Harry Kane headed in an extra-time winner as England came from behind to beat Slovakia 2-1 to qualify for UEFA Euro 2024 Quarter-Finals.
Kane headed in the winning goal from substitute, Ivan Toney’s headed pass just 52 seconds into extra-time, having initially equalised through Jude Bellingham’s aerobatic equaliser in the fifth minute of injury-time.
Ivan Schranz netted the opening goal from David Strelec’s 25th minute pass in a largely resilient display in normal time.
Speaking to ITV post-match, Bellingham was “very happy” to get “a good win” after dealing with negative scrutiny in the past week.
“It’s been tough the last week or so to keep the negative energy out of the camp. I think today they will have been ready for us. We showed the character that England’s missed. It’s very important to get through.”
Switzerland now await England in Dusseldorf on Saturday 6 July at 6pm CEST (5pm UK Time).
In the late kick-off, Spain came from behind to beat Georgia 4-1 to set up a blockbuster Quarter-Final against Germany, as Fabian Ruiz, Nico Williams and Dani Olmo scored in the second half after Rodri equalised following Robin Le Normand’s own-goal.
Under intense scrutiny following three lethargic performances, England knew that this was a potential banana skin which almost proved fruitious just five minutes in as Lukas Haraslin teed up David Hancko who fired wide across goal to Jordan Pickford’s relief.
Slovakia continued to pose a huge threat but England grew into the game which almost saw them win a 22nd minute penalty, after Phil Foden was shoved to ground yards from goal but Turkish referee – Halil Umut Meler dismissed their penalty appeals.
Slovakia three minutes pounced up the right which found Strelec to tee up Schranz to fire into the far-left corner to put them into a surprise lead.
That conceded goal sparked England into life but they still lacked a cutting edge in end product until half-time, with their closest attempt made in the 39th minute as Declan Rice put a header onto goal but Martin Dubravka cleared the ball.
Dubravka again came to Slovakia’s rescue in first-half injury-time as he blocked a free-kick which was played to Kobbie Mainoo, who fired wide via deflection with the subsequent corner blocked then deflected before Kane volleyed wide from the last corner of the half.
Aware that they were under pressure at the break, England started the second half well and seemingly equalised in the 50th minute, with Bukayo Saka having played a long square ball to Kieran Trippier on the left, which was fed into Foden to side-foot into the goal.
VAR however correctly disallowed the goal because Foden had been offside when Trippier played his pass.
John Stones meanwhile almost gifted Slovakia a second goal with a sloppy 55th minute pass which Strelec pounced upon, yet could put his near 50-yard shot wide past Pickford who was out of position much to the Three Lions’ blushes.
With 24 minutes left of normal time, England manager – Gareth Southgate substituted Kiernan Trippier for Cole Palmer, who went to the right-wing position whilst Saka was shifted to fill the left-back position in hunt of a desperate equaliser.
England’s woes were summed up by a 78th minute header from Harry Kane unmarked which uncharacteristically was headed wide of the near-left corner.
Rice then saw a 80th minute curled shot ricochet off the left post and Kane volleyed over on the rebound as England now looked to force extra time at minimum.
Slovakia however dug deep defensively to weather waves of English attacks to almost seal victory over the tournament favourites, until Bellingham acrobatically volleyed in an equaliser in the fifth minute of injury-time from Marc Guehi’s knockback header to force extra time.
Bellingham’s equaliser ultimately reignited England’s campaign which showed just 52 seconds into extra time as a corner was cleared by Dubravka, yet Eberechi Eze was alert to hit the ball on the bounce for Toney to nod across for Kane to head in to turn the tie around.
Eze protected England’s extra-time lead with a 105th minute clearance of a cross to Peter Pekarik, and Southgate’s Three Lions eventually clung on to secure a Quarter-Final tie against Switzerland in Dusseldorf on 6 July.
Slovakia meanwhile exited the competition having came close to a first major Quarter-Final since they became an independent nation separate from Czech Republic, having previously competed together as Czechoslovakia until 1992.
Teams
England – Jordan Pickford, Kieran Trippier (Palmer 66′), Marc Guehi, John Stones, Kyle Walker, Declan Rice, Kobbie Mainoo (Eze 84′), Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham (Konsa 105′), Phil Foden (Toney 94′), Harry Kane (Gallagher 105′)
Substitutes: Luke Shaw, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Aaron Ramsdale, Ezri Konsa, Lewis Dunk, Conor Gallagher Ivan Toney, Anthony Gordon, Ollie Watkins, Jarrod Bowen, Eberechi Eze, Joe Gomez, Dean Henderson, Cole Palmer, Adam Wharton
Slovakia – Martin Dubravka, David Hancko, Milan Skriniar, Denis Vavro, Peter Pekarik (Tupta 109′), Ondrej Duda (Benes 81′), Stanislav Lobotka, Juraj Kucka (Bero 81′), Lukas Haraslin (Suslov 61′), David Strelec (Bozenik 62′), Ivan Schranz (Gyomber 93′)
Substitutes: Mateus Bero, Robert Bozenik, Laszlo Benes, Vernon De Marco, Norbert Gyomber, Patrik Hrosovsky, Sebastian Kosa, Adam Obert, Henrich Ravas, Tomas Rigo, Marek Rodak, Leo Sauer, Tomas Suslov, Lubomir Tupta, David Duris
Referee – Halil Umut Meler (Turkey)
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