England passed up the chance to progress to the knockout stage of Euro 2024 with a game to spare as they were pegged back to a 1-1 draw by Denmark in Frankfurt.
Harry Kane s goal in the 18th minute had eased the early Three Lions nerves, only for Morten Hjulmand to take aim from distance and fire beyond Jordan Pickford.
Yet bar the move for Kane s opener, England s performance was deeply lacklustre, and Gareth Southgate may well face scrutiny, even though the Three Lions remain in pole position in Group C.
Denmark, who looked the more likely to win it in the second half, sit second, ahead of Slovenia and Serbia, who drew in Thursday s earlier match.
There were calls for concern early on in the contest as Kyle Walker was the first to succumb to a choppy surface, taking a chunk out of the pitch as he went forward, requiring a change of footwear.
Walker showed no signs of an injury, however, taking advantage of Victor Kristiansen s lapse in concentration to sprint clear before his deflected cross found Kane, who tucked away his 64th international goal.
But as was the case against Serbia, Southgate s side failed to nail home their advantage, and this time they were punished as Hjulmand rifled home the 13th goal scored from outside the box at Euro 2024.
Denmark concluded the first half much the better team, with Joachim Andersen and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg going close to giving Kasper Hjulmand s team an advantage at the break.
England almost regained their advantage when Phil Foden was able to find space to send an effort towards Kasper Schmeichel s goal early in the second half, only for the post to come to the Danes rescue.
Southgate made a triple change in the 70th minute, and it almost proved fruitful when Ollie Watkins forced another save from Schmeichel.
But Denmark soon regained control, and Pickford was a spectator as Hojbjerg fired an effort from distance that narrowly evaded the far post, with the spoils ultimately shared.
4 Harry Kane is only the third player to score in four separate major tournaments for England (2018 World Cup, EURO 2020, 2022 World Cup, EURO 2024), after Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney. Fantastic.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe)
England in strong position, but still far from convincing
Having arrived in Germany among the tournament favourites, England are still yet to show they have the potential to end their 58-year wait for an international honour.
The Three Lions continued their run of having never won their opening two matches at a European Championship tournament, and a disjointed midfield remains a problem for Southgate, with Trent Alexander-Arnold once again replaced early in the second half by Conor Gallagher, and it appears crucial that balance is found sooner rather than later.
It was another disappointing performance from Phil Foden, but he showed glimpses of his promise from central areas which will give the England boss another decision to navigate.
Kane can take solace in becoming only the third player to score in four separate major tournaments for England, after Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney, but he managed just 22 touches, though only one of those came in Denmark s box.
All eyes on Munich for Denmark
Denmark will arguably be the more disappointed of the two sides, given they looked more likely to score late on.
Hjulmand s side outfought and outplayed England at times, but were unable to improve their record against the Three Lions and have now failed to beat them in their previous four meetings (D2 L2) at major tournaments.
But the Danes can take the positives from their performance, registering more shots (16 to 12) and more possession (51%) than their opponents, but the result is the most important statistic next Tuesday when they take on Serbia.
Denmark have now won just one of their last 10 group stage games at major international tournaments, beating Russia 4-1 on matchday three at Euro 2020.
