England vs Ukraine result, highlights as Kane and Saka score in Euro 2024 qualifier at Wembley

Abraham Smith

WEMBLEY STADIUM, LONDON — England made it two wins from two in their opening Euro 2024 qualifiers as Harry Kane extended the gap atop his country’s leading goalscorer charts with another strike at Wembley in a 2-0 win over Ukraine.

Having scored three days ago in the 2-1 win over Italy to eclipse Wayne Rooney’s record of 53 goals, it seemed only right that upon his hero’s return back at Wembley he extended that to go two clear, while Bukayo Saka also found the net for the hosts.

It was fitting that Kane and Saka would provide the much needed spark England craved in the first half with the Arsenal winger providing the assist to his Tottenham rival on 37 minutes with a delicious cross into the back post which the striker gladly converted on the volley.

Three minutes later Saka showed goalscoring quality of his own, picking up the ball on the right side of the box before turning his man and curling a perfectly placed shot with his left foot into the top left corner.

Until then, England had been knocking on the door with a few half chances, but two moments of magic from a player of Saka’s quality proved decisive as Ukraine headed into the break without having a shot on target and plenty of work to do.

That stat didn’t change for Ukraine in the second half as England continued to find an extra gear before the final half an hour felt rather flat from both sides, in truth.

James Maddison impressed on only his second England appearance while Ivan Toney made his long-awaited debut off the bench in the final 10 minutes, leaving Southgate with plenty of positives to take as they remain top of Group C in their quest for a place at next summer’s tournament in Germany.

England’s next match comes against Malta on June 16 before they host North Macedonia at Wembley three days later.

Harry Kane England goals record

Three days ago Kane became England’s all-time leading scorer with his penalty against Italy the 54th for his country. Today, he made that 55 and easily could have had more having missed a few easy chances in the first half.

But in reality, he’s contributed heavily in qualification to major tournaments, being involved in 43 goals in just 29 appearances (34 goals, 9 assists). He is scoring or assisting on average every 50 minutes in these games and has found the net in 19 of his last 20 qualifying appearances, scoring 28 times in those matches.

While the debate will long go on about whether a player of his calibre should stay at Tottenham or leave and fight for trophies elsewhere, there can be no debate about his national ambition with England. Wayne Rooney will have known his record wouldn’t have stood for long by the time he hung up his boots in 2018 and at the rate Kane is playing it’s hard to see his new record being beaten any time soon, if ever, if he carries on like this.

A 29-year-old at the peak of his game will be licking his lips at the prospect of playing the likes of Malta and North Macedonia in qualifying and as long as England keep progressing and qualifying for every major tournament available, you feel Kane really will make a mockery of all those strikers who paved the way with their goals before him.

MORE: List of England’s all-time top goalscorers

What has changed with Bukayo Saka?

Still only 21 years of age, it feels like we’ve been talking about Saka’s talent for years and years. We have. Noises have always been made from the Arsenal academy from which he’s honed his skills at ever since he made his first-team debut for the club in 2018 about his potential.

But we’re now talking about him as Arsenal’s star man, the player who is on the brink of leading them to a first title since 2004, the player who will be a key man for Southgate going forward and the years beyond with his national team. Piers Morgan described him as “the most exciting player since Gazza [Paul Gascgoine]” following his display against Ukraine. 

He was kicked and fouled plenty in the opening half hour but continued to not let that affect him, nor change his game, as he put in crosses for his teammates with Kane eventually converting the perfect one he longed for on 37 minutes. Yet the best was still to come as three minutes later he produced a piece of individual brilliance with a spectacular curled effort that felt like the Wembley crowd collectively go: “Wow!”

While he may have been capable of such strikes as a teenager, we rarely saw it. Now, with his confidence at an all-time high we are seeing a new “ruthless” streak in the attacker, Southgate says.

“It is a top-level finish [from Saka],” he said. “That is the ruthless part he has added to his game in the last 18 months or so. There were times you weren’t sure he was going to finish but now he has that confidence in front of goal.”

Just imagine the confidence he could be taking into the next Euro qualifiers in June a few weeks after Arsenal may have lifted the Premier League title…

The Sporting News was following the match live and providing live score updates, commentary.

MORE: Euro 2024 qualifying group tables, standings, fixtures and results

Confirmed lineups

England starting XI (4-3-3): Pickford (GK) — Walker, Stones, Maguire, Chilwell — Bellingham (85′ Gallagher), Rice, Henderson — Saka, Kane (80′ Toney), Maddison (85′ Grealish)

Ukraine starting XI (4-2-3-1): Trubin (GK) — Karavev (60′ Buyalskiy), Svatok, Matviyenko, Mykolenko (60′ Sobol)— Zinchenko, Stepanenko (90′ Konoplianka) — Malinovskyi, Sudakov, Mudryk (60′ Tsygankov)— Yaremchuk (73′ Dovbyk)

England vs Ukraine final score

  1H 2H Final
England 2 0 2
Ukraine 0 0 0

Goals:

ENG — Kane (37th min)

ENG — Saka (40th min)

England vs Ukraine live updates, highlights from Euro 2024 qualifier

FULL-TIME: England 2-0 Ukraine 

A comfortable win and performance from England from start to finish. Goals from Kane and Saka proved decisive in the first half while the second 45 felt a little flat. Job done for Southgate though and they sit top of Group C after the opening two matches.

90th min+2: Grealish comes close this time with a shot bent into the bottom right of the goal but Trubin does well to get down quickly and palm it away.

90th min: A big change for Maguire to get on the scoresheet! Henderson takes the corner and Maguire is basically unmarked but steers his header just over. He knows he should have scored that.

90th min: A final change for Ukraine as Konoplianka comes on for Stepanenko.

88th min: The two subs make an instant impact as some neat play from Grealish down the left eventually sees the ball fall kindly to Gallagher, but his shot is saved from close range.

85th min: Maddison and Bellingham are given a breather with Grealish and Gallagher coming on.

80th min: Let’s see if Toney can inject some life into this match on his England debut. He’s on for goalscorer Kane, who receives a standing ovation as he hands the armband over to Henderson and departs the field.

78th min: Still 12 minutes to go and it could be a long 12 minutes if it carries on at this tempo. A bit of hoof ball and some scrappy passes is the order of play right now. 

73rd min: Yaremchuk is off for Dovbyk and Ukraine have a corner in front of their adoring fans which goes over absolutely every player in the box. Still no changes from Southgate.

68th min: Saka puts the burners on to get past Malinovskyi and is brought down just on the edge of the box. It’s an easy yellow card for referee Serdar Gozubuyuk to dish out.

65th min: We’ve got Mexican waves going and fans putting their phone lights on too, by the way. That’s indicative of what’s happening on the pitch right now… not a lot.

60th min: Triple change for Ukraine. Sobol, Buyalskiy and Tsygankov come on for Mudryk, Karavev and Mykolenko.

58th min: Saka plays a low cross into the box and Bellingham attempts a back heel finish but doesn’t quite connect with it.

55th min: Ukraine are finding their feet a little with some neat passing moves in and around England’s box at present. Rice makes a crucial interception to deny them.

49th min: England are all over Ukraine in the early stages with the visitors yet to get out their half. The best chance of this spell falls to Maddison, who goes for power instead of placement with a shot from just inside the box and it sails over.

We’re back underway!

HALF-TIME: England 2-0 Ukraine

45th min: Three added minutes. Ukraine just need to get to the break here. England have also slowed down a little having got two quick goals.

40th min: GOAL! England 2-0 Ukraine

Saka with a stunner! He turns his man on the edge of the box and curls it with his left foot into the top left corner of the goal. That was absolutely perfect placement! Goal No.55 for Mr. Tottenham.

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37th min: GOAL! England 1-0 Ukraine

It had been coming of course, it’s that man Kane again. Saka plays in a delicious ball to the back post and Kane connects to volley home past Trubin from three yards.

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36th min: Saka, Maddison and Henderson all take snap shots from the edge of the box in quick succession but are met with three different blocks. 

34th min: Now Maddison goes close with a header from Henderson’s cross but he commits a foul in the process. Not quite the same level of attacking intensity we saw on Thursday night against Italy, so far.

30th min: Arsenal fans won’t be enjoying this game too much right now because that’s the third time Saka has been fouled. Maddison takes a quick free-kick and Kane is quickest to react but he pokes it just over the bar. He looked just offside anyway.

25th min: This time Walker whips one in from the right to an unmarked Kane in the middle of the six-yard box but he attempts to volley it in and completely messes it up, failing to make contact. Take that Golden Boot trophy he just received back off him!

21st min: Chilwell crosses in to Kane at the back post but his header goes straight into the hands of Trubin.

17th min: At the other end Trubin fails to deal with an easy catch and Maddison, arriving at the back post, follows up on the loose ball and just catches the goalkeeper with his foot making contact with his head. The medics are busy so far, but he’s good to continue.

15th min: Yaremchuk is played in over the top and is through one on one with Pickford but drags his shot wide. The flag goes up anyway for offside but that won’t do his confidence much good!

11th min: Chilwell gets down the left and whips in a dangerous ball but it’s just too high for Kane to connect, and Saka, arriving at the back post, can’t control the ball. England on the front foot.

8th min: Kane goes down in the six-yard box under a challenge from Svatok and appeals for a penalty but the referee waves it away.

5th min: Some sloppy defending at the back from England presents Ukraine with half a chance on the edge of the box but the shot is easily blocked in the end.

2nd min: An early clash of heads for Chilwell and Malinoskyi that leaves the Ukrainian down and needing treatment. The medics deem him okay to carry on.

We’re underway!

2 mins from kickoff: Anthems done before both teams stand together with the Ukrainian flag and the message ‘Peace’. Great respect from both sets of fans.

5 mins from kickoff: The players make their way out of the tunnel. Harry Kane is set to be recognised before kick off in front of his home crowd having become his country’s all-time top goalscorer last time out. His penalty against Italy saw him move to 54 goals, one more than previous record holder, Wayne Rooney.

15 mins from kickoff: The stadium is filling up nicely. Plenty of Ukrainian fans with a sea of blue and yellow flags are taking up one corner of the stadium in the lower tier and making themselves heard. Zinchenko’s name is greeted with the biggest round of applause upon the reading of his name from the teamsheet over the tannoy. 

30 mins from kickoff: Oleksandr Zinchenko will be in for a busy evening when he comes up against Arsenal teammate Bukayo Saka as well as his former Manchester City comrades.

In what will be a poignant night of football given Ukraine’s appearances in Euro 2024 qualifiers, despite the ongoing conflict with Russia meaning they can’t play home matches in their own country, Zinchenko remains grateful for the support he has received.

“I love them all so much, but unfortunately on the pitch there are no friends, so let’s see what is going to happen,” he said. “Bukayo has not given me the line-up yet, but I am going to push as much as I can.

“I got a lot of support from all of them [teammates], for which I am so grateful. I would like to also say a massive thanks to all of the UK for all of the help and support for all of us Ukrainians, for the country, our people, all of the refugees who are living here.

“It is so important for us. Without your support, it would be so difficult and tough. We really appreciate it.”

45 mins from kickoff: England’s squad for this match consists of 20 players with Luke Shaw suspended following his red card against Italy and Reece James dropping out injured. New of Foden’s surgery on Sunday morning has also come as a blow.

Southgate opted not to call anyone else up for their second Euro 2024 qualifier, explaining: “We have just about enough to get through this game.

“We have been training with this group all week – to call somebody from the outside would be potentially quite complicated.

“We would have no idea where they might be and what their training load has been over the last couple of days.
“If we were going to do that at this point we would do that with the under-21s.”

70 mins from kickoff: And here’s England’s starting XI with James Maddison coming into the attack.

80 mins from kickoff: Ukraine have gone early with their team news. Arsenal’s Oleksandr Zinchenko and Chelsea’s Mykhailo Mudryk start.

100 mins from kickoff: Some early team news for England with the FA announcing Phil Foden will miss today’s match after undergoing surgery to remove his appendix.

The Manchester City forward was only on the pitch for a few minutes against Italy after coming on as a substitute only to be the man made to make way after Luke Shaw’s sending off. Foden would most likely have been given a start today so Southgate now has a decision to make.

120 mins from kickoff: Hello, and welcome to The Sporting News’ live coverage of tonight’s Euro 2024 qualifier from Wembley. Can England follow up their win against Italy with victory over Ukraine? Is Harry Kane going to extend his goalscoring record even further? Could Ukraine cause an upset? We’ll soon be finding out. Let’s get going! 

England vs Ukraine confirmed lineups

Southgate makes three changes to the starting XI from the team that beat Italy. He was forced into one change following Luke Shaw’s red card, with Chelsea’s Ben Chilwell stepping in at left-back.

Elsewhere, the hosts rotate with Jordan Henderson and James Maddison coming in for Kalvin Phillips and Jack Grealish. Phil Foden and Reece James withdrew from the squad on due to an injury concern.

England starting XI (4-3-3): Pickford (GK) — Walker, Stones, Maguire, Chilwell — Bellingham, Rice, Henderson — Saka, Kane, Maddison

England subs: Ramsdale (GK), Forster (GK), Trippier, Dier, Guehi, Phillips, Gallagher, Toney, Grealish

Rotan’s key pair of Oleksandr Zinchenko and Mykhailo Mudryk both start for the visitors, but veteran captain Andriy Yarmolenko misses out. Zinchenko had been rested for a midweek friendly match against a Brentford side.

Ukraine starting XI (4-2-3-1): Trubin (GK) — Karavev, Svatok, Matviyenko, Mykolenko — Zinchenko, Stepanenko — Malinovskyi, Sudakov, Mudryk — Yaremchuk

Ukraine subs: Lunin (GK), Shevchenko (GK), Sobol, Sarapii, Sydorchuk, Konoplianka, Dovbyk, Miroshnichenko, Buyalskiy, Tsygankov, Bondarenko, Pikhalonok

MORE: How many teams qualify to Euro 2024? Rules, format explained

How to watch England vs Ukraine

Here’s how to watch all of the action from this match in some of the major territories:

  TV channel Streaming
USA — Fubo, ViX+
Canada — DAZN
UK Channel 4 All 4
Australia — Optus Sport
New Zealand Sky Sport 7 beIN Sports beIN Sports Connect
India Sony TEN 2 Jio TV, Sony LIV
Hong Kong — —
Malaysia Astro SuperSport 3

Astro GO, sooka
Singapore Hub Sports 2 StarHub TV+

UK: This match will broadcast live in the UK via Channel 4 and All 4 streaming services

USA: This game will be available via the ViX+ platform for subscribers in both English and Spanish. It will also be streamed live via Fubo.

Canada: Euro 2024 qualifying matches will be broadcast exclusively via DAZN in Canada.

Australia: Fans in Australia can stream every match live and on demand on Optus Sport. 

MORE: Watch every Premier League match live with fubo in Canada

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