England’s golden boy Jude Bellingham has given Gareth Southgate’s side the lead at half-time – as the Three Lions’ Euro 2024 campaign got off to a flyer in Germany tonight.
Tens of thousands of fans in Gelsenkirchen and millions more watching from home erupted as the 20-year-old star gave England a 1-0 lead just 13 minutes into the match with a sublime flying header into the top corner.
England fans showed their appreciation for the young midfielder by breaking into a rendition of The Beatles’ hit Hey Jude after launching their pints into the air in celebration.
Bellingham and the rest of the star-studded squad have the support of their families, WAGs and the whole nation as they try to go better than three years ago when they lost on penalties against Italy in the final at Wembley.
The Euro 2020 final was marred by ugly scenes as ticketless fans forced their way into Wembley – and the scourge of football hooliganism made a shameful return this afternoon as England and Serbian fans clashed on the streets in Germany.
Despite the violence and travel delays sparking chaos, tens of thousands of excited fans have made it to the Veltins-Arena, while millions of Brits have packed out bars and fan zones at home.
More than 30,000 England fans – only 20,000 of whom are believed to have tickets – are in Gelsenkirchen for a clash which has been designated as ‘high risk’ due to the reputation of the two fanbases.
Only low-alcohol beer is being served in the Gelsenkirchen stadium in an attempt to reduce the potential for problems.
Among those in the crowd is Jordan Pickford’s wife, Megan Davison, who arrived early wearing a cropped England shirt with her husband’s number one on. Jude Bellingham’s parents, Mark and Denise, and footballer brother, Jobe, took selfies with the crowd, while the partners of Harry Kane, Luke Shaw, Ollie Watkins and Conor Gallagher have all been spotted.
After both countries belted out their respective national anthems, the highly-anticipated clash finally got underway – with fans on both sides raising the roof in Germany.
England are in their traditional white strip, while Serbia are playing in red.
The WAGs were seen smiling, waving and cheering as England captain Kane led the squad out to the pitch.
The Three Lions made an assured start, seeing plenty of the ball while Serbia were sitting deep.
And just 13 minutes into the game, Bellingham met an inch perfect cross from Bukayo Saka with a stunning header to give England the lead – sending fans in Germany and at home wild.
Moments later, Serbia’s star striker Aleksandar Mitrović almost levelled as he tried to capitalise on a poor error from Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Midway through the first half, the pacey Kyle Walker stormed through on goal, nearly doubling England’s lead, but firing narrowly wide.
Ten minutes before half-time, Bukayo Saka breezed past the Serbian defence and searched for Phil Foden with a cutback but he couldn’t quite find his team-mate.
England’s early dominance faded in the minutes before half-time, but Southgate’s side were in a strong position at the break thanks to Bellingham’s header.
Fans were seen launching pints into the air and singing in fan zones across the country.
Boxpark venues at London’s Wembley, Croydon and Shoreditch were rammed – while supporters forgot about work on Monday as they flocked to sites in Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol and Newcastle.
Southgate has encouraged supporters to enjoy their time in Germany and Three Lions fans were certainly enjoying themselves when Bellingham opened the scoring. Many are dressed head to toe in England colours as supporters flocked to bars for German steins.
Some England fans have been heard chanting a Second World War-related song, ‘Ten German bombers’, despite pleas against doing so by police and the FA.
Yet many more fans have been good-humoured as they raised pints with fellow fans and German hosts, as well as those following this evening’s Serbian opponents.
Tens of thousands of Brits started drinking early in the glorious sunshine in Germany before the heavens opened hours before kick off.
Excited fans were spotted downing booze as the atmosphere for England’s opener ramped up.
At home, England fans have flocked to boozers – despite the awkward timing of the game, with many in work on Monday morning.
Men, women and children have been spotted draped in St George’s flags as they support Southgate’s squad on their quest to end 58 years of hurt.
Tonight’s game marks a return to Gelsenkirchen 18 years after Wayne Rooney saw red there as England crashed out of the World Cup yet again on penalties.
The Three Lions, managed by Sven-Goran Eriksson and captained by David Beckham, lost their World Cup quarter-final shoot-out to Portugal in June 2006.
Star striker Wayne Rooney was sent off for a stamp on opposing centre-back Ricardo Carvalho, with the England man’s then-Manchester United clubmate Cristiano Ronaldo caught on camera winking after leading protests for a red card.
Stay-at-home fans will down an estimated 30million pints in pubs and in their homes for tonight’s opening confrontation with Serbia – with an audience of about 17million expected to tune in the BBC One’s coverage.
England’s 35,000 pubs have been braced for ‘Super Sunday’, with more than 14million pints expected to be sold – and another 16million tucked into at home.
An estimated 40,000 England supporters are believed to have descended this weekend on Gelsenkirchen and neighbouring cities such as Dusseldorf and Cologne.
But many faced issues reaching the stadium after a broken down train caused public transport delays.
Frustrated fans reported waiting more than half an hour for a train, while sports writer Oliver Kay described the situation as a ‘total mess’.
He wrote on social media: ‘For any England or Serbia fans who are still in the middle of Gelsenkirchen (or worse still not there yet), I’d recommend you set off on foot if you can. It’s about three miles but the public transport situation is a total mess.’
German police have been working with authorities from London and Belgrade to try to avoid ugly scenes in the areas around the stadium and during the game itself.
Earlier this afternoon, England and Serbian football fans clashed in ugly scenes in Gelsenkirchen.
Shocking pictures showed supporters covered in blood after violence broke out ahead of kick off.
German riot police quickly descended on the scene this afternoon, with police sources telling at least six people have been arrested.
There was speculation over which supporters were involved in the vicious brawls, with reports initially suggesting the violence was sparked by Serbia’s arch-rivals Albania attacking Serbs.
However, Gelsenkirchen police have now said it was English and Serbian fans who were involved in the fighting.
‘It was an altercation between English and Serbian fans, who were separated by the police,’ a spokesman said. ‘Further measures are underway and the background is currently being clarified.’
Officers moved in after trouble erupted between fans outside a restaurant-bar just after 3.30pm. Video shows a group of thugs – some hooded and masked – launching bottles, chairs and tables – while some supporters were seen fleeing the area for safety as tension boiled over.
One English fan is believed to have suffered a head wound in the fracas, with one other injured.
Earlier, the UK’s dedicated Football Policing Unit released a statement saying a ‘number of arrests’ have been made, but it is believed those detained are Serbian.
A spokesperson for the UK’s Football Policing Unit said: ‘We are aware of an issue in Gelsenkirchen ahead of the England v Serbia match.
‘Our German colleagues have made a number of arrests of what we currently believe to be Serbian supporters.
‘At this stage we do not believe that any UK nationals have been arrested but enquiries are ongoing.
‘Our officers are at the location speaking to German colleagues.
‘Our investigation team is now reviewing footage of the incident and if any UK nationals have been involved, football banning orders will be sought.’