England face Denmark in the UEFA EURO 2020

England vs Denmark UEFA EURO 2020 preview: where to watch, TV channels and live streams, team news, form guide
Wednesday 7 July 2021

England face Denmark in the UEFA EURO 2020 semi-finals – all you need to know.

England take on Denmark in the UEFA EURO 2020 semi-final in London on Wednesday 7 July at 21:00 CET.

What's the story?
The Three Lions will be brimming with confidence as they return to Wembley off the back of their biggest victory at EURO finals – the 4-0 success against Ukraine was their first four-goal haul in the knockout stages of any major tournament since the 1966 FIFA World Cup final. Gareth Southgate's side are also the first team to keep five consecutive clean sheets at the start of a EURO finals campaign, so it is clear England are in good shape at both ends of the pitch.

England vs Denmark: who will reach the final? 🤔
England
Denmark
Denmark, however, put a spanner in the works as recently as last year and are similarly resilient at the back – Christian Eriksen's penalty at Wembley was the sole goal between these sides in their two UEFA Nations League meetings in 2020. Kasper Hjulmand's men have found their scoring boots at the right time too, with their 11 goals at the finals – ten in the last three matches – eclipsing both of their semi-final teams from 1984 and 1992. Having seen off Wales and the Czech Republic in the knockout phase, the dark horses are no longer lurking in the shadows.

Shaw relishing England renaissance
Where to watch: TV channels and live streams
Find your local UEFA EURO 2020 broadcast partner(s) here.

Predicted line-ups
England: Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw; Phillips, Rice; Saka, Mount, Sterling; Kane

Denmark: Schmeichel; Christensen, Kjær, Vestergaard; Stryger, Højbjerg, Delaney, Mæhle; Braithwaite, Dolberg, Damsgaard

Reporters' views
Simon Hart, England reporter: England have already earned a first tournament knockout win over Germany since 1966 and a first four-goal haul in a knockout match since that same distant summer, so – with the defence still unbreached and the goals now flowing – there are good reasons to believe they can achieve their first major final appearance since 1966 too. Whether Southgate reverts to a back three to match the Danes' system, as he did against Germany, or sticks with a 4-2-3-1, this is a team which has grown into this tournament and senses this is their moment. And with 60,000 fans inside Wembley roaring them on, why not make some more history?

Delaney: 'It's crazy right now'

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Sture Sandø, Denmark reporter: Denmark will be the underdogs after being favourites in the round of 16 and quarter-finals. I don't think they will try to run England over from the get-go and look to catch them off guard, and I wouldn't be surprised if they let England take the initiative for longer periods, falling back a bit and trusting that their world-class defenders Andreas Christensen, Simon Kjær and Jannik Vestergaard can take care of things. But whether Denmark are cautious or not, the dashes down the flanks will be a Danish weapon that England must address.

View from the camps
Gareth Southgate, England manager: "We've got a fabulous opportunity. It's a chance to make history as we've never been to a European Championship final. It's not so much pressure for this team; it's another challenge that they've got the chance to take on, and at the moment they're rising to those challenges. We had two games with Denmark in the autumn. I knew what a good side they were before and they've proved that again in this tournament. It is going to be a fantastic game to be part of."

Harry Kane, England captain: "Denmark are a great team. We played them in the Nations League twice last year, and we didn't win one game – one draw, one loss. But we need to try to focus on ourselves; it is a semi-final at our national stadium and we've got to use all those positives to worry about us. We know if we get it right and play how we know we can then we have a great opportunity to get to a final. It's going to be incredible."

Christensen: 'Anything is possible in football'
Kasper Hjulmand, Denmark coach: "It'll be like playing an away game, but that also has its own charm, so we're actually looking forward to it. We're happy that people will be there and that the fans are back in the stadium, though obviously we would have loved it if half the stadium was dressed in Danish colours. Our motivation is to silence the spectators, but we know it's going to be difficult."

Thomas Delaney, Denmark midfielder: "At the start of the tournament, we gave ourselves the goal of coming back to Wembley. With everything that we've been through, it's always been our No1 goal. Now we are ready for Wembley so, in terms of feelings, it has been crazy."

Reaction
Roberto Mancini, Italy coach: "We are pleased to have given joy like this to the Italian people. We knew it would be very hard, Spain caused us plenty of trouble. We tried to score when we had the chances but we had a hard time because we didn't have much of the ball. We wanted the final even if not many people believed us before the tournament. I congratulate Spain, they are a great team and penalties are a lottery. There are some games when you have to struggle but we deserved to be here. We knew it was going to be tough, it wasn't easy and Spain surprised us at the beginning by deciding to play without a striker. This squad, however, is amazing. Everyone wants to win, but this group of players wanted to do something special and they just did that."

Luis Enrique, Spain coach: "I think we deserved an 'excellent' if I wanted to give my players marks. I think they've been marvellous. I can't criticise them, I have to praise them. It's time for them to rest now. Morata had an adductor problem but still wanted to take the penalty and that says so much for his personality. He's been gigantic for us in this tournament. In professional sport we all have to learn how to win and how to take defeat. That's why I want to congratulate Italy. We're going back to Spain safe in the knowledge that we were clearly among the best teams at this tournament."

Penalty hero Jorginho on Italy win
Gianluigi Donnarumma, Italy goalkeeper: "I was calm before the penalties because I knew I could help the team. I'd like to thank everyone, as now we are only one step away from realising our dream. Spain are very strong, but this Italy side has a lot of courage, we never give up."

Federico Chiesa, Italy goalscorer: "I cannot describe my emotions in words. You know, it was a tough match. Spain were great tonight, but now we are in the final and we're coming back here on 11 July and we'll see. We'll see."

Sergio Busquets, Spain midfielder: "Everyone made Italy big favourites but we demonstrated that we were superior to them. We played with a lot of young footballers and this whole experience will have served to give them a lot of confidence. This team will be back. We imposed the things we wanted to here, owning the ball, winning it back as quickly as possible. In general across this match I think we were the dominant side. But football's like this, and all we can do is congratulate Italy."

Key stats
Italy are into their fourth EURO final, behind only Germany on six.
Both teams were in a record sixth EURO shoot-out; it was Italy's third such success and Spain's second reverse.
Like England and France at EURO '96, Spain won a quarter-final shoot-out only to lose in similar fashion in the semis (and, like England, at Wembley).
Italy's record run of EURO wins (including qualifying, not including penalty shoot-outs) ends at 15, as does their overall victorious streak of 13 wins. However, their team-record unbeaten streak goes on to 33.
Italy are the second side after France in 2000 to have five different players score two or more goals at a single EURO (Chiesa, Matteo Pessina, Lorenzo Insigne, Immobile and Locatelli).
Spain suffered their first defeat in six major tournament semi-finals.
Bonucci equalled Gianluca Buffon's record of 17 EURO finals appearances for Italy.
Jordi Alba equalled Spain's record of 16 EURO finals appearances, already held by Cesc Fàbregas and Andrés Iniesta.
Morata scored his sixth EURO finals goal, moving one ahead of Spain's previous record-holder, Fernando Torres.
Morata is the first Spain player to score three goals at two separate EURO final tournaments.
Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini are into their second EURO final after 2012.
These teams will meet again in the UEFA Nations League semi-finals at Milan's San Siro on 8 October.
Lorenzo Insigne celebrates in the shirt of injured Leonardo Spinazzola
Lorenzo Insigne celebrates in the shirt of injured Leonardo Spinazzola
Getty Images
Line-ups
Italy: Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Bonucci, Chiellini, Emerson (Tolói 74); Barella (Locatelli 85), Jorginho, Verratti (Pessina 74); Chiesa (Bernardeschi 107), Immobile (Berardi 61), Insigne (Belotti 85)

Spain: Unai Simón; Azpilicueta (Llorente 85), Eric García (Pau Torres 109), Laporte, Jordi Alba; Koke (Rodri 70), Sergio Busquets (Thiago 106), Pedri; Oyarzabal (Moreno 70), Olmo, Ferran Torres (Morata 62)