewis Dunk, John Stones (Gomez 10′), Ben Chilwell, Kobbie Mainoo (Maddison 74′), Declan Rice, Jarrod Bowen (Gordon 80′), Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, Ivan Toney (Watkins 80′)
Substitutes: Conor Gallagher, Ollie Watkins, Anthony Gordon, Joe Gomez, Aaron Ramsdale, Jordan Henderson, Jarrad Branthwaite, Rico Lewis Marcus Rashford, James Maddison, James Trafford, Cole Palmer
Belgium: Matz Sels, Timothy Castagne, Zeno Debast (Faes 83′), Jan Vertonghen, Arthur Theate (Vranckx 71′), Youri Tielemans (Meunier 71′), Amadou Onana, Orel Mangala (Openda 82′), Jeremy Doku, Romelu Lukaku (Batshuayi 83′), Leandro Trossard (Lukebakio 60′)
Substitutes: Wout Faes, Lois Openda, Thomas Kaminski, Dodi Lukebakio, Thomas Meunier, Olivier Deman, Johan Bakayoko, Arthur Vermeeren, Aster Vranckx, Michy Batshuayi, Koni De Winter, Arnaud Bodart
Referee – Sebastian Gishamer
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