LONDON — England rallied from two goals down before drawing 3-3 with Germany in a thrilling UEFA Nations League group stage match on Monday that saw all six goals come in the second half.
Second-half goals from Ilkay Gundogan and Kai Havertz looked to have Germany on their way to victory at Wembley, but Luke Shaw and Mason Mount levelled the score in a span of five minutes. VAR then awarded England a penalty, which Harry Kane converted to give the home side a brief lead, before Havertz tucked away his second of the night to reach the final scoreline.
Shaw’s goal broke a 565-minute open-play scoring drought for Gareth Southgate’s side, who were relegated to the competition’s second tier following last week’s loss at Italy. The draw keeps England on a six-game competitive winless streak, the third time in its history (1958, 1925-27) with such a mark.
For England, Monday’s game was their final test ahead of the start of their World Cup campaign on Nov. 21 against Iran. Germany have one more pre-World Cup friendly against Oman on Nov. 16 before their opener against Japan on Nov. 23.
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Rapid Reaction
1. Neither England or Germany are World Cup favourites
England and Germany played out a thrilling 3-3 Nations League draw at Wembley, but it was game that left us with more questions than answers about two of the favourites to win the World Cup in Qatar. Can either of them defend well enough to all the way? Probably not, judging by a second-half which saw all six goals scored — Ilkay Gundogan and Kai Havertz (2) for Germany, with Luke Shaw, Mason Mount and Harry Kane netting for England — as both sides threw away a match-winning lead.
England went into the game without a win in five matches and having been relegated from the top tier of the Nations League, while Germany travelled to London on the back of home defeat against Hungary. So neither team have been displaying the form that suggests they can end the year as world champions. But while the defensive flaws of both sides were on show for all of their World Cup opponents to see, the second-half goal rush highlighted the potency of both sides if they are able to play to their strengths.
Even though they went into this game having failed to score from open play for 450 minutes, England have the players to score against any team and Germany felt the full force of their strike power in the closing stages. But no team can win a World Cup with a leaky defence, and England and Germany will find themselves below Brazil and France when it comes to the real favourites to emerge as champions in Qatar.
