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Results 2020-2025 
Page Last Updated 14 October 2023

Australia

 
954 vs. Australia
 
previous match (31 days)
1047 vs. Scotland

1048
next match (four days)
1049 vs. Italy

FINAL MEETING vs. AUSTRALIA

 

  Friday, 13 October 2023
An International Friendly match sponsored by M&S Food

England 1 Australia 0 [0-0]
 
 
The National Stadium connected by EE, Wembley, Brent, Greater London
Kick-off (BST): 7.47pm
Attendance: 81,116
James Maddison kicked off Maty Ryan won the toss
94 minutes 46:15 & 48:07

Player lost since last match
Franny Lee (2 October 2023) 79
Black armbands worn & silence held for the 'innocent victims of devastating events in Israel and Palestine.'
[0-0] Ollie Watkins strike hits post 28:16  
[1-0] Ollie Watkins 57 56:56
Jack Grealish: FORTUNATE
 
Alexander-Arnold's cross field ball is picked up by Jack Grealish, whose shot across goal is tapped in from a single yard
 
Levi Colwell 34 33:15
 
Conor Gallagher 35 34:10
   
Keanu Baccus 34 33:16

Ryan Strain 40 39:36
  Jackson Irvine 79 78:20
  Commentator: Steve Bower with Dion Dublin
 
"Last Fright of the Poms" Mirror Sport
Officials from France England Squad Type Australia Squad
Referee (black)
Stéphanie Frappart
39 (14 December 1983), Le Pless-s-Bouchard, FIFA-listed 2009
9 Goal Attempts 14
3 Attempts on Target 4
Assistant Referees 1 Hit Bar/Post 0
Mikaël Berchebru
39 (8 March 1984)
Aurélien Drouet
35 (22 June 1988), Angers
7 Corner Kicks Won 8
Fourth official
Hakim Ben El Hadj
45 (30 May 1978)
2 Offside Calls Against 0
Video Assistant Officials          8 Fouls Conceded 13
Mathieu Vernice 30 (12 August 1993)
Nicolas Rainville 41
66.8% Possession 33.2%
  
England Team
 
Rank FIFA (21 September 2023) 4th
EFO ranking Group Two
ELO rating 6th
Colours The Nike 2022 home jersey - White crew-necked jerseys with dark to light blue fury gradient sleeves, fury/void cuffs, blue shorts, white socks with fury/void thin hoop. 
Captain Jordan Henderson Manager Gareth Southgate, 53 (3 September 1970), appointed caretaker manager on 27 September 2016, appointed as permanent manager on 30 November 2016. 
9th of 9 - W 7 - D 2 - L 0 - F 18 - A 4. 
Kieran Trippier 60:58 P 88th of 102, W 55 - D 19 - L 14 - F 194 - A 60.
England Lineup
  ten changes on the previous match (Dunk remains) league position (5th October)  
1 Johnstone, Samuel L. 30
202 days
25 March 1993 G Crystal Palace FC (PL 9th) 4 0ᵍᵃ
the 19th Palace player to represent England final app 2021-23
2 Alexander-Arnold, Trent J. 25
5 days
7 October 1998 RB/M Liverpool FC (PL 4th) 21 2
6 Tomori, Oluwafikayomi O., off 62nd min. 25
298 days
19 December 1997
in Calgary, Canada
RCD AC Milan, Italy (SA 2nd) 4 0
5 Dunk, Lewis C. 31
326 days
21 November 1991 LCD Brighton & Hove Albion FC (PL 6th) 3 0
107 3 Colwill, Levi L.S. 20
229 days
26 February 2003 LB Chelsea FC (PL 11th) 1 0
1274 34th min. after Keabu Bacchus took exception for his foul on Boyle the 55th Chelsea player to represent England only app 2023
8 Henderson, Jordan B.,, off 61st min. 33
118 days
17 June 1990 RM Al Ettifaq FC, Saudi Arabia (SAPL 5th) 79 3
10 Maddison, James D., off 73rd min. 26
324 days
23 November 1996 CM Tottenham Hotspur FC (PL 2nd) 5 0
4 Gallagher, Conor J., off 62nd min. 23
249 days
6 February 2000 LM Chelsea FC (PL 11th) 10 0
35th min. following a number of lunges at Craig Goodwin on the  touchline
     
11 Bowen, Jarrod 26
292 days
20 December 1996 RF West Ham United FC (PL 7th) 5 0
9
Watkins, Oliver G.A., off 73rd min. 27
282 days
30 December 1995 CF Aston Villa FC (PL 5th) 8 3
7
Grealish, Jack P., off 61st min. 28
33 days
10 September 1995 LF Manchester City FC (PL TOP) 33 2
England Substitutes
scoreline: England 1 Australia 0
19 Rashford, Marcus, on 61st min. (60:35) for Grealish 25
347 days
31 October 1997 LF Manchester United FC (PL 10th) 56 24 16
32
12 Trippier, Kieran J., on 61st min. (60:58) for Henderson 33
24 days
19 September 1990 RB Newcastle United FC (PL 8h) 44 35 1
9
23 Phillips, Kalvin M., on 62nd min. (61:03) for Gallagher 27
315 days
2 December 1995 RM Manchester City FC (PL TOP) 29 22 1
7
16 Stones, John, on 62nd min. (61:19) for Tomori 29
138 days
28 May 1994 RCD Manchester City FC (PL TOP) 68 60 3
8
21 Foden, Philip W., on 73rd min. (72:24) for Maddison 23
138 days
28 May 2000 CM Manchester City FC (PL TOP) 28 17 4
11
108 25 Nketiah, Edward K., on 73rd min. (72:29) for Watkins 24
136 days
30 May 1999 CF Arsenal FC (PL 3rd) 1 0
1275 the seventieth Arsenal player to represent England only app 2023
result: England 1 Australia 0
unused substitutes: 13-Jordan Pickford, 14-Harry Maguire, 15-Kyle Walker, 17-Marc Guéhi, 18-Declan Rice, 20-Harry Kane, 22-Aaron Ramsdale, 24-Jude Bellingham.
team notes: Harry Kane sits out a match for the first time in two years, Andorra in October 2021 being the last match he remained on the bench for.
Jack Grealish's great great grandfather, Billy Garraty, also played for England in 1903.
youth notes: England and Australia have met only a few times in youth level matches, none of which featured any of the participating players.
stadium notes: Australia are the 45th different nation to visit the National Stadium.
The first friendly match at The National Stadium since March 2022.
A seventh consecutive friendly victory at Wembley equals a record set in 1954-58.
The 130th friendly match to be held at Wembley and the 75th victory.
The first 80,000+ crowd for a friendly match at the National Stadium since March 2018.
England win with a single goal for the 34th time at Wembley. A record-equalling feat with 2-0.
Eddie Nketiah is the 150th different England player to grace the National Stadium turf.
captain notes: Jordan Henderson becomes England's twentieth oldest captain. Also the first Arab-based player to be the captain.
team records: This win is England's twelfth consecutive friendly victory, equalling a record set in 1908-23. They have also equalled an undefeated record of eighteen home friendly matches, set in 1992-97.
4-3-3 Johnstone -
Alexander-Arnold, Tomori
(Stones), Dunk, Colwill -
Henderson
(Trippier), Maddison (Foden), Gallagher (Phillips) -
Bowen, Watkins
(Nketiah), Grealish (Rashford)
notes: When Trippier came on, he took Alexander-Arnold's position, allowing him to push up
Averages (Starting XI): Age 27 years 117 days Appearances/Goals 15.7 0.8
Australia Team
 
Rank FIFA (21 September 2023) 27th
EFO ranking n/a
ELO rating 28th to 29th
Colours Made by Nike - Yellow crew necked shadowed mottles jerseys with green cuffs, green shorts, yellow socks.
Captain Maty Ryan Head Coach Graham James Arnold, 60 (3 August 1963), appointed 8 March 2018, effective 16 July 2018.
42nd match, W 26 - D 5 - L 11 F x - A x.
Australia Lineup
1 Ryan, Mathew D. 31
188 days
8 April 1992 GK Alkmaar Zaanstreek, Netherlands 83 0
13 Strain, Ryan, off 73rd min. 26
194 days
2 April 1997
in Coventry, England
RB St. Mirren FC, Scotland 3 0
40th min. for pulling back Jack Grealish as he attempted to run away.
19 Souttar, Harry J. 24
356 days
22 October 1998
in Aberdeen, Scotland
RCD Leicester City FC, England 18 7
3 Burgess, Cameron R. 27
357 days
21 October 1995
in Aberdeen, Scotland
LCD Ipswich Town FC, Engtland 2 0
4 Rowles, Kye F., off 83rd min. 25
111 days
24 June 1998 LB Heart of Midlothian FC, Scotland 12 0
6 Boyle, Martin C., off 83rd min. 30
171 days
25 April 1993
in Aberdeen, Scotland
RAM Hibernian FC, Scotland 21 6
20 Baccus, Keanu K. 25
128 days
7 June 1998
in Durban, South Africa
RCM St. Mirren FC, Scotland 9 0
34th min. after shoving Levi Colwill in reaction to his foul on Boyle
8 Metcalfe, Connor, off 90th min. 23
342 days
5 November 1999 AM FC St. Pauli, Germany 10 0
22 Irvine, Jackson A. 30
220 days
7 March 1993 LCM FC St. Pauli, Germany 57 8
79th min. for screaming at the referee after failing to be awarded a throw-in
     
10 Goodwin, Craig A., off 73rd min. 31
301 days
16 December 1991 LAM Al Wehda FC, Saudi Arabia 16 2
15 Duke, Mitchell T., off 73rd min. 32
268 days
18 January 1991 CF FC Machida Zelvia, Japan 29 9
Australia Substitutes
scoreline: England 1 Australia 0
9 Borello, Brandon J.G., on 73rd min. (72:54) for Goodwin 28
80 days
25 July 1995 CF Western Sydney Wanderers FC 8 1
5 Bos, Jordan, on 73rd min. (72:57) for Goodwin 20
349 days
29 October 2002 LB KVC Westerlo, Belgium 3 0
635 17 Miller, Lewis, on 73rd min. (72:59) for Strain 23
50 days
24 August 2000 RB Hibernian FC, Scotland 1 0
16 Behich, Aziz E., on 83rd min. (82:10) for Rowles 32
301 days
16 December 1990 LB Melbourne City FC 60 2
11 Mabil, Awer B., on 83rd min. (82:25) for Boyle 28
28 days
15 September 1995
in Kakuma, Kenya
F Grasshopper Club Zürich, Switzerland 33 9
636 26 Touré, Mohamed, on 90th min. (89:25) for Metcalfe 19
201 days
26 March 2004
in Conakry, Guinea
F Paris FC, France, on loan from Stade de Reims, France 1 0
result: England 1 Australia 0
unused substitutes: 2-Miloš Degenek, 7-Sam Silvera, 12-Andrew Redmayne, 14-Aiden O'Neill, 18-Tom Glover, 21-Massimo Luongo, 23-Alessandro Circati.
team notes: Squad member Cameron Burgess' grandfather, Campbell Forsyth, also played against England, debuting for Scotland in April 1964.
This is Australia's first visit to England's national stadium, having played on club grounds (West Ham and Sunderland) on previous visits.
Mohamed Touré was not named on the teamsheet, or indeed, the squad.
records:  
Head Coach Graham Arnold was centre-forward for Australia when England visited Sydney in May 1991, losing by a single Ian Gray own goal.
 
4-5-1 Ryan -
Strain
(Miller), Souttar, Burgess, Rowles (Behich) -
Boyle
(Mabil), Baccus, Metcalfe (Touré), Irvine, Goodwin (Bos) -
Duke
(Borello)
Averages (Starting XI): Age 28 years 113 days Appearances/Goals 23.6 3.1
 
    Match Report by Mike Payne

I started my last report, against Scotland, by saying what a difference three days makes, well, I'm hoping there will be a big difference from this England performance to when we host Italy in the Euros in our next game. This was pretty dire from England at times, as Gareth Southgate made lots of changes to his line-up to give others a chance to stake their claim to a place in the side. That is understandable, but on this occasion, in the main, it didn't work.

England began sluggishly on a very wet night at Wembley, although they did come close when Jarrod Bowen fired in a cross-cum-shot that goalkeeper Matt Ryan just managed to divert away from Ollie Watkins feet. On 12 minutes Sam Johnstone was forced into a good save when Keanu Baccus's shot clipped the head of a defender and the goalkeeper pushed the ball around the post. After that the match slipped into the usual England mode of passing the ball across the back, back to the keeper, and then doing that all over again! Is it me, because I find that so boring and negative?

To be fair to Australia, they played well, chasing, harrying and pressing England at every opportunity, and that did make it difficult for England to find any rhythm. Having said that, all the team changes made England look disjointed and struggling to find any decent attacking moves.

On 22 minutes Mitchell Duke hit a volley just wide, and then two minutes later, James Maddison cut inside well and his shot landed in the Royal Box, and yes, it was that bad! Six minutes later Australia had another chance as, following a corner, with the ball bouncing loose, Kye Rowles shot over when it seemed easier to hit the target. Ironically, this led to the best chance for England, so far, at the other end. A good break down the middle saw a fine pass by Maddison played right into the path of Watkins. The striker took it round the keeper, but then just mishit his shot slightly, and the ball trickled across goal, hit the far post and was cleared.

Shortly after that incident the referee, the wonderful Stephanie Frappart, brandished two yellow cards in quick succession, as Levi Colwill and Baccus came together. The ref was quite right and she celebrated this honour of being the first female referee to take charge of an England Men's game at Wembley with an impressive no nonsense display. She then booked Conor Gallagher for a reckless challenge, and when she shows a card, she really means it!

Those incidents did enliven a very poor game, okay, there were chances, but there was no real pattern to England's play as the players struggled to come to terms with playing with each other so few times before.

Just before the break Bowen had a header saved from a corner and then right at the end of the half Australia had the best chance of the game so far. A fast attack saw the influential Martin Boyle lay the ball perfectly into the path of Ryan Strain. He seemed certain to score and although his shot beat Johnstone's dive, Lewis Dunk made a goal saving block on the line. And that was half-time. Australia really should have been comfortably in the lead to be honest, but England were still in it.

The second-half started in a similar fashion as the first had ended although England were trying to get the ball forward a little quicker, at last! After a couple of pieces of desperate clearances by the Aussie defence, it was England who made the breakthrough. Jack Grealish was brought down by Baccus, not for the first time, and when the free-kick came into the box the ball was cleared out to Trent Alexander-Arnold and this time the Liverpool player did his one good thing of the game by sending the ball back into the middle with a peach of a cross. Grealish took control well, and shot across goal. It probably would have missed the target but in came Watkins to touch it home to give England a lead they hardly deserved.

For the rest of the match there was plenty of effort from both sides, a whole swathe of substitutions and chances at both ends. The introduction of John Stones and Kieran Trippier gave England more assurance at the back, although replacing Gallagher with Kalvin Phillips made little difference to the poor midfield showing by England.

Alexander-Arnold had a shot deflected wide, Baccus shot wide after an awful pass from Dunk had set him up for a shot, and a good move involving Trippier and Bowen came close to producing a second. But generally play was more and more scrappy, and there was one funny moment when Jackson Irvine was pulled up for a foul and let rip at the ref. She was not going to stand for that, quite rightly, and the way she brandished the yellow card to him reminded me of John Wayne making a point in a western film!!

On 80 minutes Australia had another great final chance to score. They won a corner and from the kick Conner Metcalfe had a clear header, but instead of hitting the net the ball struck the outside of a post and went wide. Australia will certainly look back on this match and rue all those missed chances, especially that last one.

England then saw the game out fairly comfortably from that point and although they finished with a win, they do have much work to do when they face Italy in their next important match. Quite frankly, this game was one they will quickly want to forget.
  

Source Notes

TheFA.com
BBC Sport
Socceroos.com.au
  UEFA.com
Mike Payne - football historian and contributor
cg