England vs Serbia live updates (2024)

England’s Euro 2024 campaign began with a narrow win on Sunday evening as they defeated Serbia 1-0.

Below, The Athletic's writers break down some of the main talking points from a nervous evening in Gelsenkirchen.

Check out their thoughts below.

Jude Bellingham has defended England’s performance in opening Euro 2024 with a win over Serbia.

The Real Madrid midfielder, 20, scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 victory over their Group C rivals in Gelsenkirchen.

The display wasn’t the most fluid from Gareth Southgate’s side and they had to withstand pressure in the second-half as Serbia looked in vain for an equaliser, but Bellingham insisted they did well to get through the match.

Read his full quotes below.

Serbia head coach Dragan Stojkovic said after the match: "It was a very good match, high quality from both teams. England are a very good, strong team, but we played a very brave game; the style of football we were aiming to play.

"With the changes, we managed to get where we wanted – with control of the ball and to make England defend. I'm proud of what we did, we didn't deserve to lose but we're going to keep going on.

"I'm not satisfied with the result, of course, but it is what it is and we have enough time to rest and recover. We're going to do whatever we can against Slovenia – we have to win that. I congratulate all the players on tonight, there are no frustrations apart from the result. I don't like losing, but it's part of the job."

Discussing goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic and the decision to bring Dusan Tadic on in the second half, he added: "(Rajkovic) was excellent – he's a great goalkeeper. We have three great goalkeepers. I chose a few days ago to give him his chance today and he put in a great performance.

"Dušan Tadić started on the bench for tactical reasons – I wanted to have him with fresh legs for the second 45 minutes. It was about tactics."

England captain Harry Kane, speaking about Bellingham, added: "He's an unbelievable player. He deserves all the praise he's getting at the moment.

"It's the way he plays, the confidence he plays with and the way he affects game. It's important for players in these positions to get goals and that's what he does."

Crystal Palace and England defender Marc Guehi, speaking after the match, said: "I am very happy with the performance. It's always hard to get off to a good start in a major tournament. The most important thing was to get the win and we did that. We need to focus now, improve and on to the next one.

"For me, I enjoyed it a lot. It was a great atmosphere and I am just grateful top play with such experienced players. They make it easier for me to play in my position and they help me and the team. It is a more of a team performance and I am just glad to have top professionals around me.

"Very, very important. If we are going to go far in this tournament, we are going to have to suffer and it was a great test for us. It is a good learning curve for the team and hopefully we can take it on to the next game."

Table

• England: 3 points, +1 goal difference
• Denmark: 1 pt, 0 gd
• Slovenia: 1 pt, 0 gd
• Serbia: 0 pts, -1 gd

Fixtures

Thursday

• Slovenia vs Serbia in Munich
• Denmark vs England in Frankfurt

Tuesday June 25

• England vs Slovenia in Cologne
• Denmark vs Serbia in Munich

Goalscorer Jude Bellingham is understandably the main man people want to interview after the match.

"I loved it," he said after England's win. "We had a great balance with and without the ball. Trent (Alexander-Arnold) was brilliant, he dictates the game. He's always positive and that really helps someone like me because I love to attack and get at their back line.

"As always, Dec (Rice) was fantastic. I look forward to seeing how far we can take this and how much potential there is in there. I just enjoy playing football. I take each one as a separate game instead of looking too far into the future. I feel like I can make a difference in any game.

"I play with a fearlessness because it's what I love to do. It's not a job, it feels like a pleasure. I felt really confident coming into the game. I couldn't wait to play in such an amazing tournament with such an amazing group of players.

"You could see I was enjoying my football, getting on the ball and trying to make things happen. The goal comes from great movement between some great players. Those kind of magic moments when it comes together naturally is really nice."

England boss Gareth Southgate, speaking about Trent Alexander-Arnold's performance in midfield, said: "I have to say, he has been really diligent in getting his positioning right.

"I think he adapted and adjusted really well and used the ball well. We have got a squad and we need to use it."

Alexander-Arnold himself told the BBC: "We have done a lot of talking this week. I have been talking through the role and guided on how they want me to execute it. It's credit to them (the coaches) how they have helped me adapt to the position."

Despite really testing England in the second half, Serbia come out of this match without anything to show for their efforts.

It's a familiar story for them, as they have now lost seven of their 10 games at major tournaments as an independent nation (beginning with 2010 World Cup).

Their last win came against Costa Rica at the 2018 World Cup.

On the subject of Jordan Pickford, he equalled Peter Shilton's England record of 10 clean sheets at major tournaments today.

Speaking about that accomplishment afterwards, he credited his team-mates for the success: "A great achievement personally, but I will never take plaudits myself.

"I have a full 11 that help me and I am just there when the lads need me. To be up there with Peter Shilton is a great privilege."

After preventing Serbia from scoring, England have now kept clean sheets in each of their last five Euros group-stage matches.

Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has kept six clean sheets in his eight Euros games.

That's the kind of defensive solidity you need to go deep into major tournaments.

England manager Gareth Southgate, speaking after the match, said: "They're a strong team. We had to suffer a bit, which I think is really good for us to come through and defend our box the way we did under pressure. It was important for the group.

"I was really pleased with a lot of the play, especially in the first half. We used the ball really well. During the second half we didn't keep it quite as we need to, but to get the win and the start that we have is really important."

Speaking about Jude Bellingham, he added: "He writes his own scripts, doesn't he? The timing of his runs, it was a super bit of play in the build-up to the goal as well.

"At different moments, all of our forward players looked dangerous and did a good job for the team."

Jude Bellingham concluded his conversation with the BBC speaking about England doing both sides of the match well: "The first half shows why we can score goals against any team, and the second half shows we can keep a clean sheet against any team.

"We had to suffer a bit but we kept a clean sheet and when you do that, you only need to score one goal to win the game. Overall, we'll be happy with that performance."

After his goal tonight and at the 2022 World Cup against Iran, Jude Bellingham has joined a small group of players who have opened the scoring for England at two major tournaments.

The other four have have accomplished that feat: Bobby Charlton, Alan Shearer, Gary Lineker and Bryan Robson. Some group!

More from Jude Bellingham's post-match discussion with the BBC: "I have got used to getting into the box, getting wide and trying to do that.

"I got into that habit at Madrid and I wanted to carry my form into the Euros. It's a great start for me personally to get my confidence up and to help the lads get the win is the most important thing.

"It's really special to score any time for England, especially one that gives us a win and three points and hopefully sets us up for a good performance.

"The celebration is from a game we played called Wolf, but it's really for the backroom staff – they don't get any awards like this but we really appreciate them."

England had 53 per cent possession to Serbia's 47 per cent, a total that moved significantly in Serbia's favour after half-time.

Serbia only had one shot on target, which forced a good save from Jordan Pickford, while England had three.

England's passing accuracy was a little higher, 91 per cent to 89 per cent, and they covered more ground, 126.95km to Serbia's 124.68km.

Conor Gallagher demonstrated why he is likely to continue coming on as a substitute as the tournament goes deeper.

He brought energy, pounced on second balls and is the type of midfield scurrier that brings balance. It’s why Aston Villa and Unai Emery really (really) like him.

The Athletic's writers have broken down some of the main talking points from a nervous evening in Gelsenkirchen, from Jude Bellingham's inevitable goal to Trent Alexander-Arnold's performance in midfield and Marc Guehi's major-tournament debut.

Check out their analysis at the link below!

This match saw only 11 shots, five by England and six by Serbia, the lowest of any game at the Euros on record (since 1980).

It also produced an expected goals total of just 0.69, which is lower than any Premier League game from this past season.