England advances to first final since 1966
LONDON — England finally broke through its semifinal ceiling at major soccer tournaments. A title match awaits for the first time in 55 years.
Harry Kane converted the rebound after his initial penalty was saved in the 104th minute to give England a win over Denmark in extra time in the European Championship semifinals Wednesday at Wembley Stadium.
“We dug deep and we got there when it mattered,” Kane said. “We’re in a final at home. What a feeling.”
England will return to Wembley on Sunday to play Italy and will be competing in its first final since the 1966 World Cup. That remains England’s only international title.
In the intervening decades, the English have lost in the semifinals four times in either the World Cup or the European Championship. For that reason, this will go down as one of the most significant feats in the national team’s history, something England greats David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Paul Gascoigne and Gary Lineker did not achieve.
After the final whistle, Kane led the jubilant England fans in a crowd of more than 60,000 — the biggest gathering for a sporting event in Britain since the coronavirus outbreak nearly 16 months ago — in a rendition of “Sweet Caroline.”
The contact on the penalty looked minimal — Raheem Sterling wriggled into the area down the right, cut inside and fell under the challenge of Mattias Jensen. A video review confirmed the decision, but Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand’s said, “It was a penalty that shouldn’t have been a penalty, and it’s something that annoys me right now.”
Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel guessed the right way to block Kane’s penalty but the ball came back to the England captain, who reacted quickly to put it into the net from 6 yards out.
“I was fortunate to have it bounce back,” Kane said. “That’s football — sometimes it falls your way.”
Exhaustion then set in with Denmark’s players, whose emotionally charged run to the semifinals was powered by a resolve to win the title for Christian Eriksen after the midfielder’s onfield heart attack during the group stage.
With Erikson recovering at home, Mikkel Damsgaard scored with a free kick in the 30th to give Denmark a 10 lead.
But nine minutes later, Bukayo Saka’s low cross was bundled into the net by Denmark defender Simon Kjaer. It was the 11th owngoal of Euro 2020.
Denmark’s bid to match its unlikely European title from 1992 — when the team was a late replacement for Yugoslavia — fell short. The team lined up in front of the 8,000 flagwaving Denmark fans at one end of the stadium and saluted them.
“They have been through so much,” Hjulmand said.