Kane scores but England held to draw by Denmark
Published
After opening the scoring, England faded and settled for a 1-1 draw with a much better Denmark side in Group C action from Frankfurt at UEFA Euro 2024.
Harry Kane scored for England before Morten Hjulmand answered back with his first international goal.
Gareth Southgate named an unchanged starting XI from Sunday's unconvincing 1-0 victory over Serbia. With Serbia and Slovenia's 1-1 draw earlier on Thursday, England knew a win would guarantee passage to the Round of 16.
Phil Foden looked to be England's biggest threat earlier, showing pace and fancy footwork, but his final touch let him down on a number of occasions in the first half. Moments after Foden's best chance of the opening 45, the Three Lions got their goal from Kane.
Taking advantage of Victor Kristiansen's lapse of concentration, Kyle Walker marauded down the right before slotting a ball towards the front of goal. The ball was out of reach of Bukayo Saka, but it fell for Kane and the Bayern Munich star made no mistake.
The goal was Kane's 64th for his country.
The marker proved to be a momentum changer, but not in the way England would have hoped. Denmark grew into the half after going behind as England looked disjointed. That became apparent quickly with Hjulmand's equalizer in the 34th.
Off of a throw-in, Kane turned the ball over to Kristiansen who set up Hjulmand outside of the area. The Sporting man unleashed a hard, low drive that hit the inside of the post and went in. While Jordan Pickford saw the ball late. he still had no chance to make a save.
England weren't much better to start the second half, but the Three Lions had the best early chance and it was Foden once again. The Manchester City forward almost caught Kasper Schmeichel out in the 55th, but his shot rocketed off of the post and out.
After a triple change up front, England claim close again through Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins. Played inside behind the Danish backline, Watkins effort was well-saved by Schmeichel.
The substitutes briefly buoyed England for a spell before Denmark once again came back into the game. In the 83rd, Marc Guehi, who had otherwise been rock-solid, gave up possession to Alexander Bah, but made an exceptional run to get back and dispossess the Benfica defender before he could get a shot off.
Moments later, Denmark came close again after more casual play from England. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg pounced on an errant Jude Bellingham pass in the 85th and sent a fine curling effort that froze Pickford, but just cleared the far post.
The draw means that England has never won its first two matches at a Euro.
The result leaves Group C with everything to play for headed into Tuesday's finale.
England tops the group on four points, followed by Denmark and Slovenia on two and Serbia bringing up the rear with one. All four teams can still advance to the knockouts.
England will play Slovenia, while Denmark takes on Serbia.