England rally in six-goal Germany thriller

Gareth Southgate hopes England will feel the benefit of being put under intense pressure in recent days at the World Cup after fighting back from 2-0 down to salvage a 3-3 draw against Germany on Monday.

The Three Lions had already been relegated from the top tier of the Nations League and will head to Qatar on a six-game winless run.

The knives were being sharpened for Southgate after his faith in Harry Maguire backfired for two German goals early in the second half.

Centre-back Maguire has been publicly backed by the England boss despite being dropped at club level by Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag.

Ilkay Gundogan slotted home the opener from the penalty spot after Maguire gifted possession to Jamal Musiala and then chopped down the Bayern Munich midfielder.

Kai Havertz then curled brilliantly into the top corner after Maguire was dispossed in the German half.

England had failed to score from open play in any of their opening five games in Group A3.

But two goals in three minutes transformed the atmosphere around Wembley and the scrutiny on Southgate’s position heading to Qatar.

Luke Shaw was also restored to the starting line-up despite his lack of game time at United and started the fightback by volleying in at the back post.

Moments later, two of Southgate’s substitutes combined to deadly effect as Bukayo Saka set up Mason Mount to curl home.

Harry Kane looked to have completed the turnaround from the penalty spot seven minutes from time after Nico Schlotterbeck’s challenge on Jude Bellingham was punished following a VAR review.

Yet, there was more drama to come as Nick Pope spilled Serge Gnabry’s shot and Havertz pounced on the rebound to snatch Germany a point.

Despite the disappointment of a late equaliser, there was relief for Southgate that England’s attack finally came to life after accusations that his conservative tactics were to blame for a lack of goals.

“The whole experience has been what we needed,” said Southgate, who had been booed by England fans after a 1-0 defeat to Italy in Milan on Friday.

“You are going to have pressure in a World Cup. You can try to avoid pressure, but it’s coming.

“It’s better that we feel it and know how we deal with it. The players reacted in the right way - we showed character but a lot of quality.”

The home side had plenty of chances to end their goal drought even in a scoreless first half.