Serbia 0-1 England: Bellingham heads Three Lions to opening victory

Runners-up at UEFA EURO 2020, England began their EURO 2024 campaign with a narrow Group C victory against Serbia at the Arena AufSchalke thanks to an early Jude Bellingham header.

Match in brief: England begin with a win

England began promisingly, enjoying plenty of early possession against opponents who dropped everyone behind the ball at regular intervals – and within 13 minutes Serbia's game plan had been undone. A perfectly-weighted Kyle Walker pass set up Bukayo Saka for a cross from the right that deflected off the sliding Strahinja Pavlović and looped up perfectly for the fast-arriving Bellingham to thump a header past Predrag Rajković.

Jude Bellingham dives to head in at the Arena AufSchalkeUEFA via Getty Images

Serbia threatened an immediate response as Aleksandar Mitrović fired narrowly wide and Dušan Vlahović had a shot blocked, but at the other end the lively Saka – dangerous throughout the first half – released Walker for a burst into the area that ended in a cross-shot across the face of goal.

Although England had looked in control, Serbia had shown enough to suggest they continued to carry a threat, and early in the second half substitute Filip Mladenović was close to providing the finishing touch to Vlahović's low driven cross. Trent Alexander-Arnold stung Rajković's palms as England replied in kind, although it then took a combination of Jordan Pickford and Kieran Trippier to prevent Mitrović forcing in an equaliser.

Serbia's replacements had reinvigorated the team and Dušan Tadić so nearly played in Luka Jović, but it was England who were closest to a second goal, Rajković palming a Harry Kane header against the crossbar. Pickford did have to push Vlahović's shot over in the closing stages, but that was as close as Serbia came to an equaliser.

Vivo Player of the Match: Jude Bellingham (England)

"Decisive offensively and defensively, covered a lot of ground, involved all through the match and scored the decisive goal."
UEFA Technical Observer panel

Aleksandra Stojković, Serbia reporter

Two different faces of Serbia: very reserved in the first and playful and creative in the second. They were tactically disciplined in both defence and attack and their build-up play was something to be proud of. Despite the result, the Eagles should be proud of what they showed in their opening game of the tournament.

Joe Terry, England reporter

Ultimately a professional performance and just the start England would have wanted. Based on the first 15 minutes, perhaps they might have expected more goals, but they managed the second half well and ultimately tournament football is about the long game, so Gareth Southgate will be pleased. Yet another reminder, if we needed it, of Bellingham's importance to this team.

Reaction

England goalscorer Jude Bellingham: "The first half shows why we can score goals against any team, and the second half shows we can keep a clean sheet against any team. We had to suffer a bit but we kept a clean sheet and when you do that, you only need to score one goal to win the game. Overall, we'll be happy with that performance."

England head coach Gareth Southgate: "The first half we used the ball really well, had control of the game and probably should have scored a second. We expended a lot of energy in the first half, and I thought that showed a little bit in the second. We didn't keep the ball quite as well, Serbia had to come because they needed the goal. We still had an excellent chance but I'm really pleased we showed that resilience."

England defender Marc Guéhi: "I am very happy with the performance. It's always hard to get off to a good start in a major tournament. The most important thing was to get the win and we did that. We need to focus now, improve and on to the next one. I enjoyed it a lot. It was a great atmosphere and I am just grateful top play with such experienced players. It is a more of a team performance and I am just glad to have top professionals around me."

England midfielder Trent Alexander-Arnold: "I found [playing in midfield] good. It was physically demanding but when you play with the likes of Declan [Rice] and Jude and with an experienced back four behind you, who communicate excellently, they talk you through the game, so it's hard to go wrong."

Serbia head coach Dragan Stojković: "It was a very good match, high quality from both teams. England are a very good, strong team, but we played very bravely, the style of football we were aiming to play. With the changes, we managed to get where we wanted; control of the ball and to make England defend. I'm proud of what we did, we didn't deserve to lose but we're going to keep going on."

Dušan Vlahović, Serbia striker: "We played one of the favourites to win the tournament. It was very difficult for us in the first half because we had too much respect for them. They deserve it because they're a very strong team and their results speak for themselves, but in the second half we saw we could play against them. We were more relaxed. We could have scored but it's a fair result. Now we must look forward and focus on our next games."

Aleksandar Mitrović, Serbia forward: "We played well. Maybe we deserved a little more, but that's football. We showed our threat, dominated the second half and were the better team. However, we didn't score. The final pass was lacking, a little creativity – we usually have that. It is what it is; let's move on. We're going to prepare as best as possible for the remaining two games."

Key stats

• England are unbeaten in their last 12 EURO group stage matches (W8 D4), since a 2-1 defeat against France in their opening fixture at EURO 2004.
• The Three Lions have not conceded a goal in their last five EURO group stage matches.
• Aged 20 years 353 days, Bellingham is the youngest player to appear in two EURO final tournaments.
• Bellingham is also England's third youngest finals goalscorer, behind Wayne Rooney (18 years 237 days, 2004) and Michael Owen (20 years 189 days, 2000).
• Harry Kane played in his 12th EURO finals game, taking him one clear of Gary Neville as England's outright all-time record appearance-maker in the tournament.
• This was Serbia's first EURO finals match since 2000.
• Serbia have won only one of their last 12 EURO matches (D2 L9).
• This was only the fourth of Serbia's last 15 EURO finals games in which they failed to score.

Jude Bellingham after putting England in frontUEFA via Getty Images

Line-ups

Serbia: Rajković; Veljković, Milenković, Pavlović; Živković (Birmančević 74), S Milinković-Savić, Gudelj (Ilić 46), Lukić (Jović 61), Kostić (Mladenović 43); Vlahović, Mitrović (Tadić 61)

England: Pickford; Walker, Stones, Guéhi, Trippier; Alexander-Arnold (Gallagher 69), Rice; Saka (Bowen 76), Bellingham (Mainoo 86), Foden; Kane