World champions Germany held to draw by England at Wembley
England and world champions Germany played out an entertaining 0-0 draw in a friendly in London on Friday evening.
England 0-0 Germany
In front of a sell-out crowd at Wembley, both sides sprang into action within the opening moments, as RB Leipzig Timo Werner had the ball taken off him by the onrushing Jordan Pickford and Kieran Trippier fired into the side netting for the hosts at the other end. Thereafter, Germany dominated the first half and should have led at the interval, Pickford producing two excellent stops to thwart Werner and Leroy Sane seeing his goalbound effort cleared off the line by Phil Jones, the former Schalke man also striking the underside of the bar.
The pattern of play remained the same after the interval, Germany dominating possession and England looking to hit them on the break, with Marc-Andre ter Stegen saving well from Jamie Vardy’s header. The pace of the game dropped dramatically after the hour-mark, and an excellent clearance from under his own bar by Mats Hummels was the closest either side came to threatening as the minutes ticked down.
On the strength of a dominant first-half performance, Joachim Löw will have been frustrated not to win, but the world champions have a chance to return to winning ways against France on Tuesday.
Line-ups
England: Pickford - Trippier (Walker 71'), Jones (Gomez 25'), Stones, Maguire, Rose (Bertrand 71') - Loftus-Cheek, Dier (c), Livermore (Cork 86') - Abraham (Rashford 59'), Vardy (Lingard 86')
Subs not used: Hart, Keane, Young, Cahill
Absentees: Kane (knock), Alli (hamstring), Winks (ankle), Sterling (back), Delph (calf), Henderson (thigh)
Coach: Gareth Southgate
Germany: ter Stegen - Ginter, Hummels (c), Rüdiger - Kimmich, Özil, Gündogan (Rudy 86'), Halstenberg - Draxler (Can 67'), Werner (Wagner 73'), Sane (Brandt 86')
Subs not used: Leno, Süle, Plattenhardt, Khedira, Götze, Stindl, Boateng
Absentees: Younes (knee), Reus (knee ligaments), Müller (hamstring), Neuer (foot), Kroos (stomach bug), Trapp (illness)
Coach: Joachim Löw
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Match stats
- Germany won all ten qualifying games in reaching the 2018 FIFA World Cup, only the second time (after Spain in 2010) that a country has achieved that en route to a World Cup.The world champions boasted 21 different goalscorers in qualifying; more than any other nation.Die Nationalmannschaft scored a total of 43 goals, breaking the record for the most goals scored in a tournament qualification campaign set by Spain ahead of UEFA EURO 2000.Joshua Kimmich's nine assists were the most of any player during European qualifying.The Bayern right-back also played every minute of his nation's qualifying campaign and has started all of Germany's last 24 matches, competitive or friendly.England beat Germany by a 3-2 scoreline in Berlin in March 2016. Toni Kroos and Mario Gomez scored for the hosts, with Kane, Jamie Vardy and Eric Dier on target for England.The previous time the sides met was this March, Germany coming out 1-0 winners at Borussia Dortmund's Signal Iduna Park, inflicting Southgate's first defeat as England coach.England haven't beaten Germany on home turf since 1975, losing 1-0 to their longtime rivals in 2000, Dietmar Hamann scoring the only goal of the game in the final fixture played at the old Wembley Stadium. Southgate started that game.Germany currently top the FIFA World Rankings; England sit 12th.
As it happened