Live Score, England vs Denmark Euro 2020 semi-final at London: Bukayo Saka back in playing XI

00:06 (IST)

Teenage dream

19 - At 19 years and 305 days, Bukayo Saka is the youngest Englishman to start a match at the semi-final stage or later of a major tournament. Unicorn. #ENGDEN pic.twitter.com/ARmaK1260o

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) July 7, 2021

23:47 (IST)

Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand speak to EURO2020.com

"I expect that it'll be full throttle, and we'll play with everything we've got, as we've done the whole tournament. In every game we have put the opponent under pressure and given everything.

"It's to play the match collectively. To take the initiative in periods. To defend with everything we've got. And to have a keeper who plays well."

"No matter if we're defending, we're always thinking about how we can score the next goal."

23:39 (IST)

No change for Denmark

Head coach Kasper Hjulmand didn't make any changes to the Denmark team which secured victory over the Czech Republic in the quarter-final.

The likes of Maehle, Larsen, Braithwaite and Damsgaard will look to exploit the spaces in wide areas. Kasper Dolberg is in fine form, scoring three goals in his last two matches. 

Subs: Lossl, Ronnow, Andersen, Skov, Olsen, Jorgensen, Norgaard, Wass, Wind, Poulsen, Cornelius, Jensen.

23:31 (IST)

Team news

So as expected, Gareth Southgate makes just one change from the quarter-final victory over Ukraine in Rome, with Arsenal's Bukayo Saka replacing Jadon Sancho. There were murmurs about Southgate shifting to back three in formation but he has stuck with the set-up that worked really well against Ukraine. 

Subs: Grealish, Henderson, Rashford, Trippier, Ramsdale, Mings, Coady, Sancho, Foden, Johnstone, James and Bellingham.

23:17 (IST)

The playing XI is out

England: Pickford (GK), Walker, Maguire, Stones, Shaw, Phillips, Rice, Mount, Sterling, Kane and Saka. 

Denmark: Schmeichel, Stryger Larsen, Christensen, Kjaer, Vestergaard, Maehle, Delaney, Hojbjerg, Braithwaite, Dolberg and Damsgaard. 

23:10 (IST)

Hello and welcome to the coverage of the Euro 2020 semi-final between England and Denmark at the Wembley Stadium in London. The ground witnessed a classic on Tuesday when Italy overcame Spain challenge in the penalty shootout to make it to the final. It was a high-quality game between two European giants that lived up to the expectations. 

Can England vs Denmark serve us another classic? We will get to know soon.  

England, of course, are playing at home and will have huge crowd support at the stadium but Denmark can make it extremely difficult for their opponents. 

Stay tuned as we will bring you all the updates from the match.  

Preview: England face Denmark in the Euro 2020 semi-finals at Wembley on Wednesday with a success-starved nation willing them on to reach their first major final for 55 years as Italy await the winner.

Gareth Southgate's side are bidding to reach the European Championship final for the first time as they try to banish the ghosts of England's ill-fated past.

But they will face a Denmark side fuelled by a sense of destiny and desire since Christian Eriksen had to be resuscitated on the pitch in their opening game against Finland.

Both sides will be playing in front of 60,000 mostly England fans for the right to play Italy, who beat Spain 4-2 on penalties at Wembley after a gripping 1-1 draw on Tuesday.

Since winning the 1966 World Cup, England have reached only four major semi-finals, including at Euro 1996, when Southgate infamously missed a crucial penalty in the shoot-out against Germany.

Those agonising defeats have been etched in the psyche of English football ever since.

But Southgate has overseen the emergence of a vibrant young team unconcerned by the trials and tribulations of their failed predecessors in the England shirt.

Yet to concede a goal in their five matches in the tournament, England underlined their potential with a 2-0 last-16 win against old rivals Germany before routing Ukraine 4-0 in Rome.

Now they are back on home turf for the Denmark showdown and, with the final also in London, Southgate knows the Three Lions have a golden opportunity to make history.

"We don't have as a good a football history as we like to believe sometimes," he said.

"These players are making massive strides and breaking barriers all the time. We have broken barriers in this tournament and we have another opportunity to do that tomorrow."

England has been gripped by Euro fever since the cathartic victory against Germany and millions in homes and pubs across the country will tune in for the Denmark match.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted: "Today is the day. Come on England!" while Prince Charles posted a good luck message accompanied by a clip of a military band playing England's iconic "Three Lions" anthem.

Captain Harry Kane, who has scored three goals in his past two games, said England must prove they can deliver in front of the biggest crowd at a sporting event since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

"We can talk as much as we want but the bottom line is we have to go out there and perform," he said.

Wave of emotion

Surprise semi-finalists Denmark, who won Euro 92, can count on the support of many outside England after their emotional campaign.

Rocked by the cardiac arrest suffered by their star midfielder Eriksen, Denmark went into their final group game without a point.

But, with Eriksen on the mend after the shocking incident, Kasper Hjulmand's team have embarked on a three-match winning run that has taken them to a first semi-final in 29 years.

Eriksen has been invited to the Wembley final by UEFA and Hjulmand has urged his underdogs to make it a date with their team-mate.

"We still play for and with him. There's no doubt about that. That's the only thing I can say about Christian," he said.

"It's really something that makes us do as much as we can. I hope that if he comes to the final that we're going to be playing it. It would be amazing."

On Tuesday Italy, who failed even to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, booked their place in the final after a dramatic penalty shoot-out win over Spain at Wembley.

Federico Chiesa gave Italy the lead with half an hour to go only for Spain substitute Alvaro Morata to equalise with 10 minutes to go.

Manuel Locatelli and Dani Olmo exchanged misses to start the shoot-out before the much-maligned Morata's effort was saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma and Jorginho converted Italy's winner.

"Almost nobody believed we could do it and yet we are in the final, so we are pleased for Italians everywhere," said Mancini.

With inputs from AFP

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