Euro 2020: England off to perfect start with 1-0 win over Croatia at Wembley

England have won their opening game of the Euros for the first time, as they beat Croatia 1-0 at Wembley thanks to a Raheem Sterling goal.

The Manchester City forward was fed by Kalvin Phillips in the 57th minute, and it was the Leeds midfielder who picked up the man-of-the-match award.

Sterling’s selection was questioned ahead of the game, with his form at City towards the back of the season a cause for concern among some supporters.

England fans celebrate the first goal at Vinegar Yard.
Kieran Cleeves

The 26-year-old told reporters after the game he had been playing long enough to be able to keep himself closed off from the outside world in terms of personal criticism and tournament expectations for England.

“It’s early days, you know. It’s great to get off to a win,” he said.

“We know as a team we’ve got a lot to do, we’ve got a lot to build off from that performance but at the same time the most important thing is the togetherness in the team.

“You see at the end boys digging in deep. I keep banging on about the weather, it was difficult conditions, the pitch was dry, but we didn’t make any excuses.

“To be honest with you, I think one of the things, playing football and being in major tournaments for a long time now, is knowing when to block noise out and that’s what I’ve done."

A minority of England fans once again defied calls not to jeer the players as they took the knee before kick-off in the Euro 2020 clash with Croatia.

England fans in the stands during the game at Wembley.
Nick Potts

Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate, the Football Association and prime minister Boris Johnson all urged supporters not to boo the gesture.

But those requests fell on some deaf ears, with an audible round of jeers from some of the expected 22,500 crowd – although cheers from the vast majority soon drowned them out.

The Croatia national anthem was also booed and the reaction followed on from jeers at the two warm-up games played at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium – only this time the whole continent was watching as England fans returned to Wembley for the first time since November 2019.

Southgate said last week that he would not allow his players to continue to be questioned about the knee and the subsequent reaction once the tournament got under way.

A UEFA spokesman told the PA news agency ahead of the game the governing body cannot punish any nations whose supporters do react to the gesture.

“UEFA has a zero tolerance against racism and any player who wants to demand equality amongst human beings by taking the knee will be allowed to do so,” he said.

“We urge spectators to show respect for teams and players taking the knee.

“UEFA will not take disciplinary action against the national association for their fans’ reaction to this initiative as there are no legal grounds to do so in the current competition and disciplinary regulations and to do so would be to punish a national association whose players have taken a stand against racism.”