England were a mere 86 seconds away from a shocking Euro 2024 exit until Jude Bellingham’s stunning goal inspired a 2-1 extra-time victory over Slovakia in the last 16.
Bellingham’s talismanic presence shone through as he scored England’s first shot on target in the 95th minute, leveling the score.
His spectacular bicycle kick from a long throw-in surpassed Martin Dubravka, canceling out Ivan Schranz’s first-half goal and pushing the match into extra time.
Just 50 seconds into the additional 30 minutes, Harry Kane capitalized on Ivan Toney’s flick, heading the ball home and securing a win for England.
This victory sets up a quarter-final clash with Switzerland next Saturday at 5pm, a scenario that seemed improbable only moments earlier.
As England faced what seemed to be another bleak night, outplayed for significant portions by the team ranked 45th in the world, the blame game had already started.
Despite this, Southgate seemed hesitant to make changes on the field, with his sole substitution before the 82nd minute being Cole Palmer, who came on after Kieran Trippier was injured.
Schranz had earlier given Slovakia the lead in the first half, marking his third goal of the tournament.
The Slavia Prague winger navigated past Marc Guehi to connect with David Strelec’s pass into the box, beating Jordan Pickford in a one-on-one.
England appeared to be heading towards an early exit when Bellingham’s misplaced pass on the halfway line was intercepted by Strelec. Pickford could only watch in agony as an ambitious shot drifted past the unguarded far post.
Despite entering the tournament with some of the world’s best attacking talents, England looked lackluster in attack until the final moments.
They briefly thought they had equalized shortly after the break when Phil Foden tapped in Trippier’s low cross, but a VAR review quickly dashed the celebrations, showing he was clearly offside.
Kane squandered a rare clear-cut chance, nodding Foden’s free-kick past the near post, while Declan Rice was unlucky to strike only the base of the post with an excellent 25-yard effort.
Ultimately, Bellingham rescued England with his last-second goal, and Kane displayed his captain’s quality in extra time, giving England – and Southgate – a temporary reprieve for another six days.
