Nations League: England 3-3 Germany - reaction after dramatic draw

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

England were denied a dramatic win after a late error by goalkeeper Nick Pope halted a superb comeback and gifted Germany an equaliser in the Uefa Nations League clash at Wembley.

In a game of fluctuating fortunes, Germany looked on course for victory as two bad mistakes from the hapless Harry Maguire put Hansi Flick's side in control.

England manager Gareth Southgate has remained fiercely loyal to the defender despite his struggles at Manchester United but the decision backfired badly.

Maguire lost possession then brought down Jamal Musiala to concede the penalty from which Ilkay Gundogan gave Germany the lead seven minutes after half-time then lost the ball and was left out of position as Chelsea's Kai Havertz curled in a superb second after 67 minutes.

England were facing a third successive defeat but showed great character and resilience to turn the game around and move within sight of what would have been a morale-boosting win in the last game before the World Cup in Qatar.

Luke Shaw pulled one back then a superb equaliser from substitute Mason Mount and a Harry Kane penalty, given after a foul on Jude Bellingham by Nico Schlotterbeck, looked to have capped an unlikely fightback in the space of 12 minutes.

Sadly for Pope, hoping to stake his claim as deputy to first choice Jordan Pickford, he fumbled a routine shot from Serge Gnabry with three minutes left, leaving Havertz to pounce and condemn England to their worst run of results since 1993.

Here are the thoughts of England's Bukayo Saka and Raheem Sterling along with Germany's Kai Havertz.

He won the penalty. Everything Bellingham did was positive. Always looking forward and he doesn't take the easy option.

I think at times Declan Rice takes the easy option. Bellingham has wonderful awareness and bravery. When you have a player who is so young and talented, why wouldn't you want to build a team around him?

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Italy pipped Hungary to a place in the Nations League finals with an assured win over the hosts in Budapest.

Marco Rossi's Hungary side had gone into the fixture at the Puskas Arena only needing a draw to reach the last four of the competition. However, a defensive lapse saw Giacomo Raspadori roll the ball into an empty net to put the visitors ahead.

Federico Dimarco sealed victory for the European champions after the break when he tapped in Bryan Cristante's cross.

The result means Italy finish top of Group Three with 11 points from six games, one point above Hungary, with Germany third and relegated England in fourth.

It also marks Italy's first win in Budapest since 1996 and while goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was called upon to make several excellent late saves, Roberto Mancini's side were worthy winners.

Italy, who failed to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar, join Croatia and the Netherlands in next June's finals tournament, while Spain and Portugal play in Braga on Tuesday for the last available spot.

Some more quotes from England captain Harry Kane, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live: "First and foremost, I'm proud of the boys for the way we dug in. Feel so unfortunate to go two goals behind. Obviously, a mistake [for the first goal] and a great shot from the edge of the box. But you saw the determination, passion and desire to wear this England shirt after that.

"We dug deep and the boys who came on made a really good impact and did really well to get back into the game. They were clinical which we haven't been and to be honest, in the whole game we could have scored more if we were better in the first half. But there's no time to celebrate. I thought we showed good signs today and we can have positive feelings going into the World Cup.

"It shows the character of the squad and in the summer, we had a similar situation and ended up going the other way. It was a terrible night for us as players and obviously the England national team.

"Going from 2-0 down against Germany and show what we did, we can be proud of. The fans were electric as soon as we got the first goal and you can just feel them at the edge of their seats and the eruption when the penalty went in was a great feeling.

"We are not getting carried away and know we have stuff to improve. The boys keep their heads up, tried to play out and Pope saves it nine times out of ten. He's been fantastic for us every time he's wore the England shirt - he can keep his head up. I think you saw the real England in the last half hour."

The World Cup gets going in Qatar on Sunday, 20 November and finishes on Sunday, 18 December.

These are the groups everyone is in...

• Group A - Qatar, Ecuador, Senegal, Netherlands
• Group B - England, Iran, United States, Wales
• Group C - Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland
• Group D - France, Australia, Denmark, Tunisia
• Group E - Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, Japan
• Group F - Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia
• Group G - Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon
• Group H - Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea

FAWCopyright: FAW

Wales midfielder Joe Morrell says England will be "beatable" when the two home nations meet at the World Cup.

Wales will face England in their final Group B game in Qatar on 29 November.

Robert Page's side will hope to have sealed a place in the knockout stages by then, having faced USA and Iran, but Morrell insists they will back themselves should they need a result against the English.

"We are going to need to get at least four points to go through," he said. "[Facing England last] could work quite well but we've got three games and we might have to do well in all of them.

"It probably worked quite well in the [2020] Euros to have Italy last [in Wales' group]. But if it comes down to needing something against England, we'd be happy with that because, you know, they're beatable."

Harry Maguire was under a lot of scrutiny before the game and he made a mistake.

He doesn't want to be in the position where he's one-on-one with a player like Jamal Musiala. He'll be disappointed with that mistake.

The next six weeks are really important in Harry's career. Every day is a chance to build his confidence up.

England didn't manage the section of the game after taking the lead but there are so many positives to take out of tonight.

The result almost isn't that important but the team showed they have something about them and that is a positive to take to Qatar.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

England boss Gareth Southgate has no more games left to decide his World Cup squad - so thoughts will be cast forward to Qatar.

Because of the World Cup being moved to November, and it starting a week after club football ends, there are no pre-tournament friendlies.

That means England go into the tournament on the back of a woeful Nations League campaign which ended in relegation.

Who would you pick in your England XI for their World Cup opener against Iran on Monday, 21 November?

Click here to play along and don't forget to share your selections on social media.

Richard Browne: Very hard to argue Maguire should even be in the squad for Qatar let alone the starting XI.

Thomas Hoiles: Saka was an absolute game changer. The ability he has when given just a yard of space is exceptional. A guaranteed seat on the plane and in the starting line up. See what happens Gareth when you don’t play him a LWB and instead in his best position.

Harry Kane is just two goals away from reaching Wayne Rooney's record mark of 53 goals for England.

Will Kane break the record while in Qatar?

Here's the reaction from Germany and Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, who calmly converted a penalty to open the scoring in the 52nd minute.

In international football against the big nations, you always need game-changers on the bench because tonight proved this. If things are not going well and can't unlock the defence, you a quick, fast and direct player as similar to Saka, Grealish, Sancho or Rashford [whoever it may be].

Bukayo Saka made a big impact off the bench. Probably similar to the way Gareth Southgate wants to use Jack Grealish. More of an impact sub. Fresh legs. Direct, pace and confidence when the defenders are tiring.

On this occasion, Gareth Southgate has used his substitutions very well and at the right time.

England manager Gareth Southgate, speaking to Channel 4, on the penalty given away by Harry Maguire: "It is hard to tell from the side, it is the giving away of possession that is the problem, but look as a group they have really come together this week. It has been a tough period for team but they have grown.

"To an extent we are always going to face pressure so we need to be exposed to pressure. We played a friendly against Ivory Coast in March and they went to 10 men and it became a non-event and we learnt nothing. This week we've learnt a huge amount. They've had to step forward and come together - it will benefit us in the long run."

On Nick Pope's error for the third goal: "It is an error and of course he's going to be down but the team has to be together and we have done that all week.

"Tonight, in the end, a couple of errors have cost us the goals but I'll focus on the fact they played with tremendous spirit and showed a belief that we haven't shown in the last few games. I thought the crowd saw that and rose to that."

These were the results in tonight's Nations League matches. No game had more goals in than the one at Wembley. Six goals in a 35-minute spell.

.Copyright: .

Josh Dolphin: It must be said that Southgate got a lot right tonight. I feel bad for Maguire. We've all made mistakes at work, none of us have been under the scrutiny he is but he is a walking accident at the moment. I don't know how Gareth continues to pick him ahead of Tomori.

Mike St: People shouldn't be fooled by this result. Individuals cost them goals and individuals saved the day. England have no footballing system to get them through.

There was a massive improvement in the second half.

Two important things happened for England today: Firstly the shape of the team, we are going to play with that block and break on teams.

But more importantly they showed passion and spirit. We should never doubt this group of players for what they've done but they showed it again tonight.

At 2-0 down the crowd were baying for them a little bit but the manager did a really important thing then and got up from his bench. This team dragged themselves up and the two substitutes, Bukayo Saka and Mason Mount, were outstanding.

That performance was from the gut. They showed so much spirit.

Credit to the subs [Mason Mount and Bukayo Saka]. They came on and made a difference. Credit to them because you can be tense and annoyed when you come on.

Mason Mount has given the manager something to think about. That is the quality he brings.

When you play a three at the back, you need your two central midfielders to be disciplined and I was worried with Bellingham in that midfield position, he is more attacking minded.

I was worried that he might leave us exposed. He is more than capable of doing the defensive duties and being disciplined as he showed in the first half where I think the England midfield didn't put a foot wrong.