After a Youri Tielemans double had seemed to smash and grab victory in a fascinating friendly, Jude Bellingham scored in stoppage time to win a stellar England 2-2 Wembley draw with Belgium on Tuesday. After an error in clearance by England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, Tielemans scored in the eleventh minute. Shortly after, making his debut for his country, Ivan Toney equalized with a penalty.
Compared to Saturday’s disappointing match against Brazil, in which England hardly managed to register a shot against Brazil, the match between third-ranked England and their fourth-ranked opponents seemed quite different. After 20 seconds, Toney fired over from a Jarrod Bowen cross.
Belgium, wearing an outfit of light blue shirts and brown shorts against England’s charcoal grey, took the lead when Jordan Pickford’s mishit clearance went straight to Amadou Onana, who then passed it to Tielemans, who stroked it into the empty net.
England responded with a penalty as Jan Vertonghen pulled down Toney, and the Brentford striker scored his first goal with his signature two-stride approach.
After thirty-six minutes, Romelu Lukaku seized the opportunity and put in a lovely cross with the outside of his foot, which an unmarked Tielemans met with a diving header.
England continued to create opportunities in the second half, with Toney, Bellingham and Foden all coming close.
Belgium defended admirably but seemed to have done enough until the hosts launched a last attempt down the left, with substitute James Maddison sending in a low cross that Bellingham calmly slotted in.
