Football World Cup: England escape embarrassment against Slovakia

For a long time it seemed that Slovakia would give England an embarrassing exit from the European Championship. Bellingham then saved the Three Lions in extra time, Kane got the win.30.06.2024 | 8:59 min

After defending champions Italy’s early exit, European vice-champions England narrowly avoided defeat in the round of 16 at the 2024 European Championship with a 2-1 victory after extra time. Jude Blingham only equalized 1-1 against Slovakia in the 5th minute of stoppage time. Harry Kane scored the winning goal in extra time (91st). Ivan Schranz gave the Slovaks the lead in the 25th minute.

Three Lions disappointed again

In Gelsenkirchen, the Three Lions, considered one of the favorites before the tournament, performed sluggishly unimaginatively, as they did during the opening round. In the 55th minute they were lucky that Strelec did not score the second goal after the English team lost a lot.

The England fans in the stands watched their team’s unimaginative kicking as they continued to build up and only had one call back when Declan Rice’s long-range shot hit the post (81′). Already in the first half, the England supporters acknowledged the performance with clearly audible whistles.

At the European Championships you have to find a way to win – that’s what we did.

Harry Kane

Bellingham scored with an overhead kick

Deep into stoppage time, most people had already got over the embarrassing end when Bellingham saved the English team in extra time with a brilliant bicycle kick. “We will see in two weeks what this goal is worth,” said the winner of the Champions League from Real Madrid: “I know I can deliver in moments like this.”

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In extra time, scorer Harry Kane added after a few seconds. The Bayern Munich striker scored with a header to make it 2-1 and turn the game around. Coach Gareth Southgate’s team had to shake once. Pekarik was unable to put a sharp cross into the box (105′). With much enthusiasm, the English reached the round of the eight best teams.

England in the quarter-finals against Switzerland

However, coach Southgate is likely to still face criticism after his team’s poor performance yet again. The 2021 European Championship finalist will face Italian conqueror Switzerland in the quarter-finals next Saturday (6 pm) in Düsseldorf.

All information about the European Football Championship 2024

Source: ZDF, dpa, SID