England moved a step closer towards the UEFA EURO 2020 knockout stages, despite being held to a frustrating 0-0 draw by Scotland in the teams’ first major tournament meeting for 25 years. 

Having beaten Croatia in their Group D opener on Sunday, England started confidently at Wembley and John Stones crashed a header against the post from an early corner. 

Reece James and Mason Mount also went close but Scotland enjoyed chances of their own throughout the 90 minutes, with Che Adams, Stephen O'Donnell and Lyndon Dykes all missing good opportunities. 

The game remained end-to-end until the final whistle but neither team were ultimately able to break the deadlock, leaving Gareth Southgate’s men looking for a result against Czech Republic on Tuesday. 

After the teams joined together in taking the knee before kick-off, the game began at a ferocious pace with Luke Shaw and Dykes clashing in the air within the opening moments. 

The first chance fell to the visitors in the fourth minute as a great run and pull back from O'Donnell found Adams in space, but the Southampton striker’s shot was blocked by Stones. 

England got their first sniff of goal three minutes later when Declan Rice connected tamely with a Mason Mount free-kick, while the latter then saw a deflected effort go out for a corner. 

From the resulting set-piece Stones powered a header against the post, and as England gathered momentum Mount shot wide after being teed up by Raheem Sterling who had dispossessed Scott McTominay. 

Phil Foden missed the target after latching onto a sumptuous Kalvin Phillips pass only for play to be brought back for offside, while a speculative effort by Kieran Tierney at the other end failed to trouble Jordan Pickford in the England goal. 

And Steve Clarke’s Scotsmen could have gone in front just before the half-hour mark when a big hand from Pickford was required to deny a fierce O'Donnell volley, after Tierney had picked out the Motherwell man with a looping cross. 

The scoreline remained goalless at the break despite both teams enjoying periods of possession in the latter stages of the first half, but England signalled their intent straight from the restart with Shaw winning a corner after a piercing run. 

Mount then forced a smart save from David Marshall at his near post after Sterling and Foden had caused trouble in the Scotland area, before Reece James and Tyrone Mings combined well to snuff out a hint of a Scottish threat. 

James failed to hit the target after being picked out on the edge of the box by Harry Kane, and as Scotland responded with an effective counter attack Stones had to be alert to deny Adams from close range. 

With the game opening up as the clock ticked past the hour Sterling couldn’t finish off a brilliant pass over the top from Jordan Pickford, and James was then called upon to make a crucial goal-line clearance from a Dykes shot. 

Shaw blasted over from a tight angle as England looked for a late winner, and after Adams again went close for Scotland Sterling saw his penalty appeals waved away following an Andrew Robertson challenge. 

Both teams kept up the tempo until the final whistle in search of an elusive opener, and though Rice came close to sneaking the ball over the line in the dying seconds the match finished 0-0.