England failed to seal their place in the knockout stages of Euro 2024 after Morten Hjulmand's spectacular strike earned Denmark a 1-1 draw on Thursday.
A point was the least the Danes deserved as England again flattered to deceive in Frankfurt after an underwhelming 1-0 win over Serbia to open their tournament.
Harry Kane had given the Three Lions an early lead as England pounced on a Danish defensive error.
Hjulmand's rocket from outside the box levelled before half-time and Denmark were left to rue missing late chances to secure a famous victory. “We played a good match where we thought we could win,” said the Danish goalscorer.
“Against England, there was plenty of expression, fire and passion from the players. We are exactly where we need to be in this match, where we delivered for 90 minutes.”
England remain on top of Group C, two points clear of Slovenia, who they face in Cologne on Tuesday, and Denmark. Serbia's late equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Slovenia earlier on Thursday also keeps their destiny in their own hands.
Manager Gareth Southgate said on Wednesday that he avoids media coverage during tournaments to escape negative stories. But he will be braced for more criticism after another flat display from one of the pre-tournament favourites.
“We know people will be disappointed with our performances,” said Southgate after the match. “At the moment we are not pressing with the intensity that we need to and that's meaning we are having to sit a bit deeper.
“They are the problems and we need to find the solutions. We need to assess the two performances and work through it together. If you allow players to pick passes then they can play passes which can hurt you.
“There's a huge amount of work, that's evident, and we've got to be tight. We understand people will be disappointed with the performances and rightly so, and we've got to make them better.”
