Kai Havertz’s late equaliser denied England a famous win as the Three Lions drew 3-3 with Germany in a UEFA Nations League thriller at Wembley.

England looked set to claim their first win of 2022 when three goals in 12 second-half minutes saw them roar back from 2-0 down, Luke Shaw and Mason Mount starting the fightback before Harry Kane converted a penalty on his 50th appearance as captain.

But Havertz, who had doubled Germany’s advantage midway through the second period after Ilkay Gundogan’s penalty, was on hand to tap home when Nick Pope spilled Serge Gnabry’s effort with three minutes remaining.

Bukayo Saka was inches away from a last-gasp winner but England were forced to settle for a share of the spoils in their final match before the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Southgate made two alterations to the side beaten in Milan on Friday night, John Stones replacing his clubmate Kyle Walker in the back three with Shaw coming in for Saka on the left.

Gundogan curled the clearest early opportunity over from just outside the area after Jamal Musiala had charged down Pope’s clearance before the Three Lions burst into life on 25 minutes, creating a quickfire flurry of chances to raise the volume inside Wembley.

The best of them fell to Raheem Sterling, who was played in behind by a superb Shaw pass but placed his shot too close to Marc-Andre ter Stegen having cut inside to ward off the attentions of two German defenders.

Kane fired an ambitious volley narrowly wide shortly afterwards and Sterling was again denied by ter Stegen just before the half-time whistle as England continued to threaten.

Joshua Kimmich struck a long-range effort narrowly wide with the final act of the first period and the second began with a resumption of Sterling’s battle with ter Stegen, the goalkeeper this time getting down to his left after the Chelsea man had looked to bend a 20-yard shot into the far corner.

The deadlock was broken three minutes later with England the architects of their own downfall as Maguire’s pass out of defence was intercepted by Musiala, who was then brought down by the centre-half.

Having initially waved away the protests, referee Danny Makkelie reversed his decision upon looking at the pitchside monitor and Gundogan picked out the bottom corner from 12 yards.

Jude Bellingham spurned a chance to get the Three Lions quickly back on terms, blazing over after James’ cut-back, while half-time substitute Timo Werner slid a left-footed effort across goal as Germany searched for a second.

His former clubmate Havertz provided it on 67 minutes, superbly picking out the top corner from 25 yards to open up a two-goal cushion which did not last long as England hit back.

A deep cross found Shaw, who chested down and struck an effort which was partially kept out by ter Stegen but had enough on it to cross the line and halve the deficit with 18 minutes to play.

The goal was England’s first in open play this year but, like London buses, two swiftly arrived at once as a pair of substitutes linked up to devastating effect.

Neat footwork by Saka opened up space and England’s 2021-22 player of the year found Mount, who swept a first-time effort beyond ter Stegen to bring Wembley to life.

Buoyed by their quickfire double salvo, England stayed on the front foot and were given the chance to take the lead after the second VAR review of the night saw a penalty awarded for a foul on Bellingham.

Kane stepped up to rifle into the top corner, continuing his record of scoring in every match he has played against Germany and appearing to secure a dramatic victory.

But there was still time for a sting in the tail and it arrived in the 87th minute courtesy of Havertz, who was quickest to react to the loose ball after Pope’s parry to slot home his second of the night.

Saka came closest to a winner in the dying minutes but ter Stegen ensured his side would leave with a point by tipping the Arsenal man’s low shot around the post.

England (3-4-2-1): 1 Nick Pope (Newcastle United); 4 John Stones (Manchester City), 5 Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), 6 Harry Maguire (Manchester United); 2 Reece James (Chelsea), 7 Declan Rice (West Ham United), 8 Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), 3 Luke Shaw (Manchester United); 10 Raheem Sterling (Chelsea), 11 Phil Foden (Manchester City); 9 Harry Kane (captain, Tottenham Hotspur)

Substitutes: 15 Kyle Walker for Stones 37’, 18 Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) for Foden 65’, 19 Mason Mount (Chelsea) for Sterling 65’, 14 Jordan Henderson (Liverpool) for Bellingham 90’

Substitutes not used: 12 Kieran Trippier (Newcastle United), 13 Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal), 16 Conor Coady (Everton, on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers), 17 Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), 20 Ivan Toney (Brentford), 21 Ben Chilwell (Chelsea), 22 Dean Henderson (Nottingham Forest, on loan from Manchester United), 23 Tammy Abraham (AS Roma)

Goals: Shaw 71’, Mount 75’, Kane 82’ (p)

Germany (4-2-3-1): 22 Marc-Andre ter Stegen; 5 Thilo Kehrer, 15 Niklas Sule, 23 Nico Schlotterbeck, 3 David Raum; 6 Joshua Kimich, 21 Ilkay Gundogan; 18 Jonas Hofmann, 14 Jamal Musiala, 19 Leroy Sane; 7 Kai Havertz

Substitutes: 9 Timo Werner for Hofmann 46’, 10 Serge Gnabry for Sane 68’, 20 Robin Gosens for Raum 68’, 17 Armel Bella-Kotchap for Havertz 90’

Substitutes not used: 1 Oliver Baumann, 4 Matthias Ginter, 8 Maximilian Arnold, 12 Kevin Trapp, 13 Thomas Muller, 16 Benjamin Henrichs

Goals: Gundogan 52’ (p), Havertz 67’, 87’

Cautions: Schlotterbeck