England were all but knocked out of the football European Championship – when cycling superstar Jude Bellingham scored the equalizer in the 95th minute of the match and forced extra time against Slovakia.
There, England was able to turn around and win the round of 16 with 2–1.
The round of 16 in the soccer European Championship between England and Slovakia turned out to be dramatic, to say the least.
It was a Slovakia that put the gas down straight away and after an intense start to the match, they also got a payoff.
In the 25th minute of the match, Ivan Schranz made it a deserved 1-0 – his third goal in the EC tournament. With that, he shares the scoring league lead with Georgia’s Georges Mikautadze and Germany’s Jamal Musiala.
On the road to failure
Favorites England, in search of an equaliser, had most of the possession, but the real dangerous chances were lacking and the team were booed by the crowd as they went into the half-time break 0-1 down.
It didn’t get any better at the start of the second half, when Phil Foden appeared to have leveled but the ensuing VAR review showed he was offside, and the goal was disallowed.
Slovakia looked to be heading for a very scrappy quarter-final, but England – well on their way to a fiasco – hadn’t given up just yet, despite time almost running out.
In the fifth minute of extra time came the equalizer – an art goal by England’s 21-year-old star Jude Bellingham, who cycled to tie the game 1-1 and force extra time.
Harry Kane decided
And immediately in extra time, the next English big star stepped forward. With less than a minute played, Harry Kane was able to head in the 2-1 goal – and England’s turnaround was a fact.
Slovakia made a push at the end of extra time but were not rewarded, thus ending their European Football Championship for this time.
For England, the quarter-final against Switzerland now awaits.