Ed Sheeran joins England followers for Euro 2024 last-16 match

Ed Sheeran was among thousands of England fans in attendance for the Three Lions’ Euro 2024 last-16 tie against Slovakia on Sunday.

The singer, who had previously been spotted in the stands during their 1-1 draw against Denmark, was in high spirits as he joined fans for the crucial knockout match.

As millions back home prepared to cheer on England, Ed joined the teams’ nearest and dearest in Gelsenkirchen to watch the tense game unfold, after what’s been deemed a lacklustre performance by the team so far.

And things got off to a lacklustre start for England as they fell 1-0 behind to Slovakia after just 25 minutes, thanks to a goal by Ivan Schranz.

There were early clashes and a flurry of yellow cards at the Arena AufSchalke, after manager Gareth Southgate made one change to his starting XI following last Tuesday’s underwhelming goalless draw with Slovenia.

He picked Manchester United’s Kobbie Mainoo in place of Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher, as England chase a place in the Euros quarter-finals in Germany.

Supporters have been thronging into the German city today and calling for Southgate’s team to play without fear and silence critics with a thumping victory – while back home in England bars and fan parks are brimming with excitement, and expats tuned in from holiday resorts such as Magaluf in Spain.

Annie Kilner and Georgina Irwin were among the first WAGs to arrive at the Arena AufSchalke in Dusseldorf this afternoon as England is set to take on Slovakia in a last-16 knockout match. 

The wives of Kyle Walker and Aaron Ramsdale were ever the ‘yummy mummies’ as they filed into the stadium with their babies in carriers as the infants get a taste for the ‘beautiful game’.

Model Georgina and Aaron welcomed Ronnie Ramsdale into the world last November, while Annie and Kyle welcomed their fourth child Rezon just two months ago.

As the mothers arrived at the stadium ahead of the Three Lions’ clash with Slovakia, they were joined by England’s WAG of the tournament who has been turning heads among fans despite the lacklustre performances.

Tolami Benson, the 23-year-old girlfriend of Bukayo Saka, has been dubbed a ‘low-key’ WAG who doesn’t even follow her boyfriend on social media – but since the tournament began the glamorous PR executive has stolen the show among fans.

Benson has been dating the Arsenal star – seen as crucial to England’s success at this summer’s tournament – for nearly four years, but the pair are very rarely seen together. 

At England’s opening game against Serbia, glamorous Benson, who once worked on the shop floor at Harrods has a degree from Birmingham City University, firmly went against WAG tradition and didn’t wear an England shirt to support her man. 

The 23-year-old, who started a new job in May as a Senior Planning Executive for Zenith, instead opted for a more cryptic nod to her superstar footballing beau – donning a custom-made leather biker jacket emblazoned with ’87’. 

This was Saka’s jersey number for his 2018/2019 breakthrough season in the Arsenal squad. 

However, as she was pictured arriving at the crucial match this evening, Benson broke her cool-as-a-cucumber streak and donned a shirt emblazoned with Saka’s number seven – in a loud and proud supporting act towards her partner.

Across Benson’s social media accounts, while there are plenty of references to Arsenal, including friendships with fellow Premier League WAGS including Ben White’s wife Milly and Leandro Trossard’s wife Laura, there’s no sign of the 22-year-old winger. 

Over on Threads, Benson shares more down-to-earth images – including of her train platform view during her morning commute into central London.

For Annie Kilner, her show of support for Kyle Walker is perhaps the most significant of all the WAGs, after the 32-year-old model had had a difficult few months. 

She discovered in December last year, when she was pregnant with her and Kyle’s fourth child, that her sportsman husband had fathered a second child with Lauryn Goodman with Walker moving out of their home a few weeks later in January.

Instagram influencer Lauryn is the mother to Kyle’s son Kairo, four, and daughter, who is known to family and friends as KK and is ten months old.

Lauryn became pregnant with Kairo when Kyle was on a break from childhood sweetheart Annie in 2019 but he was taken back, and they got married in 2021.

MailOnline previously revealed that Annie decided not to fly as part of the official WAGs group to the Euros.

She has instead hired a private jet, which she is using to fly in and out for each of England’s games in Germany with the four children she shares with Kyle.

The jet will cost Annie around £35,000 for each return journey and she is also planning to take a friend with her to help deal with the youngsters – baby Rezon and sons Roman, 11, Riaan, seven, and Reign, five.

A source told the Mail: ‘Things have got really bad between Annie and Kyle, and she is only going to the Euros for the sake of the children. If there weren’t kids involved, she wouldn’t be going at all.

‘She doesn’t want to be part of the WAGs group because she doesn’t feel she’s in a proper relationship with Kyle and doesn’t want to maintain any pretence that she is.

‘She’s told him how she feels and isn’t prepared to be in Germany playing happy families with him.’

Although Kilner is said to want to keep her distance from the ‘WAGs group’, she was happy to be joined by other partners of England players at the match, including reality TV star and partner of Jarrod Bowen, Dani Dyer.

Also spotted in the stands were John Stones’s partner Olivia Naylor (who jumped aboard Annie’s private jet this week), and Conor Gallagher’s partner Aine May Kennedy. 

England beat Serbia 1-0 in Gelsenkirchen in their opening Group C game, thanks to a goal by Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham, followed by a 1-1 draw with Denmark and a goalless stalemate against Slovenia.

If Southgate’s side win today’s match which kicks off at 5pm, they would then face Switzerland in the quarter-finals next Saturday at the same time.

Switzerland yesterday progressed by triumphing 2-0 over reigning champions Italy, who previously beat England on penalties in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley.

Today’s Gelsenkirchen clash comes one day short of 18 years since England were knocked out of the 2006 World Cup in the same Arena AufSchalke venue, defeated on penalties in a quarter-final against Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal.