Report: England 2-0 Ukraine
- H. Kane (37′)
- B. Saka (40′)
- R. Malinovskyi (69′)
Highlights: England 2-0 Ukraine
Watch the best of the action from Wembley as the Three Lions made it two wins from two games
Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka score in England's first home European Qualifier for UEFA EURO 2024 at Wembley Stadium
England v Ukraine
UEFA European Qualifier
5pm GMT, Sunday 26 March 2023
Live on Channel 4
Wembley Stadium connected by EE
What was said
Gareth Southgate stressed it is crucial England produce a match-winning performance against Ukraine tomorrow if they are to be considered among the world’s best teams.
The Three Lions started their UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying campaign with a 2-1 win over Italy on Thursday night and return home to Wembley Stadium connected by EE tomorrow to face Ukraine.
England will be without the suspended Luke Shaw and Reece James, who has returned back to Chelsea due to an ongoing issue, but Southgate confirmed Jordan Henderson should be available once again.
It is likely to be an emotional evening at Wembley Stadium, with England facing Ukraine for the first time since the full-scale Russian invasion last year.
When asked if the problems the Ukraine team have faced make it hard to predict what team England will come up against, Southgate replied: “No, I would say it is entirely predictable – they are really proud and we saw that right at the beginning of the war when they went to Scotland and Wales.
“They are a very proud group of players, you can see that, and totally committed to bringing enjoyment to their public and we of course have huge sympathy with what is going on and support them with what is going on.
“But tomorrow is a game of football and we are fully focused on trying to win the game.”
It was highlighted to Southgate that the win over Italy was his 50th game in charge of the England men’s senior team, becoming only the third person to do that, and he was asked what the record means to him.
Southgate replied: “It means that we have a chance to make it 51 tomorrow, simple as that and that is all I am focused on.
“The past is irrelevant and what we have done up to this point is irrelevant now because I am just focused on this game.
“We need to win and we need to be on six points when we leave Wembley tomorrow. If we are going to be considered a really top team then we need to back up the result and performance [against Italy], where we showed different elements in our performance and we have to do that tomorrow.”
Ukraine in profile
Nickname: The Blue and Yellow
Coach: N/A
Captain: Andriy Yarmolenko
Match Stats
● Ukraine have never beaten England away from home in four previous attempts (D1 L3), with this their first away game on English soil since September 2012, a 1-1 draw in a World Cup qualifier.
● England are winless in their last three home games (D2 L1), two at Molineux and one at Wembley. The Three Lions haven’t gone four without a win at home since between October 2010 and June 2011 (D3 L1).
● Ukraine have lost just two of their last 19 European Championship qualifying matches (W13 D4), losing home and away against Spain in qualification for EURO 2016.
● England have conceded three or more goals in each of their last two home games, a 4-0 defeat to Hungary and a 3-3 draw with Germany last year. They have never shipped three goals or more in three consecutive home games in their history.
● Ukraine haven’t won their opening match in qualifying for any of the last five major tournaments (D4 L1) since beating Belarus in September 2008 in a 2010 World Cup qualifier.
● Kane has scored 21 goals in 30 England appearances at Wembley, scoring five times in his last four appearances there. In England’s history, only Bobby Charlton (23) and Gary Lineker (22) have scored more times at Wembley for the Three Lions.
● Kane – who became England’s record scorer against Italy, scoring his 54th goal – has been involved in 42 goals in just 28 appearances in qualifying games for major tournaments (33 goals, 9 assists). He is scoring or assisting on average every 50 minutes in these games and has found the net in 18 of his last 19 qualifying appearances, scoring 27 times in those games.
Highlights: England 1-1 Ukraine
See the best of the action from our World Cup Qualifier back in September 2012
Head to head
The Lionesses have met Ukraine on eight previous occasions over the years, with England enjoying five wins, sharing two draws and losing once.
Our first game came back in May 2000, when the nations met in a friendly game at Wembley which ended in a 2-0 win for the Three Lions thanks to goals from Robbie Fowler and Tony Adams.
You can see details of our last three games below:-
Ukraine 0-4 England, 3 July 2021, Olympic Stadium, Rome
Ukraine 0-0 England, 10 September 2013, Olympic Stadium, Kyiv
England 1-1 Ukraine, 11 September 2012, Wembley Stadium connected by EE
Highlights: Ukraine 0-4 England
A memorable clash in Rome as the Three Lions progressed to the semi-final of UEFA EURO 2020
England Squad News
Ticket Information
England Supporters' Travel Club.
How to watch or stream
This game will be shown live on Channel 4 in the UK.
Gareth Southgate has made three changes to his starting XI for England’s UEFA EURO 2024 qualifier with Ukraine.
Kalvin Phillips, who started his third game of the season in Italy, has been replaced by Jordan Henderson, while Ben Chilwell comes in for the suspended Luke Shaw.
There is also a first England senior team start and second cap for James Maddison, who replaces Jack Grealish.
England will be without Reece James and Phil Foden after the pair were ruled out of the clash.
England starting XI: 1 Jordan Pickford (Everton), 2 Kyle Walker (Manchester City), 3 Ben Chilwell (Chelsea), 4 Declan Rice (West Ham United), 5 John Stones (Manchester City), 6 Harry Maguire (Manchester United), 7 Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), 8 Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), 9 Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) (c), 10 Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), 11 James Maddison (Leicester City)
Substitutes: 12 Kieran Trippier (Newcastle United), 13 Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal), 14 Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), 15 Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), 16 Jack Grealish (Manchester City), 17 Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City), 18 Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), 19 Ivan Toney (Brentford), 22 Fraser Forster (Tottenham Hotspur)
Harry Kane continued his historic week as his second goal in two games set England on their way to a comfortable 2-0 win over Ukraine in EURO 2024 qualifying.
The Three Lions striker, who was presented with a special golden boot before kick-off to celebrate him becoming his nation’s all-time leading goalscorer in Thursday’s 2-1 win against Italy, struck his 55th international goal before Bukayo Saka’s stunner completed a routine triumph at Wembley Stadium connected by EE.
Gareth Southgate’s side struggled for the first-half fluency shown in Naples in midweek but grabbed a decisive lead before the break through Kane and Saka’s quickfire strikes.
England came close to netting a third throughout the second period but were forced to settle for a two-goal triumph as they extended their winning start to qualifying for UEFA EURO 2024 in Germany.
Southgate made three changes to the side that secured England’s first triumph in Italy for 62 years as James Maddison was handed his first international start.
The Leicester ace replaced Phil Foden – who pulled out of the squad after undergoing surgery to have his appendix removed – while Jordan Henderson came in for Kalvin Phillips and Ben Chilwell replaced the suspended Luke Shaw at left-back.
Both teams started the game brightly as Maddison looked lively off the left and Ukraine’s Premier League-based stars, most notably Chelsea’s Mykhailo Mudryk and Arsenal’s Oleksandr Zinchenko – the visitors’ captain – sought to cause the Three Lions problems on the break.
England were denied a ninth-minute penalty by Dutch referee Serdar Gozubuyuk when Kane appeared to be tripped by Oleksandr Svatok after Saka’s deft touch through.
Chilwell embarked on an overlapping surge down the left before Maddison almost pounced on a spilt Saka cross by Ukrainian goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin.
Kane uncharacteristically spurned a good opportunity to open the scoring when he failed to fire his effort on target after Henderson’s cross.
And Ukraine, roared on by a raucous yellow and blue contingent congregated in one corner of Wembley, almost punished Southgate’s side for their inability to make their dominance in possession pay when Mudryk was unleashed down the left but he was unable to find a teammate in the box.
But the Three Lions seized a commanding two-goal advantage just moments later after a pair of predatory strikes from clinical Kane and stylish Saka.
Arsenal ace Saka whipped in an inviting delivery from the right and Kane swooped in behind right-back Oleksandr Karavaev to poke home on the volley.
And just three minutes later, Saka translated one of his signature moves for his club onto the international stage as he cut in from the right before curling a brilliant left-footed strike past Trubin and into the top corner.
Kane almost drilled home a third before the break but was denied by the legs of Trubin as England went into the interval in pole position.
Maddison could have grabbed his maiden international goal at the start of the second half but rifled over the bar after a clever turn on the edge of the box.
Saka’s cross then almost found Bellingham before the Gunners winger flashed wide after a well-worked free-kick with Maddison.
Southgate handed Ivan Toney his international debut with ten minutes remaining as the in-form Brentford striker replaced Kane.
Fellow substitute Conor Gallagher was denied a first England goal by a smart save from Trubin, Harry Maguire headed narrowly over before Jack Grealish – also brought on by Southgate – was once again thwarted by the Ukrainian shot-stopper.
England remained untroubled throughout the closing stages as they strolled to a straightforward victory and took a further significant step on the road to Germany next summer.
England (4-3-3): 1 Jordan Pickford (Everton); 2 Kyle Walker (Manchester City), 5 John Stones (Manchester City), 6 Harry Maguire (Manchester United), 3 Ben Chilwell (Chelsea); 10 Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), 4 Declan Rice (West Ham United), 8 Jordan Henderson (Liverpool); 7 Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), 9 Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) (c), 11 James Maddison (Leicester City)
Substitutes: 19 Ivan Toney (Brentford) for Kane 81’, 18 Conor Gallagher (Chelsea) for Bellingham 86’, 16 Jack Grealish (Manchester City) for Maddison 86’
Substitutes not used: 13 Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal), 22 Fraser Forster (Tottenham Hotspur), 12 Kieran Tripper (Atletico Madrid), 14 Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), 15 Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), 17 Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City)
Head coach: Gareth Southgate
Goals: Kane 37’, Saka 40’
Ukraine (4-3-3): 12 Anatoliy Trubin (Shakhtar Donetsk); 21 Oleksandr Karavaev (Dynamo Kyiv), 3 Oleksandr Svatok (Dnipro-1), 22 Mykola Matviyenko (Shakhtar Donetsk), 16 Vitaliy Mykolenko (Everton); 20 Georgiy Sudakov (Shakhtar Donetsk), 6 Taras Stepanenko (Shakhtar Donetsk), 17 Oleksandr Zinchenko (Arsenal) (c); 8 Ruslan Malinovskyi (Marseille, on loan from Atalanta), 9 Roman Yaremchuk (Club Brugge), 7 Mykhailo Mudryk (Chelsea)
Substitutes: 15 Viktor Tsygankov (Girona) for Mudryk 61’, 14 Vitaliy Buyalskyi (Dynamo Kiev) for Karavaev 61’, 2 Eduard Sobol (Strasbourg) for Mykolenko 62’, 11 Artem Dovbyk (Dnipro-1) for Yaremchuk 74’
Substitutes not used: 1 Andriy Lunin (Real Madrid), 23 Mykyta Shevchenko (Zorya Luhansk), 4 Eduard Sarapii (Dnipro-1, on loan from Metalist Kharkiv), 5 Serhiy Sydorchuk (Dynamo Kyiv), 10 Yevhen Konoplyanka (Cracovia), 13 Denys Miroshnichenko (Oleksandriya), 18 Artem Bondarenko (Shakhtar Donetsk), 19 Oleksandr Pikhalyonok (Dnipro-1)
Head coach: Ruslan Rotan
Referee: Serdar Gozubuyuk
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