England beat Denmark in extra time to reach Euro 2020 final – as it happened

It’s closing time here, fair readers, but the cool people are heading over to David Hytner’s match report to discuss today’s action, Sunday’s final and the ever-popular topics of contact and on-pitch morality in football.

Everybody loves ratings - I’d go so far as to give them 9 out of 10 - and here are Nick Ames’ marks for the players’ performances today:

Here is Jacob Steinberg on Gareth Southgate’s role in all this caper:

Behold! David Hytner’s match report is here:

“Sometimes, your luck is just in, you catch a break when you most need it and, after so much major tournament semi-final heartache, England finally got something to go their way and, in the process, one of these suffocatingly high tension encounters to follow suit....”

“It’s a great day for fans of the English language,” writes TwinsinFrance. “Learning so many synonyms: soft, dodgy, generous…. #ForzaAzzurri.”

The mails in my inbox right now can be divided into three categories: (a) those acclaiming Sterling for a brilliant general performance (b) those accusing him of duping the referee for the penalty and (c) the balanced ones, which say both.

Denmark, understandably dejected, applaud - and are applauded by - their fans behind the goal. They’ve had a tournament to be proud of and were unlucky in parts today, especially with the penalty decision and being reduced to 10 men in extra-time because of Jensen’s injury after they’d used their subs. But England were dominant even before that. And now all the players and backroom staff are signing Sweet Caroline with the Wembley crowd.

120 min: Sterling, still dangerous, zooms into the box and tries to finish off Denmark, but Schmeichel makes a vital save to deny him.

118 min: The crowd are oléing as England keep the ball away from the depleted Danes ...

117 min: Trippier takes the ball into the corner at the other end to run down the clock ...

116 min: Denmark are pushing ... even though they’ve lost Jensen to injury, leaving them a man down as well as a goal down ...

115 min: Wass sends in a dangerous corner. Kane rises inside his own six-yard box and nuts the ball to safety.

114 min: Chance! Braithwaite spins around Stones and opens fire from 20 yards. Pickford paws it out for a corner!

113 min: Sterling, England’s best attacker again today, leads a counter after a period of blunt Danish pressure. It comes to nothing but eats up some precious time at the right end.

110 min: Shaw shanks an attempted clearance from a cross by Poulsen. Denmark regain possession mid-way inside the English half. They continue to look for an opening, with more than a hint of desperation...

109 min: Denmark are not lying down. They’re trying to rally. But England are looking comfortable ... at the moment ...

108 min: Andersen tries to arrow a pass from deep to Braithwaite. It flies over the English defence ... and out for a goalkick.

106 min: The Danes get irate with the ref after he gives England another soft freekick in midfield. “British cinema is alive and well,” thunders Robert Wahlström. Whatever could he be referring to?

England substitution: Trippier on, Grealish off - apparently to accommodate a tactical shift rather than for an injury.

Denmark substitution: Wind on Vestergaard off.

101 mins: Foden’s corner is cleared by Wass at the near post.

98 min: A chorus of “It’s Coming Home” goes up around Wembley, as England fans sense the vulnerability of the the visitors and try to urge their team on to press home their advantage. But Denmark are holding on in there for now ...

96 min: It’s constant pressure from England! Denmark are having to strain every sinew to repel crosses and foil dribbles. Then Stones has a header from a corner cleared from in front of the line! And Sterling then curls a shot over from the edge of the area. England are not so much knocking on the door as pounding on it ...

England substitutions: Henderson and Foden on; Rice and Mount off.

93 min: Walker, largely quiet as an attacking force today, fires a lovely pass through for Kane, who hits it on the run from right, about eight yards. Schmeichel gets down to push it out in front of goal ... and a defender clears it before anyone from England could pounce.

92 min: Play has resumed at a pace that suits the tired Danes more than England.

90+5 min: Kane falls to the ground to get another freekick wide on the right. Mount curls it high beyond the far post. To Maguire, as ever. The centreback does well to get his head on it but it’s a straight-forward save for Schmeichel.

90+4 min: Sterling makes gains down the right. Then he feeds Kane at the edge of the area. The striker lays it back for Phillips, who lifts his shot from 20 yards over the bar.

90+2 min: Denmark can’t get the ball. But England can’t pick a way through them. But nor are they going away. They’re patient. They’re probing. But when they go for the killer pass, pesky Danes just keep getting in the way ...

90 min: There will be at least six minutes of time added on. England are penning Denmark back ...

88 min: Vestergaard is punished for shoving as he waited for the corner to reach him.

Denmark substitution: Jensen on, Delaney off.

86 min: Poulsen does well to win a corner for Denmark after foiling Grealish’s attempt to play the ball off him and out.

85 min: Denmark piece together a nice move, patiently recycling the ball and eventually working it wide to Delaney. His cross from the right is overhit, but Denmark needed that spell of possession.

83 min: Shaw flights in a freekick from the left. Stones rises on the penalty spot but glances his header a few yards wide of the far post.

82 min: Denmark are definitely weary. England look fresher, and still have plenty of subs in the bank.

80 min: Shaw’s cross from the left is wellied out, only as far as Phillips, who tries to drill it past Schmeichel from nearly 30 yards. Wide.

Denmark substitution: Andersen on, Christensen off.

76 min: Christensen stretches to cut out a well-intention pass by Maguire towards Grealish .. .and in doing so he may have strained himself. He’s down appealing for treatment again ...

74 min: Kane goes down in the box under a challenge by Norgaard ... who doesn’t get the ball. The ref awards a freekick to Denmark ... but there’s a VAR check to see whether there should be a penalty. As per the rest of the tournament, however, the check doesn’t last long. No penalty.

74 min: Mount floats a cross in from the right ... and Schmeichel has to backpedal quickly to palm it over the bar!

73 min: Grealish’s first involvement results in him being fouled by Wass, who cops a booking.

71 min: Shaw blocks Braithwaite. Denmark have a freekick wide on the right, about 35 yards out. Stones heads the freekick to safety

England substitution: Grealish on, Saka off.

68 min: Denmark are starting to look a little jaded, which is no doubt why their manager just made a trio of changes. And why the next move seems perfectly timed ...

Denmark substitutions: Poulsen, Wass and Norgaard on; Damsgaard, Dolberg and Stryger off.

65 min: Christensen is down in need of treatment - cramp?

64 min: Mount presents Schmeichel with an easy save after a nice exchange between Sterling and Saka.

62 min: Phillips lifts a dainty pass over the Danish defender and into the path of Mount. Christensen and Kjaer scramble quickly to snuff out the danger. This is brewing up to another breakthrough for someone, you can almost feel it ...

61 min: This match is all set up for a glorious late cameo from Jack Grealish...

60 min: Sterling feeds Shaw on the overlap. The full-backs cross is turned behind for a corner. Again Mount looks for Maguire, but this time the centreback can’t get a clean connection on his header owing to challenges by Danish defender.

59 min: More impressive play by Denmark Stryger pinged a low pass from the right towards Braithwaite, who dummied it through to Dolberg. The striker cracks off a low shot from the edge of the box, but not with enough power or precision to really trouble Pickford, who saves without fuss.

57 min: Good move by Denmark. They don’t have to do too much to find holes in England’s midfield. Maguire turns Stryger’s cross out for a corner.

55 min: Kane buys a freekick wide on the right, going down as soon as he feels Maehle’s breath on his back. Mount delivers .... and Maguire meets it and guides a header towards the far corner from 10 yards ... Schmeichel hurls himself to his right and tips it away!

54 min: Pickford in action again, this time performing a superman dive to punch a Braithwaite cross from the right to safety.

52 min: Damsgaard nips a pass into Dolberg, who skips to his right and then unloads a rasping low shot towards goal from 20 yards, Pickford flings himself across goal and pushes it wide. Nice save ... although needless, as it turns out, because Dolberg was offside.

51 min: Kjaer is back to his feet after a bout of treatment and is declared fit to continue.

49 min: Vestergaard clumps into Saka, giving England a useful freekick wide on the right. Mount curls it in ... Maguire challenges for it in the air but leads with his elbow and catches Kjaer in the face. That’s a yellow card for Maguire ... and a trademark telling-off from Schmeichel.

47 min: Pickford booms a long kick downfield ... all the wall through to Schmeichel.

46 min: No changes during the break. England get the second half going.

“Nessun Dorma? I don’t think so,” says Martin Constantinides. “The Italians won’t be losing any sleep over facing one of these teams.”

Seeing the replay of that Schmeichel save just before the England goal, got to say that Sterling should have scored - he ran on to the ball in the middle of the goal about seven yards out and could have put it in either corner, but he went for power and blasted it at the star-jumping Schmeichel.

Cameron Peake is crying scandal. “The Danish goal shouldn’t have stood. Their own wall encroached at the last second within a metre of the English wall, blinding Pickford.”

“Get Henderson on for his organisation,” suggest Paul Griffin, picking up on Rice and Phillips being occasionally outsmarted and outmuscled in midfield during that half.

42 min: The answer to that important question that was posed a moment ago - how would England react to falling behind for the first time in the tournament? - has been quite encouraging for Southgate’s team. After shaking for a bit - and nearly conceding a second -, they’ve got a whirr to their play again.

39 min: The goal came from a mini-storm from England. Denmark had just survived a major scare thanks to Schmeichel’s save, but then Kane picked up the ball about 30 yards out and slipped a canny pass through to Saka, who fizzed the ball across the face of goal. Sterling and Kjaer both tried to get a decisive touch ... Kjaer actually got to it first but not in the way he would have wanted, diverting it into his own goal from three yards under pressure from the Englander.

37 min: Kane’s cross from the left is cut out ... and suddenly Denmark are hurtling forward on the counter. They outnumber England! But Stryger overhits a clip to the back post, reprieving the hosts, who are looking alarmingly ragged.

36 min: Sterling tries to bend the freekick over the wall ... but the wall jumps, and Kjaer heads powerfully clear.

35 min: Kane chopped down by Delaney, giving England a freekick in a very similar position to the one from which Denmark scored. So who is England’s Damsgaard?

33 min: Nice work by Sterling down the left. Then when the ball breaks to Phillips near the edge of the area, Maehle wins it back with a super tackle.

31 min: That, of course, is the first goal that England have conceded in this tournament; the first big snag in Gareth Southgate’s masterplan. The question now is: how will England react?

29 min: Dolberg overpowers Rice in midfield, then twists away to scamper forward. Mount gets back to help out his mucker but fouls Dolberg in the process, giving Denmark a freekick about 35 yards out, to the right. Bodies gather just outside the English box ... where there is a foul on Christensen by Shaw as soon as the freekick is taken. So now Denmark have a free in a tasty shooting position ...

27 min: England freekick 30 yards out, to the right. Mount clips it in. Maguire jumps for it but Kjaer nods it away.

25 min: Vestergaard steps in to take the ball off Kane and trigger another Danish move downfield. It’s worked to Damsgaard near the left-hand corner of the English box. He tries to send a curler into the far corner of the goal. Pickford watches it sail a yard or two wide.

23 min: After more Danish passes, Maehle gets a chance to run at Walker wide on the left. “No thanks” he thinks, and strokes the ball backwards to a teammate. Denmark are hogging the ball now, albeit without overtly posing danger. This is tight and tense, with the latent threat of a breakthrough.

20 min: Dolberg robs Rice mid-way inside the England half. Denmark have found a groove and are now able to keep the ball when they win it. The crowd don’t like it. Sweet Caroline is in a huff.

18 min: Denmark are growing into this ... at least they were until Stryger blootered a freekick from the right into oblivion.

16 min: The first sign of a threat from Denmark, and England’s composure is jolted. First, Hojbjerg mugs Phillips just inside the English, then storms forward and lets fly from over 20 yards. Not good enough to trouble Pickford. But moments later the keeper makes a mistake, presenting the ball to Delaney about 20 yards out. The Dane plays it quickly on to Dolberg, whose shot from the edge of the area is deflected wide. Pickford then clears the corner with a firm two-fisted punch.

15 min: Walker, wide on the right, picks out Kane just outside the D. The striker takes a touch to tee himself up and then blems a wild shot into the stands.

13 min: Sterling drives into the left-hand side of the box. Faced with Christensen, he turns on turbo-drive to make space for a shot on his right foot ... but doesn’t catch it cleanly, scuffing a low effort from 16 yards. Schmeichel saves easily.

12 min: Stryger clears Mount;s corner at the near post.

12 min: England knock the ball around patiently at the back. Denmark stand off, vigilant. England keep passing and probing, not particularly fast but with purpose. Eventually Mount and Saka combine down the right, and a Danish defender scoots across to deflect the ball out for a corner.

9 min: After tidy play on the left by Damsgaard and Delaney, the latter slips the ball through to the overlapping Maehle. Walker is quick to shut down the wingback, who is one of the Danes biggest threats. Another good sign for England, then.

8 min: Denmark try to steady themselves with spell of passing. They cobble a few together before Christensen balloons one into touch.

7 min: England attack down the right this time. Kane tries to curl a cross from near the touchline into the path of Sterling. But it’s fractionally too long for the winger.

5 min: Denmark have barely been out of their half. England are playing the game where they want to, with pretty much everything so far coming down the left via Shaw and Sterling.

3 min: England appeal for a freekick after Schmeichel pounces on what England believed to be a backpass - but the ref judges it was played to the keeper unintentionally. There was no doubt, though, that Denmark were momentarily discombobulated by a strong burst from Shaw. It’s been a good start by England.

2 min: England’s aggressive intent is clear: they’re pressing the Danes high and hard. A little too hard there by Shaw, who concedes a freekick wide on the left.

1 min: A very bright start by Sterling. As soon as he gets the ball he skedaddles forward between two Danes in midfield before being brought down, winning a freekick after just 12 seconds.

1 min: Denmark, dressed all in red, get the show on the road ...

There is a big pocket of Danish fans - numbering several thousand, I’d guess - behind one of the goals. Otherwise, it is mostly England fans, of course, although there is some chap flying an Algeria flag.

Loud accompaniment from the locals for the British national anthem.

The Danish national anthem is greeted with boos by many of the locals.

Here come the teams ....

Sweet Caroline is reverberating around Wembley as supporters get positively giddy while they wait for the players to appear ...

“I’m in Vancouver bar!” exults Dan Color. “It is 11:45am so a good time for us here, better than 6am. Buzz is building and a huge group of ex-pats already on the beers. Come on England.” Pace yourselves, lads.

“I think Southgate had made a mistake in not starting with Sancho,” carps Aniket Chowdhury. “The reason why England absolutely walloped Ukraine was because Sancho’s presence created space for other attacking players. First blunder in this tournament from Southgate!”

A question from Mary Waltz: “Who came first: Clint Eastwood’s idea for the angry old man on the porch or Roy Keane?”

Even this MBM hack is an immigrant, so swings and roundabouts I guess.

“Trying to enjoy this liminal moment pre-final via some distracting admin;” begins Grant Tennille. “I assume from Uefa’s fixture chart that Italy are in fact the “home” side on Sunday, and will therefore get to take the pitch in their first-choice blue kits, leaving either Denmark or England in white? Given England’s history I always imagined they’d be more jazzed about their red clobber, but the white version seems to be the agreed-upon ‘iconic’ iteration.”

And there’s more: “I know I usually weigh in re: the EPL but I feel obliged to note that, as deranged as it may seem, international football in general - and gli Azzurri specifically - will always be my first love, given that the portal to the realm of ecstasy/misery that is being a supporter was first opened for me by the Italian side of the early 2000’s. I got tickets for the 2002 World Cup, the first match being their group stage closer against Mexico. Feeling the electricity of proper WC football upon entering the stadium, followed by the grace and elan of that side - curling crosses across the pitch that we’re majestically chest-controlled down and worked forward in manner that has more than a few echoes in the team playing Sunday… Without a shred of Italian heritage to speak of, the old adage about “you don’t choose your team, your team chooses you” has never been more true.”

Sweet Caroline has become a bit of an anthem for England fans, apparently. So ITV asked Roy Keane whether it’s true he’s been to a Neil Diamond concert. They got the answer they’d been hoping for: “Yeah, about 10 years ago. I ended up arguing with the woman next to me - she kept singing the songs out loud, so I ended up in a bit of a trouble that night. But brilliant concert!”

Emma Hayes has been an excellent addition to the pundit circuit during this tournament and has just been detailing Denmark’s strengths on ITV. “I’m expecting a game that’s tighter than we all think,” she adds, confusingly.

England’s players have just trotted out on to the pitch for a spot of limbering up. Wembley is not yet quite full to its permitted capacity (60,000) but there are plenty enough people inside to give the players a raucous welcome.

Jan Molby has just been sharing his thoughts with ITV, describing his countrymen as “hard to beat ... and a modern team, an aggressive team who like to press high.” But he admits England are favourites and notes that Denmark’s two previous Euro semi-finals have gone to shootouts: defeat to Spain in 1984, victory over the Netherlands in 92. And another thing:

“Regarding your exhortation for people to buy comics” begins Joe Pearson. “As a 63-year-old man currently completing an inventory of my 15,000 comics for sale, let me suggest original comic book art instead. I did significantly better buying a couple pieces of original art than I did with all the comics I bought over the years. And art weighs a lot less, takes up much less space and is better for your back!”

“I am holidaying in Holland, from Germany,” announces Malc Shuttleworth. “I have been here three days and, so far, I can’t find one local (I know a few of them) who has any interest in the semi final. It was the same in Germany. Once the national teams are out, they all seem to lose interest. Strange. Come on England!” Perhaps you could stimulate their interest by pointing out that today’s referee is a Dutchman ... the same one, in fact, who took charge of England’s victory over Germany.

Ricky Monahan Brown offers no answer as to why Denmark are ranked 10th in the world despite 113 countries having a bigger population than them. But he does note that the UN recently judged Denmark to be the happiest country in the world. If that’s the case, then perhaps they can let England win today: folks round her could do with a break. Meanwhile, if you want real insight into what made the Danish team of the 80s so dynamite-like, this is the book for you:

Speaking on ITV, Gary Neville says he has been genuinely moved by the current England team: “They are shattering our nightmares of the past. They have no cynicism, no egos.”

“I have been canvassing opinion here in Sweden, and a surprising number of locals are supporting England today,” reveals Julian Menz. “Sweden/Denmark is a bit like England/Scotland (history, the odd minor border dispute etc), but I suspect the preference is down to Swedes being able to bet on English club results since the era of muddy pitches. Everyone here seems to follow an English club. Come on England!” Your theory seems dubious. In my experience, betting does not breed affection. I, at least, have eventually come to hate every team I’ve backed, they always let you down in the end. Don’t gamble, kids, buy comics instead!

“Re: Denmark punching way above their population weight in footballing terms: Are Denmark the New Zealand of football?” asks Jesse Linklaer. “NZ are World Cricket and Rugby Champions, and they sail too - all while being the 126th largest nation by people counting in the world.” Hmm, I would say Uruguay are closer to being the NZ of football .... but also that there is no NZ of football, because relatively few countries play rugby or cricket so no comparison is sensible on those grounds.

Speaking of history, spose we should point out that England and Denmark have faced each other 21 teams in the past. England have won 12, there have been five draws, and Denmark have won four - including the most recent encounter, which was at Wembley and ended 1-0 to the visitors thanks to a penalty from, yes, Eriksen.

“While commentators are using history as as a guide to outcomes, it surprises me nobody has mentions Hamlet,” drawls Andre Street. Is that the one about the player who stubs a cigar out in another’s eye?

Question: for football, Denmark are currently ranked 10th in the world. For size of population, they rank 114th in the world. Why the discrepancy? Answers in a phd to the usual address please...

“The Danes have shown that they are a dynamic, skilful side throughout this tournament but it’s also true that they have been given extra edge by the emotions they experienced with Eriksen’s collapse and recovery, and their shoddy treatment by Uefa,” diagnoses David Wall. “At some point those heightened emotions will stop energising them and instead become exhausting (see Emma Raducanu for an example of how that can build up and then crash). They’ll hope that that doesn’t happen until after the tournament (and it’ll be interesting to see how the Danish players perform for their clubs next season). But supposing it happens tonight, or in the final it they win tonight, what might the coach do to stop their performance level dropping off a cliff?”

That’s a fair concern to raise, although you could spin things another way and wonder how England will cope with the swell of expectation around them. As for the Danes, they experienced some sort of sagging in their last match - though it was probably the Azerbaijan heat that sapped them - and they responded impressively, regaining control of the game after a double substitution around the hour.