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.
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?
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."
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."
Form guide (most recent first)
England: WWWDWW
Denmark: WWWLLW