England endured a miserable night at Wembley as Germany deservedly secured a 4-3 victory in a remarkably error-strewn encounter.
The friendly match was the first meeting between the two nations since the Euro 2022 final, but this was a very different clash, as England conceded four goals at home for the first time since 1997.
Germany were three goals up inside half an hour, taking took full advantage of some woeful England defending. Giulia Gwinn converted an early spot-kick, after Leah Williamson’s poor pass led to Millie Bright conceding a penalty, before the Bayern midfielder swiftly doubled her tally after being left completely unmarked.
The Wembley faithful were further stunned when Klara Buhl drilled a low finish past Hannah Hampton at the near post, the Lionesses goalkeeper not doing enough to sum up a sloppy showing from the hosts.
And yet the Lionesses could easily have been level at half-time. George Stanway scored twice in three minutes, the first a fortunate penalty but the second a lifted finish after a lovely team move, before Ella Toone wasted a huge chance to level things up.
The midfielder was clean through after an awful pass from Sara Doorsoun, but Toone was unable to even hit the target with only the goalkeeper to beat.
Germany were much the better side after the break and wasted several chances to strengthen their control but the fourth goal eventually, and inevitably, came. This time Alessia Russo was unfortunate to concede the penalty, as Sara Dabritz then stepped up to dispatch the third spot-kick of the match.
There was still time for more mistakes, Ann-Katrin Berger dropping the ball under no pressure with ten minutes remaining and leaving an empty net for Lucy Bronze to score into.
Germany held on, though, for a win that leaves England with plenty of questions ahead of the attempted defence of their European crown next summer.
