Germany vs England LIVE: Nations League result, final score and reaction tonight
Follow all the action from Munich as the Three Lions look to bounce back from defeat to Hungary
England get away with one, but also get a lot to think about.
Harry Kane scored his 50th international goal with a contentious late penalty, to secure a 1-1 draw against Germany that Gareth Southgate’s side probably didn’t deserve. The mixed feelings were further emphasised by the context. This was undeniably a good result, from a middling performance, that also represents the first time that England have failed to win two consecutive games since June 2019.
That stat shows how far they’ve come, but maybe reminds there is also a bit to go. It was not a quirk that they failed to win this game, for all the caveats of a Nations League game.
The most notable aspect of the match was how Germany looked like they would play this way regardless of the fixture.
Hansi Flick has given them a new identity, that is itself so easy to see. It is something England still lack, and does raise more questions about what next for the summer. It is not all Southgate is missing, mind.
His side also lack the kind of notional holding midfielder that can play the sort of through ball Joshua Kimmich did in the 50th minute of this match, so divinely setting up Jonas Hofmann for his third international goal.
England did rally, though, which is to their credit.
Follow all the match reaction from Munich below:
A new formation?
Gareth Southgate started England in a 3-4-3 formation against Hungary with James Justin and Trent Alexander-Arnold in the wing-back roles and Kyle Walker, Conor Coady and Harry Maguire at centre-back.
The approach was met with criticism with Southgate once again accused of being overly cautious and it was only after Kalvin Phillips replaced Coady in the 79th minute, with England chasing the game, did they revert to a back four and finally began to threaten.
At times England have benefitted from using a back three under Southgate, most famously using the system to overcome Germany in the Euros, but other questions have arose over the best positions for some of the squad.
For example Alexander-Arnold is far better suited to playing at full-back rather than wing-back.
Southgate defended his preference for a back three on Saturday saying “Everybody who started the game is in a position that they have either played regularly with us, or regularly with their club.”
World Cup places up for grabs
Gareth Southgate has said he already has a “pretty good idea” of his strongest England team but that there are still places in his World Cup squad up for grabs as he continues to prepare for Qatar.
There are only five games remaining between now and the start of the World Cup in November and Southgate is using England’s Nations League campaign to experiment with personnel.
“We have not got friendlies to try it, so we have to do it in these types of games,” he said on Saturday after handing debuts to James Justin and Jarrod Bowen.
“Everyone is fighting for their place at the World Cup and trying to play well,” he said. Southgate added: “The mindset of this group is that they want to push and they want to perform well.
“Every one of them wants to play tomorrow night, there’s no doubting that. There’s huge motivation in the group”
Gareth Southgate shows he is prepared to sacrifice games for sake of England experimentation
For Gareth Southgate, it’s been an unusual feeling, but the main question is whether it will be an influential one.
“I don’t enjoy losing football matches,” he said after England’s surprise 1-0 defeat to Hungary. “It’s a long time since we actually got beat across 90 minutes, so I don’t like that feeling one bit, and the players are very disappointed in the changing room.”
As their manager referenced, they haven’t experienced a defeat like this since November 2020, close enough to two years ago. But since we’re now close enough to the World Cup, the wonder is whether this is actually a concern for Southgate; does he see any greater issues in the performance.
Gareth Southgate shows he is prepared to sacrifice games to experiment with England
The Three Lions coach has limited opportunities to find his best set of players for this winter’s World Cup
Germany vs England
Germany have lost eight home matches against England in all competitions, two more than they’ve lost against any other nation. Their most recent home defeat against the Three Lions was in a March 2016 friendly, losing 3-2 from a 2-0 lead.
England vs Germany
Here’s a reminder of what happened last time England faced Germany.
Coady disappointed with Hungary result
England defender Conor Coady spoke out after the defeat to Hungary on Saturday and outlined how disappointed the team was with the result.
“I’m massively disappointed, it’s not how we wanted to start this competition.” he said, “It’s something we need to look at and get right on Tuesday because we’ve got a massive game. We need to learn very quickly.
“They’re a good side, they’re organised, you can see why they’ve got results but we wanted to come here and win.
“We started well but they grew into the game, had a couple of chances on the counter-attack and we need to tidy up on those sorts of things.
“It’s important we bounce back and there’s no better way to bounce back than Tuesday.”
Germany vs England
This is only England’s third ever non-friendly away match against Germany – the other two were a goalless draw in a European Championship qualifier in May 1972 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin and a 5-1 win in a World Cup qualifier in September 2001 at the Olympiastadion in Munich.
Gareth Southgate expects ‘inspired’ Wales to challenge England at World Cup
Gareth Southgate expects to face a team “inspired to another level” when England meet Wales at the World Cup later this year.
Wales ended a 64-year wait to reach the finals on Sunday when beating Ukraine 1-0 in a tense play-off in Cardiff.
Their reward is a place in Group B in Qatar, where they will play the United States and Iran before facing old foes England on November 29th.
Three Lions boss Southgate did not watch the play-off as he was preparing for Tuesday’s Nations League match in Germany but knows a tough challenge awaits.
Gareth Southgate expects ‘inspired’ Wales to challenge England at World Cup
England will take on Wales in their final fixture in Group B in Qatar later this year
Robert Page sends message to Wales’ World Cup rivals ahead of ‘winnable’ group
Robert Page has warned Wales’ World Cup rivals that they are not going to Qatar to simply make up the numbers.
Wales booked their spot alongside England, the United States and Iran in Group B by beating Ukraine 1-0 in Sunday’s World Cup play-off final in Cardiff.
Victory secured their first appearance at a World Cup since 1958, but Wales showed at Euro 2016 – by reaching the semi-finals – that they can punch well above their weight in major tournaments.
Robert Page sends message to Wales’ World Cup rivals ahead of ‘winnable’ group
England, United States and Iran are Wales’ group opponents
Wales join England at World Cup
Wales will now take part in the 2022 World Cup after their 1-0 victory over Ukraine on Sunday in the world cup qualifier play-off final.
The 64 year gap since their last appearance is the longest gap between qualifications for a World Cup tournament.
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