Federico Valverde’s penalty rescued Uruguay a 1-1 friendly draw against England at Wembley Stadium, London.
White fired England ahead from a 81st-minute corner which Dominic Calver-Lewin glanced towards his path via a deflection off an Uruguay player, which left the defender unmarked to net his maiden international goal on his first start since he was sent home early from the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
He subsequently gifted Uruguay an injury-time equaliser through Federico Valverde’s penalty, after he collided with Federico Vinas which saw Video-Assistant Referee (VAR) award a controversial penalty despite their innocent clash.
Following Thomas Tuchel’s decision to call up 35 players for this international window, there was little surprise that he made wholesale changes to the starting 11, as key players like Declan Rice and Harry Kane were left out of the matchday team sheet.
Their absences however weren’t felt early on as Harry Maguire nodded James Garner’s third-minute corner delivery wide.
Uruguay however were dealt an early blow after Joaquin Piquerez suffered an ankle injury in the 10th minute, which required five minutes of treatment before he was stretchered off.
Once play resumed England continued to dominate the ball as Dominic Solanke curled a shot from Noni Madueke’s return pass straight into Fernando Muslera’s arms, before Muslera saved a 29th-minute header from Madueke who had met James Garner’s deep cross towards the right post.
Uruguay wasted a rare chance just two minutes prior to Madueke’s header as Agustin Canobbio intercepted a loose backward header, yet the 27-year old midfielder rifled his shot over the bar.
England were dealt their own injury concern after Madueke suffered concussion late in the first half and initially continued, before he was substituted on safety grounds for Jarrod Bowen in the 38th minute as the first half eventually finished goalless.
Tuchel was lucky to not see his injury concerns grow barely minutes into the second half after Ronald Araujo unleashed a reckless low-sliding tackle into Phil Foden, which left the England international clutching his left ankle but he was able to briefly continue amidst Tuchel’s call for Araujo to be red carded.
England continued to enjoy much of the possession but lacked a cutting edge to their end product as substitute, Calvert-Lewin nodded a 71st-minute free-kick from Cole Palmer wide of the left corner, although the header would of been disallowed due to an offside if had hit the net.
Uruguay’s defence was eventually broken in the 81st minute after Calvert-Lewin headed Palmer’s corner delivery onto an Uruguay player, who helplessly deflected the ball away for White to poke in at the left post unmarked to put England in front with his first senior goal for the Three Lions.
Uruguay were lucky that their evening didn’t get worth after Manuel Ugarte was shown a second yellow card for dissent towards referee, Sven Jablonski who forgot to display a red card to the midfielder, which led the fourth official to rescind that yellow card booking.
White meanwhile went from hero to zero after he collided with Vinas on a follow-up touch but VAR ruled that he had fouled Vinas, and Jablonski awarded a spot kick to Uruguay, which Valverde dispatched down the middle in the 94th minute to rescue the visitors a 1-1 draw.
What’s Next?
England will return to Wembley Stadium on Tuesday 31 March to face Japan at 7:45pm in their second friendly of the international window.
Uruguay will also be in action on 31 March as they meet Algeria in Turin, Italy, at 20:45pm CEST (19:45pm BST).
Teams
England: James Trafford, Tino Livramento, Fikayo Tomori (White 69′), Harry Maguire, Djed Spence (Hall 69′), James Garner (Mainoo 69′), Jordan Henderson (Wharton 46′), Noni Madueke (Bowen 38′), Phil Foden (Palmer 56′), Marcus Rashford (Barnes 69′), Dominic Solanke (Calvert-Lewin 56′)
Substitutes: Harvey Barnes, Jarrod Bowen, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Lewis Hall, Kobbie Mainoo, Cole Palmer, Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale, Jason Steele, John Stones, Adam Wharton, Ben White
Uruguay: Fernando Muslera, Guillermo Valera, Ronald Araujo, Mathias Olivera (Sanabria 87′), Joaquin Piquerez (Gimenez 16′), Federico Valverde, Manuel Ugarte (Martinez 87′), Giorgian de Arrascaeta (Nunez 87′), Agustin Canobbio (B.Rodriguez 87′), Rodrigo Aguirre (F.Vinas 64′), Maximiliano Araujo (Pellistri 64′)
Substitutes: Sebastian Caceres, Nicolas Fonseca, Jose Maria Gimenez, Emiliano Martinez, Santiago Mele, Darwin Nunez, Facundo Pellistri, Sergio Rochet, Jose Luis Rodriguez, Brian Rodriguez, Juan Manuel Sanabria, Facundo Torres, Matias Vina, Federico Vinas, Nicolas de la Cruz
Referee – Sven Jablonski
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