Ukraine 0-4 England summary: score, goals, highlights, Euro 2020
Ukraine vs England: match report; as it happened
Kane at the double as England cruise past Ukraine into Euro semis
Harry Kane struck twice as England thrashed Ukraine 4-0 on Saturday to reach their first European Championship semi-final since 1996 and set up a clash with Denmark. The England captain raced onto a Raheem Sterling through ball to fire in the opener from close range after four minutes at the Stadio Olimpico, England's earliest goal in a Euros match since 2004.
Harry Maguire headed home a second less than a minute into the second half and Kane soon nodded in his side’s third as Ukraine's resistance crumbled. Substitute Jordan Henderson completed the rout with his first international goal to ensure England's comfortable passage into the last four. Gareth Southgate’s side will face Denmark at Wembley on Wednesday for a place in the final after the Danes defeated the Czech Republic 2-1 in Baku.
Fans had barely settled in their seats by the time England took the lead with a well-worked move. Sterling cut in off the left wing and slid a through ball into a pocket of space behind the defence for Kane to race through and guide into the net with a neat finish. Ukraine mustered their first effort when Kyle Walker gave the ball away in midfield and Roman Yaremchuk raced through to draw a good save by Jordan Pickford from a tight angle, while England's Declan Rice and Jadon Sancho had shots beaten away by Georgiy Bushchan before halftime.
But England flexed their muscles after the break and ended the game as a contest within five minutes of the restart, helped by two fine assists from Luke Shaw. The left-back whipped a free-kick onto Maguire’s head for a close-range finish in the first minute of the second half before steering a perfect delivery towards Kane for a simple close-range header four minutes later.
The goal sent Kane level with Alan Shearer as England’s second-top scorer at major tournaments with nine goals, behind Gary Lineker on 10, and he was denied a hat-trick when his ferocious volley was palmed away by the diving Bushchan. England made it four from the resulting corner when Ukraine again failed to deal with a set-piece delivery as Henderson nodded in from six yards to score his first goal for his country on his 62nd cap. (Reuters)
England have set a new record for clean sheets at the Euros. Denmark will be eager to finally put a stain on them come Wednesday, but will no doubt have their work cut to put one passed this solid English unit in front of a packed Wembley. But the 92 Euro Champions no a thing or two about winning against the odds...
Everton show some love for their two representatives today, Jordan Pickford and Dominic Calvert Lewin. Pickford has yet to concede a goal in this tournament, with five straight clean sheets.
Peep, peep, peep! No extra time as Ukraine are relieved of their misery. A very comfortable win for England, who march on to their first Euro semi final since 1996.
The last time England met Denmark at major tournament was the World Cup in 2002, where the the Three Lions won 3-0.
Subdued last few minutes here, England passing around as the English fans in the Stadio Olimpico cheer each exchange of the ball.
Next up for England is Denmark at Wembley! Where the final will also be played. If the stars were ever aligning for the Three Lions...
Makarenko lets fly with a decent shot from distance but it's straight at Pickford, who punches it away.
Brace-hero Kane heads to the bench as Calvin-Lewin comes on to replace him. Job done for Kane, who is now very much in the running for the Golden Boot with three goals scored and at least one more match to play.
Ukraine almost had a chance to score as Pickford, way outside his goal, made a dogs dinner of a volley attempt as he tried to deal with a wayward pass back.
HENDERSON MAKES IT 4-0!
Just moments after Buschan did well to save a superb fist-time volley from Kane from outside the box, Enlgand have scored a fourth through substitute Henderson. Mount takes the corner from the right, finding Henderson, and the Liverpool midfielder heads home comfortably. Third goal from a cross and header for England.
First change for England: Declan Rice, who tested Buschan with a long-range rocket in the first half, makes way for Jordan Henderson.
GOAL ENGLAND! KANE NETS HIS SECOND!
Kane finishes off a lovely little move as Sterling plays a clever little back heel to Shaw around the edge of the box and it's another pin-perfect delivery from the Man United full back, with Kane heading home this time from inside the six-yard box. Two assists for Shaw, two goals for Kane. 3-0 to England.
GOAL ENGLAND! MAGUIRE HEADS HOME!
The perfect delivery from the free kick from Shaw on the left allows Maguire to drive his header home from just outside the six-yard box. 2-0!
Second half underway!
England get the second half underway and almost immediately have a free kick from 30 yards out as Kane is fouled.
First half ends!
The ref calls time on the first half with England leading 1-0. England have looked relatively comfortable aside from a couple of scares from Ukraine who look bright when they get a chance to take the ball to the Three Lions. But Pickford has only really been tested once. Buschan, between the other posts, has certainly had more work to do.
Three minutes of added time to be played.
Some decent pressure from Ukraine ends with a long range shot from Shaparenko as the ball was partially cleared from the England area, but his curling strike with the outside of the boot drifts wide of the near post.
Sancho shoots! ... Saved! Sterling plays Shaw in and the Man Utd defender does well to find Sancho in the center. Sancho turns, shoots but Bushcan saves the on-target strike.
Decent play from Ukraine. A nice bit of link-up play down the right ends as Yarmolenko is dispossessed before he can get a shot off inside the box. Ukraine have looked dangerous when they've had the rare chance to attack.
Buschan saves a Rice rocket! Following an unconvincing clearance from Ukraine after a Sterling break, the ball falls to Rice outside the box and the midfielder fires a rocket first-time toward the Ukrainian goal. Buschan does well to punch it away.
Kane heads over! A decent free kick delivery comes in from the left from Shaw, Kane connects with the head by the penalty spot but the ball travels over the bar.
England passing the ball around and looking for a way through, eventually Sterling finds some space in the box and has a chance to shoot, but the shot is blocked at the source by two Ukrainian defenders.
Decent chance for England! Shaw collects the pass from Sterling on the left side of the box and plays the ball across, but it travels behind all the advancing white shirts into the box.
15 minutes gone in Rome with England looking comfortable and a goal up. Even after the goal, Ukraine still look happy to sit back, soak up the pressure and wait for a chance to break. And they get exactly that as Yaremchuk latches onto the ball after a passing error from Stones inside England's half. He rushes towards goal and forces a decent save from Pickford.
Ukraine have a chance to break after winning possession in the center, the first threat from Shevchenko's men ends though as a cross from the right of the box is cut out
Ukraine are sitting very deep allowing England to control the game in these early exchanges.
There were appeals from the England fans in the crowd for a penalty following a challenge on Mount inside the box just moments before Kane's goal, and replays of the incident show that they probably had a valid case.
EARLY GOAL FOR ENGLAND!
Kane nets his second of the competition as Sterling does well to beat one man and play a nice through ball into the Spurs striker's path, allowing him to poke the ball past Buschan from 8 yards out. First attack from England ends in a goal. 1-0 in Rome!
England enjoying some early possession and patiently passing around as they try to build something. Mount is eventually dispossessed in the Ukraine area.
Game underway!
Ukraine get the game underway in Rome after England take the knee.
The teams are on the field and lining out for the anthems.
The English army supporting from homeç
English fans in Rome tonight will mainly be Italy-based expats as Three Lions fans were unable to travel from the UK due to covid restrictions. The English FA were desperate to get as many tickets as possible into the hands of expats ahead of the game. But it will undoubtedly be a different atmosphere to that at Wembley midweek...
England warming up
Jadon Sancho and Co. are warming up at the Stadio Olimpico. This is the fifth time that the Three Lions will play at the Rome stadium...
Klitschko hoping Ukraine can knock out England
Ukrainian former world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko gave his thoughts ahead of the game...
England vs Ukraine: Head to Head
England have lost just one of their seven meetings with Ukraine, winning four and drawing two. That sole 1-0 defeat came in a WC qualifier in 2009. The last two games have finished level, with this being the first meeting between the sides since a 0-0 draw in Kiev in September 2013.
This will be the pair's second meeting at a major tournament following England's 1-0 win over Ukraine in the group stages of Euro 2012.
Shevchenko: "England shouldn't scare us"
Aindry Shevchenko said his side should not be scared of England after leading his country to the furthest stage they have ever been at a major tournament following their surprise victory over Sweden in the last 16.
“England are a great team, they have a deep bench, an outstanding coaching staff and we are fully aware how tough this game is going to be," the Ukraine boss said ahead of the game.
"I saw all their three group matches, not today's win over Germany because we had to prepare for our own game with Sweden.
"They are incredibly difficult to score against but their strength shouldn't scare us.
"It should motivate us because everything is possible in football as in life and we will play our hearts out to give our fans even more to cheer about."
Southgate on Sancho inclusion
Southgate explains why he decided to include Jadon Sancho in his starting XI for the first time at the tournament:
"He's been really bright in training and with changing to a back four, we feel we needed to have a right-footer on that side to really stretch the game. Width is really important."
Ukraine Starting XI:
Bushchan, Zabarnyi, Kryvstov, Matviyenko, Karavayev, Sydorchuk, Mykolenko, Shaparenko, Zinchenko, Yarmolenko, Yaremchuk
Jill Scott sends good luck message
England women's team player Jill Scott had a good luck message for her male counterparts this evening...
England team news: Sancho starts for Three Lions
Starting XI: Pickford, Walker, Shaw, Stones, Maguire, Rice, Mount, Philips, Sterling, Sancho, Kane
New Manchester United signing Jadon Sancho will make his first start at the tournament after his switch to Old Trafford was confirmed this week by the Red Devils.
Will it finally come home for England?
After a monumental 2-0 win over the old enemy Germany that will long live in the English collective memory, the Three Lions now face an arguably easier opponent in Ukraine. Should Gareth Southgate side overcome their opponents today as they are hotly tipped to do, only Denmark, who have just beaten Czech Rep in the other QF today, stand in their way of a first major tournament final appearance since 1966.
Again, the Danes will be an arguably easier fixture to what England could have faced on the other side of the draw, where Spain and Italy will square off for the other final spot.
Having done the hard part by beating Germany at a major tournament for the first time since 1974 (and the first time over 90 minutes since 1966), England undoubtedly have their best-ever chance to reach the Euro final.
Welcome
Hello and welcome to our coverage of the final Euro 2020 quarter final tie as England get set to take on Ukraine in Rome. The game gets underway at 3pm ET, and we'll be providing you with minute-by-minute updates of the all the action at Stadio Olimpico. In the meantime, you can follow the build up with us here.