Germany and England brought their Nations League campaigns to an end with a draw after a six-goal thriller at Wembley which did little to change either side’s position on the table.
The game served as a practice test before the World Cup begins with England having already been relegated from the group and Germany having no chance of reaching the final four while sitting third in Nations League Group A3’s table.
And it showed in the play as the two sides expressed themselves freely with Raheem Sterling going closest in the first half only for Marc-Andre ter Stegen to deny the forward a goal.
Germany eventually went in front in the early stages of the second half through an Ilkay Gundogan penalty after Harry Maguire had brought down Jamal Musial. The visitors got their second 15 minutes later after Kai Havertz curled in a perfect shot from distance past Nick Pope.
England, who were without a goal in 450 minutes of competitive football before this match, sprung to life after going down and levelled the contest in the span of five minutes through Luke Shaw and Mason Mount.
Harry Kane then completed England’s comeback from the penalty spot after Nico Schlotterbeck had fouled Jude Bellingham in the box.
Just when it seemed like England may pull off a win, Havertz scored his side’s third after Pope spilt a long-range shot back into the path of the German forward.
The draw means that England has gone without a win in six competitive games for the first time in over 100 years. They will play the next cycle in Group B with more opportunities to win.
Germany, meanwhile, have questions of their own to answer after failing to make the last four despite having a plethora of talent at its disposal.
