England narrowly defeated Serbia 1-0 in the last Sunday match of EURO 2024, in Group C of the European Championship.
The only goal came from Jude Bellingham, freshly crowned European champion with Real Madrid, in the 13th minute.
England bravely started this match in Gelsenkirchen, overshadowed by some serious incidents before kick-off, with violent clashes between English and Serbian fans, incidents however subdued by the German law enforcement.
In the 13th minute, Bellingham perfectly headed in from Saka's left-wing cross, a splendid goal for England's playmaker, the star of Real Madrid, the new European champion.
Kane and Foden were nevertheless nonexistent in the first 45 minutes, England faded slowly, but Serbia also failed to impress, with many misunderstandings, misplaced passes, Mitrovic clumsy, Vlahovic nowhere to be found, a talented generation, but somehow not cohesive enough under coach Stojkovic. Serbia managed the first correct pass after 5 minutes and 56 seconds, and English forward Harry Kane, Bayern's star, touched the ball only twice in the first 45 minutes!
The second half was even poorer for the English, the Serbians started to apply pressure, there were substitutions, Tadic and Jovic came in, but the scoreboard remained cold for them. Kane remembered he was brought to EURO, and in the last 10 minutes, he headed against the crossbar. Vlahovic also felt the pressure of his name written on his business card, Juventus, and took a wonderful long-range shot, barely saved by Pickford.
The English stoically resisted towards the end of the match, against a tenacious Serbia, but ultimately without offensive solutions. Southgate's team becomes the leader of Group C, where earlier Slovenia and Denmark stumbled against each other. The second round will take place in 4 days, with the matches Slovenia - Serbia and England - Denmark.
Starting lineups:
Serbia: Rajkovic - Veljkovic, Milenkovic, Pavlovic - Zivkovic, Milinkovic-Savic, Lukic, Kostic - Vlahovic, Mitrovic.
Substitutes: Petrovic, V. Milinkovic-Savic, Stojic, Maksimovic, Jovic, Tadic, Babic, Mijailovic, Ilic, Ratkov, Samardzic, Gacinovic, Spajic, Mladenovic, Birmancevic.
Coach: Dragan Stojkovic.
England: Pickford - Walker, Stones, Guehi, Trippier - Alexander-Arnold, Rice - Saka, Bellingham, Foden - Kane.
Substitutes: Ramsdale, Henderson, Shaw, Konsa, Dunk, Gallagher, Toney, Gordon, Watkins, Bowen, Eze, J. Gomez, Palmer, Wharton, Mainoo.
Coach: Gareth Southgate.
Referee: Daniele Orsato (Italy).