Jude Bellingham netted a 95th-minute equaliser to ensure England did lost back-to-back matches at home for the first time in 11 years, as the Three Lions earned a 2-2 draw with Belgium at Wembley.
Three days on from a narrow defeat to Brazil, Gareth Southgate’s side were on the verge of being beaten again, in what was there final match before the squad is named for this summer’s European Championship.
Ivan Toney scored his first England goal, and the likes of Kobbie Mainoo and Jarrod Bowen impressed, but a brace from Youri Tielemans had Belgium in front, until Bellingham’s late intervention.
The first blow for Southgate came inside ten minutes, when John Stones limped off to add to an England injury list that already includes the likes of Kyle Walker, Harry Maguire, Bukayo Saka and Harry Kane.
And the England boss’ mood would not have been improved as Belgium took the lead almost immediately. Jordan Pickford’s terrible pass out found Amadou Onana, the ball fell by Youri Tielemans and his strike from distance rolled into the bottom corner, beating the wrong-footed England goalkeeper.
England responded well though, and were level with six minutes. After good work from Kobbie Mainoo, Jude Bellingham slid a pass through to Toney, who was brought down in the box by Jan Vertonghen. Toney, on his first England start, was as calm as ever in dispatching the spot-kick.
The Three Lions were firmly on top and thought they had turned things around when Bowen turned the ball in from close range, but he was denied a first international goal of his own by a VAR check, which deemed he was offside.
It was the visitors who took a lead into the break, another England mistake bringing another Belgium goal. Lewis Dunk failed to cut out a ball over the top and Lukaku pounced, swinging a wonderful cross to the back post for Tielemans to head home and double his tally.
England has chances to equalise after the break, with Bellingham failing to hit the target with a header when free in the box and Phil Foden dragging a shot wide after a jinking run from Bowen.
Mainoo went close to a goal to mark his full England debut too, after Toney had brought the ball down, but Matz Sels spread himself to deny the Manchester United teenager.
Bellingham had the final say though, after Ollie Watkins kept the ball in play and James Maddison flicked it back to the Real Madrid star to finish cooly.
Southgate still has plenty to consider over the next couple of months though, before he names his Euro 2024 squad ahead of warm-up fixtures against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland in June.
