Jude Bellingham saved England from Euro 2024 elimination against Slovakia with a superb 95th-minute equaliser on Sunday, before Harry Kane’s winning goal in extra time put the pre-tournament favourites into the quarter-finals with a 2-1 win.
Slovakia started much brighter than England and served up several warnings to their opponents before Ivan Schranz fired past goalkeeper Jordan Pickford in the 25th minute.
England, who next face Switzerland, had won their last three Euro games in which they conceded the first goal, including the semi-final of the last edition, and looked to have equalised shortly after the break but Phil Foden was clearly offside before scoring.
Kane uncharacteristically headed Foden’s free kick wide with a header and Declan Rice hit the ball onto the post to leave Slovakia deep in their own half, though England looked to be lacking in belief as their fans grew ever more frustrated.
But Bellingham equalised with an incredible bicycle kick in the dying minutes, a day after his 21st birthday, and England’s first shot was on target to send the game into extra time.
And England took the lead less than a minute after the restart when Kane scored a remarkable header from close range past a frustrated Martin Dubravka.
Slovakia looked increasingly vulnerable as the game went on and came closest to equalising just before the half-time interval in extra time when Petr Pekarik hit a dangerous cross over the bar.
England secured a lucky win by saving last minute balls in the box to set up a quarter-final clash with Switzerland in Düsseldorf on 6 July.
However, they will have to put up a better performance against a Swiss team, who beat defending champions Italy in the last-16 and were unfortunate to concede a last-minute equaliser against Germany in the group stage.
