Harry Kane drew level with Sir Bobby Charlton as he scored the winner from the penalty spot to give England a 2-1 win over Switzerland at Wembley.
The Tottenham strike now has 49 goals in an England shirt, behind only Wayne Rooney with 53, as he ensured the Three Lions got what they hope will be a historic 2022 off to a positive start.
Breel Embolo had given the visitors the lead before Luke Shaw equalised on the verge of half-time, and Kane then struck from the spot with just over ten minutes remaining.
Marc Guehi and Kyle Walker-Peters made their international debuts, while Conor Gallagher got his first England start and Ben White came into the side after a late injury to John Stones in the warm-up.
Gallagher was England’s brightest player for much of the first half, making runs in behind and pressing the Swiss defence.
It was Switzerland who took the lead midway through the first-half though. Granit Xhaka’s shot was well-saved by Jordan Pickford but England were unable to fully clear the danger. Xherdan Shaqiri curled a brilliant cross to the back post, where Embolo was free to head home for the opening goal.
Less than two minutes later it was very nearly a second for the Swiss, as Pickford had to make a stunning save to tip Fabian Frei’s powerful strike onto the bar.
The visitors were well on top and would have been furious to gift England an equalising goal in first-half stoppage time. Frei lost the ball deep in his own half, allowing Conor Gallagher to find Luke Shaw who hammered a shot from just outside the box past Jonas Omlin to get England on terms.
Guehi nearly had a goal to mark his debut in the second-half as he flicked a header on from a corner which didn’t quite find the far corner and also evaded the stretching Conor Coady.
Gareth Southgate made four substitutes on the hour mark, with Tyrick Mitchell coming on at left-back for his first senior appearance. Declan Rice, Raheem Sterling and Jack Grealish were also introduced as the England manager looked for his side to improve markedly.
Mitchell’s first real contribution was a positive one, swinging in a decent cross which Harry Kane headed straight at the goalkeeper.
England were looking unlikely to create a winner from open play, so the gift of a penalty was a very welcome one. The referee initially waved away the appeals, as Guehi’s header struck Steven Zuber’s arm, but he overturned that decision after a VAR review.
It wasn’t enough for Omlin to guess correctly, as Kane rifled the spot-kick perfectly into the corner for what proved to be the winner as he closed in on a half-century for his country.
He’ll be hoping to reach that mark long before England arrive in Qatar at the end of the year looking to go one better than they did at the Euros last summer.
