England, one of the most valuable international teams in the world, once again achieved an unforgettable performance at the 2024 European Championships (EURO 2024), but a late goal from number 10 Jude Bellingham saw them progress to the quarter-finals after beating Slovakia 2-1 at the Veltins Arena on Sunday 30 June.
Gareth Southgate’s England were heavily criticized for failing to live up to expectations in the Euro 2024 group stages. They have won once and drawn twice, scoring only two goals and conceding only one. Fans expected them to perform much better in the round of 16 against Slovakia. But that wasn’t the case. They were one-sided and too predictable in attack, and continued to lose form in defence.
Another suppressed display in Britain
Slovakia took full advantage of their poor defending on 25 minutes, with David Strelec passing the ball to Ivan Schranz. Under pressure from Marc Guehi, the 30-year-old burst through the area and rolled the ball past Jordan Pickford into the bottom left corner. England had plenty of possession for the rest of the first half but could not find a breakthrough.
The Three Lions started the second half much more lively and had the ball in the net after just five minutes. Kieran Trippier took advantage of Slovakia’s narrow press to run into the box on the left and roll the ball to Phil Foden. The Manchester City striker made the right contact and slotted the ball into the net. England’s celebrations were short-lived, however. A quick check of VAR confirmed that Foden was offside when he received the ball from Trippier. It was an embarrassing mistake for Foden, who would have reached the ball even if he had run a little longer.
Harry Kane had a golden opportunity to equalise in the 78th minute when Foden’s inch-perfect free-kick was found unmarked in the box. To England’s dismay, the Bayer Munich player was unable to direct his effort on target. Three minutes later, Declan Rice fired a blinder from outside the penalty area. Slovakia goalkeeper Martin Dubravka could not get a hold of it, but the bar was in the way of England’s equaliser. England had just one shot on target during the 90 minutes, while Slovakia had three.
Bellingham scores stunning goal to avoid Euro 2024 embarrassment
Ultimately, England’s equalizer came in the fifth minute of added time, courtesy of Bellingham. The Real Madrid man scored a superb overhead kick to send Guehi’s deflected layoff into the bottom right corner of the Slovakian goal. With the score tied at 1-1, the round of 16 went into overtime.
In the first minute of extra time, Kane made up for his missed chance to score early in the game. Substitute Ivan Toni headed the ball across goal and Kane headed home from close range. Surprisingly, England were unable to extend their lead and almost conceded a second time in the 105th minute. Fortunately, title contenders Peter Pecaric could not turn Laszlo Benes’ excellent cross into the net. Slovakia had another good chance to equalise in the 118th minute, but Robert Bozenic fired a powerful shot into the side-netting from the right.
It was heartbreaking for Slovakia at the final whistle as they were knocked out of the competition with a 2-1 defeat despite having a higher xG than England (2.16 to 1.61). After a good performance, Southgate’s side will face Switzerland in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals on July 6.
