LACKLUSTER England could only draw 1-1 with Denmark – but finishing top of Group C is still in the Three Lions’ hands.Harry Kane got England up and running with an 18th-minute strike before Morten Hjulmand levelled it up 10 minutes before half-time.Slovenia are next up for England, and victory will guarantee finishing top.
Kick-off time: 5pm BST
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TV channel: BBC One
Denmark XI: Schmeichel, Andersen, Vestergaard, Maehle, Christensen, Holjund, Eriksen, Kristiansen, Wind, Hjulmand, Hojbjeg
England XI: Pickford, Walker, Stones, Guehi, Trippier, Rice, Bellingham, Alexander-Arnold, Foden, Kane, Saka
EURO 2024 FREE BETS AND OFFERSFollow ALL the action from Deutsche Bank Park with our live blog below…England 1-1 Denmark
England suffered a setback against Denmark at the Deutsche Bank Park and will need to beat Slovenia on Tuesday to seal first place in Group C.
The Three Lions opened the scoring with captain Harry Kane after only 18 minutes.
But the Danes equalised just 11 minutes before half-time thanks to Morten Hjulmand’s wondergoal.
The performance Gareth Southgate’s men put together led to criticism, mainly because of the use of Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield, the main stars’ hapless display and the lack of left-back.
Copy linkCopiedHarry Kane criticism
Gary Lineker criticised England’s performance against Denmark and suggested captain Harry Kane holds responsibility.
Can I offer a slight theory? If you want to press, it has to come from your centre-forward first.
Harry does not press and he has not pressed in that first half. He’s barely moved.
Then the team goes deeper and Harry Kane goes even deeper and even when you get the ball you have nothing to hit. I just don’t understand.Gary Lineker
Credit: Rex
Copy linkCopiedChristian Eriksen reacts
Denmark star Christian Eriksen believes his team deserved a win over England.
Yeah, I think if either team to deserved to win it was us. We didn’t get the win but we played a lot better than against Slovenia.
England didn’t surprise us in the way they wanted to play. They have exceptional player, but we hurt them and with the chances we had we should have won. It was a great strike from Morten [Hjulmand] and it gave us more belief.
I don’t think England dropped deeper after they scored. It was the same before – it was an even game.
We need a win against Serbia, there’s nothing else for us.Christian Eriksen
Copy linkCopiedWhy Southgate subbed Kane
England boss Gareth Southgate revealed he subbed Harry Kane off because he needed “energy and fresh legs to press”.
We needed energy and fresh legs to press.
Harry’s only had one 90-minute game in a month, so that was the decision we took.Gareth Southgate
Copy linkCopiedSouthgate on Trent experiment
England boss Gareth Southgate discussed the experiment that sees Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold playing in midfield.
And Southgate admitted the Three Lions are still missing a player like Kalvin Phillips in his prime.
Look he’s had some moments where he’s delivered what we thought he would.
We know it is an experiment, and we know we don’t have a natural replacement for a Kalvin Phillips.
We’re trying some different things and at the moment we’re not flowing as we would like.Gareth Southgate
Copy linkCopiedMore from Southgate
England boss Gareth Southgate insists he is not telling his players to drop deep after scoring.
No. We’ve played two teams who are quite fluid with back threes, and it’s not easy to put pressure on them, but we have to do that better.
That’s been part of the problem – but so has not keeping the ball.Gareth Southgate
Credit: Getty
Copy linkCopiedGareth Southgate reacts
England boss Gareth Southgate admitted the performance was not up to par against Denmark.
The performance was not what we would have hoped. At the moment we’re not using the ball well enough, and if you do that you’ll suffer as we have at times tonight. There’s another level we have to find.
We’ve played two teams who are quite fluid with back threes, and it’s not easy to put pressure on them, but we have to do that better. That’s been part of the problem – but so has not keeping the ball.
There’s a huge amount of work to do, that’s evident. We have to stay tight. We understand people will be disappointed with the performances, and rightly so. We’ve got make them better.Gareth Southgate
Credit: Rex
Copy linkCopiedWord from the ground
This is an England team suffering from an identity crisis.
With too many square pegs in round holes and too many big names failing to fire, England looked a million miles away from potential European champions.
When Gareth Southgate hooked England’s entire front three midway through the second half of this Group C draw, it posed far more questions than answers for the remainder of this campaign.
Harry Kane had fired England into the lead but suffered the indignity of being substituted with the match still in the balance, along with Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka.
A long-range first-half equaliser from Morten Hjulmand earned Denmark a point which was the least they deserved.
And while Foden hit the post early in the second half, this was a thoroughly unconvincing performance.
England are as good as through to the last 16 and will top this group if they defeat Slovenia in Cologne on Tuesday.
But with Trent Alexander-Arnold’s central midfield experiment failing badly, with no fit left-back in the squad and now with debate over all of England’s front three, this is turning into a muddled campaign.
Serbia’s draw with Slovenia meant that an England victory would have guaranteed top-place in the group with a game to spare – and pair Southgate’s men with a third-placed team in the last 16.
Credit: Getty
Copy linkCopiedKane: We have to be better
England captain Harry Kane pulled no punches with his post-match interview, insisting that there are plenty of areas in which the team have to improve upon.
The striker was subbed despite opening the scoring for the Three Lions, but stated that England sitting off after taking the lead is not part of their overall gameplan.
We’ve got levels we can reach and we can be better both with and without the ball. I think the sign of a good team is when you’re not playing at your best and still find a way to get results like we have in the last two games. It’s something we’ve got to get better at. I think we’re starting games well but when the teams are dropping deeper we’re not quite sure how to get the pressure on and who’s going. In the second half we tried to change a little bit but it was difficult. Credit to Denmark, they caused us some threats. Overall we’ve got to look back and see where we can improve.Harry KaneBBC
Copy linkCopiedEnd of the Trent experiment?
It’s being widely suggested that Trent Alexander-Arnold’s substitution early in the second half will draw the idea of him as an international midfielder to a close.
The post-match chatter has pointed to his inability to influence games from a midfield two…
…and yet…
…no player created more chances (3) or played more line-breaking passes in the final third (5) for England against Denmark than Alexander-Arnold despite him being subbed off in the 54th minute.
Copy linkCopiedFurious Shearer calls for Gordon
BBC co-commentator Alan Shearer hasn’t calmed down in the 20 minutes since the final whistle.
The former England striker had much to say on the performances of several England stars, and more on another that yet to play a single minute at this European Championship.
There’s so much more to come from those players. Jude Bellingham just couldn’t get one foot in front of the other. Was Foden impacting the game from the left? No chance. As I got older, I needed pace around me. I could still score goals, head the ball, get into positions in the box, but one thing I could not do is run in behind. Harry Kane is the same now, he needs players that have the legs to run beyond and make the space. That’s why I would have Anthony Gordon in the team. Foden is occupying the same spaces as Kane at the moment and it’s not working.Alan ShearerBBC
Copy linkCopiedMatch stats from Frankfurt Arena
Jordan Pickford faced 16 shots at his goal this evening, five of them from the unlikely boots of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Copy linkCopiedTop but yet to convince
England extend their unbeaten run in the group stages of tournament football to move two points clear at the top of Group C, but it’s fair to say that they are yet to impress.
Their four points could well be enough to progress to the knockout stage, but nothing has been confirmed yet.
England v Slovenia (Tuesday, 8pm)
Denmark v Serbia (Tuesday, 8pm)
Credit: uefa.com
Copy linkCopiedEngland player ratings from Tom Barclay
SUBS:
Conor Gallagher (on for Trent, 54): 7
Vital clearance on the stretch when Christian Eriksen was lurking and was not afraid to put his foot in.
Ollie Watkins (on for Kane, 70): 6
Played in by Bellingham’s lovely ball after coming on but could not finish from an acute angle.
Jarrod Bowen (on for Foden, 69): 6
Copped a nasty tackle which saw Joakim Maehle booked.
Eberechi Eze (on for Saka, 69): 6
On for his tournament bow, though, he was rarely involved.
Copy linkCopiedEngland player ratings from Tom Barclay
Forwards
Bukayo Saka: 7
Not quite as electric as his first half against Serbia, but another solid showing from our right winger who has been our most consistent attacker across the two games.
Phil Foden: 7
Was far more involved than against Serbia – although that was not hard – and had a few dangerous efforts from range, including one that smacked the post after the break.
Harry Kane: 6
Netted his 64th goal for his country with an opener he could not really miss, but then gave the ball away from Denmark’s leveller. Surprisingly subbed.
Copy linkCopiedEngland player ratings from Tom Barclay
Midfielders
Trent Alexander-Arnold: 5
This experiment of playing Trent in midfield is far from convincing, especially when his passing was off it like it was here, barring one good ball to Saka. Subbed on 54 minutes.
Declan Rice: 5
Had to cover so much ground as England dropped worryingly deep in the first half and also lost it a few times in front of his back four.
Jude Bellingham: 6
Nowhere near the majestic display he put in against Serbia and one of many who looked tired.
Copy linkCopiedEngland player ratings from Tom Barclay
Defenders and goalkeeper
Jordan Pickford: 6
Looked a little jittery early doors, though there was nothing he could do about Morten Hjulmand’s corker and he made a decent parry after the break.
Kyle Walker: 7
Made England’s opener by racing round a sleeping Victor Kristiansen – he’ll be having nightmares of that forevermore – and teeing up Kane via a deflected cross.
John Stones: 6
OK but you have got to wonder how fit he feels having barely played for Man City in the second half of the season, plus his injury and illness issues over the last month.
Marc Guehi: 8 and my star man
Really encouraging again from the Crystal Palace centre-back, looking sharp with his interceptions and assured in distribution.
Kieran Trippier: 6
Like Stones, he was fine, but England really need Luke Shaw back ASAP because having no natural left-footer at left-back is a problem.
Trent Alexander-Arnold: 5
This experiment of playing Trent in midfield is far from convincing, especially when his passing was off it like it was here, barring one good ball to Saka. Subbed on 54 minutes.
Copy linkCopiedFull time – Denmark 1-1 England
It’s all over in Frankfurt, and another uninspiring, insipid and lacklustre England performance comes to an end.
The inquest will begin immediately after the Three Lions faltered all over the (awful) pitch, and more will be demanded from players and staff for the next match.
Many of the England players fell to the turf at full time, but it’s hard to know where their energy has been spent.
In contrast, the Danes show delight with their performance, and come together in one huge group huddle.
Copy linkCopiedDenmark 1-1 England
90. There will be at leasat three minutes of stoppage time before this one comes to an end – and you suspect there may be boos.
Images of a furious Wayne Rooney trudging off against Algeria come to mind.
Copy linkCopiedDenmark 1-1 England
88. Shearer is getting angrier and angrier.
He’s called this performance awful, atrocious and abysmal.
Just wait until he moves on to the letter B in his big book of adjectives.
Copy linkCopiedDenmark 1-1 England
86. I’m starting to think Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has backed himself to have the most shots at Euro 2024.
He winds up another attempt from outside the box that crashes wide of goal.
Copy linkCopiedDenmark 1-1 England
84. Marc Guehi makes his first error of these finals, showing too much of the ball to Yussuf Poulsen.
But the Crystal Palace man doesn’t give up and races back into his own area to brilliantly cut out the subsequent cross into the danger area.
The England team switch off at the corner, however, allowing an unmarked Christensen to turn the ball over from close range.
Copy linkCopiedDenmark 1-1 England – Denmark double substitution
82. And on the subject of subs, here are Denmark’s final two.
Andreas Skov Olsen and Christian Norgaard are on for Christian Eriksen and goalscorer Morten Hjulmand.
Copy linkCopiedDenmark 1-1 England
80. Ten minutes to go!
Apparently, I’m told, Gareth Southgate has made 800 substitutions as England manager. His subs have led to 17 goals. Who gets the 18th?
Copy linkCopiedDenmark 1-1 England
78. Pickford gets himself behind another Hojbjerg effort that for horrible moment looked to be bouncing into the bottom corner.
The Everton stopper has now made six saves today, his highest total in a single match for England at either a World Cup or European Championship.
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