England expected to bring home the bacon against Denmark – but were left with egg on their faces instead.
And it might take a while for them to wipe it all off, following an evening to forget in Frankfurt for Gareth Southgate and his flops.
One which ended with captain Harry Kane hooked off – and those left on the pitch booed off at the final whistle. By a bunch of drunken England fans who sobered up quickly at the realisation these Three Lions might not be winning Euro 2024 after all.
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Kane had given England the lead, setting more records in the process.
But Denmark equalised though Morten Hjulmand before half time, and spent the rest of the game turning the Three Lions into frightened pussycats.
With Prince William in attendance, Southgate named an unchanged team in the hope of seeing his stars produce a performance fit for a future king.
Instead, he had to endure a performance akin to footballing treason.
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Serbia’s late draw with Slovenia meant England could top Group C with a win over Denmark.
And this looked possible when Kane fired England ahead on 18 minutes.
Jude Bellingham’s ball should have been cut out by Victor Kristiansen, but he was caught daydreaming by Kyle Walker.
And when he crossed into the box, it deflected kindly off Andreas Christensen into the path of Kane, who couldn’t miss.
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His 64th international goal also meant Kane had scored more of them at major tournaments than any other England player (13).
The question now was, could England kill the game off. And the emphatic answer was no, because England’s game management after going ahead was shambolic.
Southgate’s men invited pressure and Christian Eriksen had a shot blocked, while another effort deflected off Marc Guehi onto the roof of the net.
England had been asking for trouble, and got some on 34 minutes after losing the ball from their own throw in.
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Hjulmand couldn’t believe his luck and took aim from long range, blitzing a low drive into the bottom corner to equalise with his first ever international goal.
Hjulmand had another shot blocked and Joachim Andersen headed just off target.
England were making this ageing Danish team look like the Brazilians of 1970.
It was turning into a horror show. Trent Alexander-Arnold was getting bypassed in midfield and the England stars started falling out amongst themselves.
Declan Rice and Pickford exchanged words, Bellingham started moping about and Kane looked like a spectator once again.
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It was like Southgate had sent out 11 players – and told them to make it up as they go along.
Something had to change, but Southgate’s decision to replace Alexander-Arnold with Conor Gallagher on 54 minutes did little to get the pulses racing.
At least Foden hit the post with a low effort, but it still took a desperate clearance from John Stones to stop Rasmus Hojlund from giving Denmark the lead at the opposite end.
Southgate had seen enough and sent on Ollie Watkins, Eberechi Eze and Jarrod Bowen.
Kane was hauled off, along with Foden, who’d been one of England’s brightest sparks.