England avoids embarrassing EURO upset with late 2-1 comeback vs. Slovakia in Round of 16

by Daniel Neuner

On Sunday, the Slovakian men’s national football team was a minute and a half away from the biggest win in their nation’s history. But what was nearly a match for the Slovakia history books soon became a relieving 2-1 comeback victory for the heavily favored Englishmen, led by the likes of Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane.

England’s last major trophy win was the FIFA World Cup in 1966. 27 years later, the nation of Slovakia was established. Neither team has ever won the UEFA European Championship, but that statistic doesn’t mean the odds were even before the match this past weekend. Slovakia, the 45th-ranked team in the FIFA world rankings, was a +850 underdog against 5th-ranked England.

England’s persistent struggles to win hardware in major tournaments have plagued fans across the country for decades on end. For years on end, rabid English fans have rightfully become hopeful in the team’s star-studded squads but have failed to witness a win in a major competition (despite the number of renditions of “It’s Coming Home” that have been performed). 

England’s first-ever foreign manager, Swede Sven-Göean Eriksson took the reins in 2001 during a golden era with legends Rio Ferdinand, Jamie Carragher, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard, and Alan Shearer in the lineup. After a disappointing run in the 2006 World Cup, Eriksson resigned.

In 2012, Roy Hodgson was appointed English manager, but the team was eliminated in the group stage elimination of the 2014 World Cup and lost 2-1 loss to Iceland in the EURO 2016 Round of 16, prompting Hodgson to step down in June 2016.

When former England player Gareth Southgate took over as manager, England began making deeper runs in tournaments and producing the kinds of results fans had been longing for for years. England was one match away from a World Cup final berth in 2018 but fell 2-1 to Croatia in the semi-finals. Then in EURO 2020, they lost in penalties against Italy in what was nearly the country’s first European Championship. 

Despite England’s improved form during Southgate’s tenure as manager, England’s one-goal loss to France in the 2022 World Cup quarter-finals exacerbated English supporters’ feelings of discontent with the national team. Many critical fans of the England team have become disgruntled with the lacking results and have called for the sacking of manager Gareth Southgate. Most football pundits have agreed that the team’s performance in this tournament is crucial for the fate of Southgate’s job.

The England fanbase’s history of criticism and hostility has extended beyond their scrutiny of Southgate. In 2021, a man was sentenced to 10 weeks in prison for hate crimes against several English players following the team’s loss in penalty kicks to Italy in the EURO 2020 championship match. Constantly judged and critiqued, the team carries a heavy weight every time they touch the field.

”Playing for England is an enjoyable feeling, but it’s a lot of pressure. You hear people talk a lot of rubbish, and, you know, it’s nice that when you deliver you can give them a little bit back,” said England midfielder Jude Bellingham after Sunday’s game.

Southgate raised eyebrows before the match with his surprising lineup selections. He chose to leave Premier League Young Player of the Season and Chelsea star Cole Palmer on the sidelines, along with world-class Liverpool defenders Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez.

England got off to an unpleasant start, picking up two yellow cards in the first seven minutes of the match. Ten minutes later, Bellingham received a card of his own.

However, the early bookings weren’t the worst of England’s worries. In the 25th minute, Ivan Schranz punched in Slovakia’s first goal, in part due to a lapse in the England defense during Slovakia’s quick attack toward goal. It was the first time in this year’s tournament that England had been behind.

Slovakia headed to the halftime break with a 1-0 lead, despite a whopping 77 percent of ball possession belonging to England. In addition to their dominance in possession, the Three Lions had five corners and 345 passes.

In the 50th minute, England’s goalscoring troubles seemed to have finally subsided. Two great passes by captain Harry Kane and left-back Kieran Trippier led to a goal from Manchester City youngster Phil Foden. Upon VAR review however, Foden was deemed offside and the goal was called back.

“We created a super goal that ends up being disallowed,” said Southgate. “A huge momentum shift.”

Five minutes later, Slovakia striker David Strelec intercepted a pass between Manchester City defensive duo Kyle Walker and John Stones, caught England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford off his line, and was just a few feet away from a one-of-a-kind goal from the midfield line.

In the 60th minute, Foden had a chance to get his goal back with a favorable free kick just outside of the Slovakia box. The opportunity was wasted, though, when Foden sent his shot straight into a wall of Slovakian players.

As time ticked away, urgency increased for England. In response, Southgate decided to make a substitution, taking off Trippier for Palmer.

Kane then missed a header to the left of the left post on a beautiful set piece by England in the 78th minute. A few minutes later, midfielder Declan Rice sent a powerful shot to goal from outside the box, and it rebounded off of the left post. With two golden scoring chances just moments apart, it seemed that England were bound to get a goal soon.

Ninety minutes passed; no goal for England. A generous six minutes of added time were tacked on to the end of the match, leaving England with a few more chances to take the game to extra time. Slovakia, on the other hand, hoped to run the clock down as much as possible and proceeded to make a needless substitution in the third minute of added time.

What most viewers weren’t expecting, though, was a late substitution by Gareth Southgate. Nevertheless, Foden was taken off the field, and Brentford striker Ivan Toney was sent on for the last two minutes of the match.

With 90 seconds left on the clock, England right-back Kyle Walker sent a long, corner-like throw-in toward a crowd of English players in Slovakia’s box. After glancing off the head of center-back Marc Guehi, Bellingham found a breakthrough for England, striking the ball with a beautiful bicycle kick and giving his country a last-minute saving grace.

“One of the best [goals] in our country’s history,” praised Kane after the match.

“That goal has not only saved [Bellingham] and his teammates from an incalculable amount of criticism that they’ve never seen before as a group of players…he’s saved their manager,” said former English right-back and Manchester United captain Gary Neville.

The masses of English supporters in the stands erupted in cheers after a second half of utter silence. All hope had been lost, and suddenly it had returned.

The momentum was clearly on England’s side now, and it took less than a minute of extra time for them to score once more. A set piece from Palmer led to a bouncing half-volley from midfielder Eberechi Eze at the top of the box. Toney met the ball in the air next to Slovakia goalkeeper Martin Dubravka and headed it on to Kane, who scored with a header to give England a turn-around 2-1 lead.

England decided to take on a defensive approach in the remaining 29 minutes of extra time. To do so, Southgate subbed off the goalscorers, Bellingham and Kane, for defensive reinforcement. The lack of offensive firepower remaining for England allowed a 70 percent share of possession for Slovakia in extra time.

After a half hour of nervous defense, the final whistle blew and the miraculous comeback was complete. 

In spite of their struggles, Southgate was complimentary of his squad. “For a young team, they showed great patience at moments of the game where the encouragement would have been to get the ball forward earlier and rush decisions,” he said in the post-match press conference.

With the 2-1 win, England advanced to the quarter-finals, where they’ll play Switzerland on July 6.