SOCCER - UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE
2019
08/09/18 - Qualifier - Group A4 - Spain (2) @ (1) England - In their 1st ever UEFA Nations League home match, England suffered defeat as Spain came back from a 1-0 defeat to win at Wembley. England started fast with a Danny Welbeck goal after 11 minutes. Spain equalised almost immediately with a goal from Saul Niguez then scored what proved to be the match-winner with a goal from Rodrigo Moreno after 32 minutes. England tried to find an equaliser in the 2nd half but Spain goalkeeper David De Gea was in good form and Spain held on for the win (9, On the same disc as 2018 Switzerland @ England, 46 minutes, 1 Disc, ITV - Tyldesley/Hoddle, PAL)
12/10/18 - Qualifier - Group A4 - England (0) @ (0) Croatia - England earned their first point of their UEFA Nations League campaign in extraordinary fashion, holding Croatia to a draw behind closed doors in Rijeka. UEFA punished Croatia for crowd trouble by banning all supporters from the game and this made for a weird atmosphere. England adapted the better and could have won the game as they hit the woodwork twice and had a couple of other chances well saved. For England, Jadon Sancho made his debut in the 78th minute while Ben Chilwell was given his full debut (9, On the same disc as 2018 England @ Spain, 46 minutes, 1 Disc, ITV - Tyldesley/Hoddle, PAL)
15/10/18 - Qualifier - Group A4 - England (3) @ (2) Spain - In a sensational game in Seville, England beat Spain in Spain for the 1st time since 1987. England had a fantastic 1st half and were up 3-0 at the break with goals from Raheem Sterling (2) and Marcus Rashford. Spain turned the game around in the 2nd half with goals from Paco Alcacer and Sergio Ramos but England held on for the historic win. The loss ended Spain's 38-game unbeaten home win streak, and was the 1st time in their history they had conceded three goals at home in a competitive match. It was also the first time they had conceded 3 goals at home in the 1st half of a match since 1963 (9, On the same disc as 2018 England @ Croatia, 46 minutes, 1 Disc, ITV - Tyldesley/Hoddle, PAL)
18/11/18 - Qualifier - Group A4 - Croatia (1) @ (2) England - In a sensational finish to their Nations League group, England came back from a 1-0 deficit to secure a place in the finals in 2019. Croatia took the lead in the 2nd half with a deflected goal but England turned the game around with 2 goals in the final 12 minutes, including the winner with 5 minutes left in the game. With the dramatic win, England won their group and relegated Croatia from the elite group. The England goals came from Jesse Lingard and Harry Kane (9, On the same disc as 2018 USA @ England, 46 minutes, 1 Disc, ITV - Tyldesley/Dixon, PAL)
07/06/19 - Finals - Semi-Final - England (1) v (3) Netherlands - An underdone England were shockingly beaten in the Semi-Final by the Netherlands, losing in Extra-Time to self-inflicted Defensive mistakes. England absorbed early pressure to take a 1-0 lead in at the half, but the Dutch equalised with 17 minutes to go to force Extra-Time. England's Defenders were then caught several times trying to play the ball out from the back and the Dutch capitalised with the 2 goals that took them to the Final. The Dutch goals came from Matthijs de Ligt, Quincy Promes and an own goal. The England goal came from Marcus Rashford (10, 46 minutes - On the same disc as the 2019 UEFA Nations League 3rd Place Playoff, 1 Disc, ITV - Tyldesley/Hoddle, PAL)
09/06/19 - Finals - 3rd Place Playoff - England (0) v (0) Switzerland - In sunny Guimaraes in Portugal, England took 3rd place in the inaugural UEFA Nations League competition with a penalty shootout win over the Swiss. England dominated the game, hitting the woodwork 3 times and created several chances only to be denied by a great game from Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer, so the game went to Extra-Time and a penalty shootout. England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford became the hero, scoring a penalty then saving a Swiss kick to win the game. It was England's highest finish in a major tournament since Euro '68. Coverage also includes 10 minutes of hi-lites of the Final (10, 46 minutes - On the same disc as the 2019 UEFA Nations League Semi-Final, 1 Disc, ITV - Tyldesley/Hoddle, PAL)
2021
05/09/20 - Qualifier - Group A2 - England (1) @ (0) Iceland - The opening Nations League game for both teams ended chaotically, as 10-man England overcame 10-man Iceland in Reykjavík. England were marginally the better team, having a goal incorrectly ruled out for offisde, but went down to 10-men when Kyle Walker was sent off in the 70th minute. With a draw seeming inevitable, England won a penalty in injury time that Raheem Sterling converted. Unbelievably, after the following kick-off, England conceded a penalty of their own, but Birkir Bjarnason missed the chance and England held on for the win. England gave a starting debut to Phil Foden (Manchester City) and Mason Greenwood (Manchester United) made his debut off the bench in the 2nd half (9, 31 minutes - On the same disc as 08/09/20 England @ Denmark, 11/10/20 Belgium @ England and 14/10/20 Denmark @ England, 1 Discs, BBC - Matterface/Dixon, PAL)
08/09/20 - Qualifier - Group A2 - England (0) @ (0) Denmark - Both teams played out a dull scoreless draw in Copenhagen, a result that kept England in 2nd place in the Group. The teams combined for 4 shots on goal (2 each) with England coming closest to scoring when a shot from Harry Kane that was cleared off the line in the final minutes of the game. England gave starting debuts to Conor Coady (Wolves) and Kalvin Phillips (Leeds) with debuts off the bench for Jack Grealish (Aston Villa) and Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Arsenal) (9, 33 minutes - On the same disc as 05/09/20 England @ Iceland, 11/10/20 Belgium @ England and 14/10/20 Denmark @ England, 1 Disc, BBC - Matterface/Dixon, PAL)
07/09/20 - Qualifier - Group B1 - Norway (5) @ (1) Northern Ireland - In manager Ian Baraclough's first home game in charge, Northern Ireland were over-run by an offensive onslaught from Norway. The catalyst for the visitors was striker Erling Braut Haaland, who scored 2 goals (both great finishes) and set up another. Norway were 3-1 up at the break and sealed the win with 2 more goals in the opening 13 minutes of the 2nd half. The other Norway goals came from Mohamed Elyounoussi and Alexander Sorloth (2). The Northern Ireland goal came from Paddy McNair (9, 40 minutes hi-lites, 1 Disc, BBC - Kane, PAL)
11/10/20 - Qualifier - Group A2 - Belgium (1) @ (2) England - In a big upset at Wembley Stadium, England came back from 1-0 down to beat the worlds #1 team Belgium. Belgium dominated the 1st half and took a 1-0 lead through a Romelu Lukaku penalty but England equalised before the break with a penalty from Marcus Rashford. A more competitive 2nd half saw England take the lead with a goal from Mason Mount, and the hosts held on to take the win and move to top of the group (9, 26 minutes - On the same disc as 05/09/20 England @ Iceland, 08/09/20 England @ Denmark and 14/10/20 Denmark @ England, 1 Disc, BBC - Matterface/Dixon, PAL)
14/10/20 - Qualifier - Group A2 - Denmark (1) @ (0) England - England surrendered top spot in the group with a dismal display at Wembley. For the first time ever, England had 2 men sent off in one match, as captain Harry Maguire and Reece James both saw red. Denmark won the game with a 1st half penalty from Christian Eriksen and even though England had chances to secure a point, Denmark held on for the win (9, 27 minutes - On the same disc as 05/09/20 England @ Iceland, 08/09/20 England @ Denmark and 11/10/20 Belgium @ England, 1 Disc, BBC - Matterface/Dixon, PAL)
15/11/20 - Qualifier - Group A2 - England (0) @ (2) Belgium - Belgium gained a measure of revenge for their loss to England earlier in the campaign, and with the win knocked England out of qualification for the Finals tournament. 2 goals in the 1st half from Youri Tielemans and Dries Mertens did the damage for Belgium, and even though England controlled possession, they created very few chances to change the result. The lone bright spot for England was the play of Jack Grealish, who was making his 1st competitive start for England after 2 appearances in Friendlies (9, 25 minutes - On the same disc as 18/11/20 Iceland @ England, 1 Disc, BBC - Matterface/Dixon, PAL)
18/11/20 - Qualifier - Group A2 - Iceland (0) @ (4) England - England ended their UEFA Nations League campaign with a resounding home win against Iceland. A young team, led by Jack Grealish and Phil Foden in midfield, dominated the game, claiming 78% possession and creating 25 shots on goal compared to 2 for Iceland. 2 goals in each half did the damage, with 1st half goals from Declan Rice (his first for England) and Mason Mount, and two 2nd half goals from Phil Foden (9, 17 minutes - On the same disc as 15/11/20 England @ Belgium, 1 Disc, BBC - Matterface/Dixon, PAL)
2022
26/09/22 - Qualifier - Group A3 - Germany (3) @ (3) England - England ended their Group games with a high-scoring draw at Wembley against their big rivals. The Germans capitalised on 2 mistakes by Harry Maguire to take a 2-0 lead with 67 minutes gone, but 3 goals in 12 minutes seemed to turn the game in England's favour. The game had one final twist, though, as 3 minutes from time Germany equalised to ensure that the game ended in a draw. The England goals came from Luke Shaw, Mason Mount and Harry Kane. The Germany goals came from Ilkay Gündogan and Kai Havertz (2) (9, 2 Discs, Channel 4 - Bower/Le Saux, PAL)
2024
07/09/24 - Group B2 - England (2) @ (0) Republic of Ireland - New England interim-coach Lee Carsley won his first game in charge, beating the Republic of Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. 2 goals in the 1st half, from Declan Rice and Jack Grealish, did the damage, and even though England took their foot off the gas in the 2nd half, they were never troubled and coasted home. England gave debuts to Morgan Gibbs-White and Angel Gomes, both off of the substitutes bench (9, 2 Discs, ITV - Matterface/Townsend, PAL)
10/09/24 - Group B2 - Finland (0) @ (2) England - England stayed undefeated in the group with a tight win at a rainy Wembley Stadium. The game marked England Captain Harry Kane's 100th game and he celebrated with 2 goals in the 2nd half to secure the win. England also gave a debut to striker Noni Madueke off of the substitutes bench (9, 2 Discs, ITV - Matterface/Townsend, PAL)