England host Finland at Wembley tonight as the Three Lions look to take maximum points from their first two fixtures of the 2025 Nations League campaign – on what is Harry Kane’s 100th appearance for his country.
Lee Carsley’s team strolled to a 2-0 win over Ireland last time out, with Declan Rice and Jack Grealish grabbing the goals as a new-look Three Lions dominated possession and provided plenty of attacking threat. And England’s players will be looking to put in a solid performance as they face Finland, with two squad players still to make their debuts and others keen to cement themselves in the interim manager’s thoughts.
Finland lost 3-0 to Greece in their first fixture, so England will be confident of securing a result, but the performance will arguably be scrutinised more than the scoreline as Carlsey looks to take a step towards the permanent position.
Follow all the latest updates from the Nations League match between England and Finland below.
England 2-0 Finland
81 mins: Inside the final 10 minutes with England in complete control now.
Two goals from Harry Kane are enough to settle the match in their favour but there are plenty of players on the pitch now who hope to impress the current regime ahead of October’s international break.
England 2-0 Finland
79 mins: Wembley rises as Harry Kane is taken off by manager Lee Carsley. There’s a standing ovation for the England captain who is replaced with Jarrod Bowen.
GOAL! England 2-0 Finland (Harry Kane, 76’)
76 mins: It’s Harry Kane again!
Noni Madueke has the ball out on the right wing and passes it back to Trent Alexander-Arnold who threads a through ball past the nearest two defenders to send Madueke into space.
Madueke slides it into the box for Harry Kane who, having already picked his spot, hooks the ball into the back of the net!
England 1-0 Finland
75 mins: Declan Rice pushes up the pitch and nicks back the ball. He lays it across to Jack Grealish who feeds a pass into the penalty area for Eberechi Eze.
Eze should shoot first time but the defender scurries across and cuts off the angle. Eze tries to cut in for more space but loses possession.
England 1-0 Finland
72 mins: Alexander-Arnold crosses the ball over to the left side of the box where Eze meets it on the volley and blazes a shot high and wide.
The substitutions have sparked more life into England. Finland may be starting to tire.
England 1-0 Finland
69 mins: Oh my. Madueke’s introduction has been a lively one. His first involvement sees him dance in from the right and take a shot that gets deflected into the arms of Lucas Hradecky.
Then, a couple of minutes later, Eze floats a pass over the top which Madueke nods down towards Kane only to get flagged offside.
England 1-0 Finland
66 mins: The Finnish set piece is a unique one and gets whipped low towards the box. England read it early, recover the ball and send Anthony Gordon sprinting away on the counter attack. He’s brought down and England win a free kick.
That’s Gordon’s last act of the evening as he, and Bukayo Saka, are taken off with Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze brought on to replace them.
Madueke is making his England debut tonight.
England 1-0 Finland
63 mins: England need to remain switched on. Finland will start to push out and try to get higher up the pitch as they’re now chasing the game.
The visitors win a free kick inside England’s half and have a good chance to work the ball into the box.
Richard Jolly reporting from Wembley:
“Harry Kane marked his big night in the most fitting fashion.
“The finish – rising as it flew past Lukas Hradecky – felt right: Kane has been a wonderful finisher, a nice guy with a ruthless streak in front of goal.
“Unsurprisingly, his goal brought the loudest cheer of the night. It was also a reward for England for an improved performance in the first 15 minutes after the interval.”
England 1-0 Finland
60 mins: That was just what England needed. Harry Kane has been hungry for that goal all evening and will be over the moon to have scored on his 100th appearance.
With the Three Lions now in front Lee Carsely makes a changes and takes Ezri Konsa off, replacing him with Levi Colwill.
Source: independent.co.uk
