Jude Bellingham scored in the final moments to bring back English honor on Tuesday, securing a 2-2 draw after Youri Tielemans scored twice for Belgium in the teams' last match before squads are announced for Euro 2024.
England, suffering from injuries, displayed a lot of attacking energy, but the visitors were always dangerous on the counter-attack, and Tielemans capitalized on defensive mistakes.
Aston Villa midfielder Tielemans broke the deadlock after an error from England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, and then headed in a second before the first half ended, after Ivan Toney had equalized from the penalty spot.
Belgium withstood a series of England's attempts and seemed likely to secure the win in front of over 80,000 fans at Wembley, before Real Madrid midfielder Bellingham scored deep into stoppage time.
England's manager Gareth Southgate, whose team is among the favorites to win the European Championship in Germany starting in June, has had to deal with many absences during the March international window.
His problems increased when defender John Stones was forced off early in the pouring rain in London, and was replaced by Joe Gomez.
The home side's tough start to the evening got worse moments later when Belgium, without the injured Kevin De Bruyne, took the lead in a strange manner.
Pickford attempted to make a cross-field pass while out of position, but ended up picking out Everton team-mate Amadou Onana, who then released Tielemans.
The midfielder calmly placed the ball into the bottom corner of the net from just outside the penalty area as Pickford raced across his line to try to get back in position.
But the home side drew level minutes later when Manchester United's young talent Kobbie Mainoo, making his first international start, worked with Bellingham before the Real Madrid defender passed to Toney, who was fouled by Jan Vertonghen.
Toney, leading the attack in the absence of captain Harry Kane, took the resulting penalty himself, confidently scoring to make it 1-1.
As the game became more open, Jeremy Doku sprinted down the left before cutting in and testing Pickford with a powerful shot that the goalkeeper pushed away.
England, playing with enthusiasm and adventure, thought they had taken the lead in the 26th minute when Bowen scored after a Phil Foden corner, but the goal was disallowed for offside.
Bellingham missed a great opportunity when he blasted over from close range with only goalkeeper Matz Sels to beat.
AFP
