England vs Poland 2-0 official highlights, World Cup qualifier at Wembley

England sealed their spot at next summer's World Cup in Brazil with a thrilling and at times nail-biting victory over Poland.
Man of the match Wayne Rooney broke the deadlock late on in a first half full of chances before Steven Gerrard stole clear in the dying moments to round off a win over a feisty and feverishly supported Polish side.
With Ukraine predictably sweeping aside San Marino 8-0 in Serravalle, England had to win to guarantee their place at the South American showpiece.
Roy Hodgson replaced the suspended Kyle Walker with Chris Smalling at right-back and gave Michael Carrick a starting place in midfield in favour of Frank Lampard.
And the England boss will have been impressed with his side's performance in testing and stressful circumstances.
From the outset Poland's game plan was clear, with the visitors setting up a strong barrier in midfield and giving the England midfielders little time to pick their passes.
Robert Lewandowski -- who lit up Wembley in May playing for Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final -- was a reminder of the threat posed by the visitors.
But England started brightly, with Rooney and Daniel Sturridge combining effectively, while Leighton Baines was given plenty of space to advance from left-back.
Indeed it was Baines who pressed forwards to set up the hosts' first half-chance, crossing dangerously for Sturridge and leaving Piotr Celeban to clear for a corner, inches wide of his own goal.
Then came the Three Lions' first serious warning. Mariusz Mierzejweski broke rapidly from an England corner and switched the ball from right to left. Approaching at pace, Grzegorz Krychowiak drilled a low shot which had Joe Hart beaten but fizzed narrowly wide of the far post.
Within seconds England were back at the other end, with the ball falling kindly for Sturridge though the Liverpool striker just failed to get the ball out from out under his feet.
Andros Townsend then thumped a shot from the edge of the area and onto the crossbar, before Sturridge forced another fine save from Arsenal No1 Szczesny.
Baines was wreaking havoc with his set-piece delivery and on the half-hour he picked out Welbeck, who brought the ball down for himself, only to recoil in frustration as his prodded effort drifted wide.
It looked set to be one of the most action-packed goalless first-halves in Wembley's long history -- but Rooney put paid to that moments before the break.
The Manchester United star showed he had a head for occasion when, seconds after losing his protective headband, he stole clear of another Baines cross and nodded powerfully into the far corner for the 38th goal of his England career.
However, there was still time for Poland to leave England with their hearts in their mouths as Waldemar Sobota calmly steered past Hart but was denied a goal by an offside flag.
Half-time brought respite but little change in attitude as England attacked from the off.
Rooney steered in a dangerous cross from the right-hand side which was redirected across goal by Welbeck and Gary Cahill then forced Szczesny into a diving save from the following corner.
Poland were proving just as capable of threatening their net as England. Rooney drove forward again and while Kamil Glik was able to cut out the cross, the ball trickled close enough to have half the stadium cheering.
Then for around 15 minutes the excitement that had gripped Wembley made way for tension.
Poland probed and pressed England's centre-backs, Cahill and Phil Jagielka, into some stressful moments, and the chances at the other end began to dry up.
Sturridge came close with a powerful shot through a crowd which left Sczcesny scrambling, while Townsend continued to look lively.
But England's main concern was with stemming opposition attacks, and substitute Frank Lampard and Rooney both picked up bookings for fouling Poland players.
And if Gerrard's fatigue-fighting run with two minutes remaining brought the goal that finally settled Wembley's home support, the memories of a thrilling finale to England's World Cup qualifying campaign will live long.
Attendance 85,186

[@MikkL91]

Steven Gerrards "My Story" Brought me here. What a player! YNWA

[@martonudvari9168]

+Mikkel Lützen same with me!

[@capper3360]

me too!

[@dannyhustle2599]

Idiot

[@MikkL91]

@@dannyhustle2599 I guess someone is not a Liverpool fan 😀

[@oskaryigenkorsholm7708]

Same

[@PolskiProdigy]

Szczesny showed class in this game. He had some really great saves.

[@lolekzjarany8904]

Ksz Kszo Kszo Kur@isko!!

[@RySkisGalaxy]

Lolek Zjarany PolskiProdigy hopefully we win enough to go next world cup! Lewandowski deserves to go

[@lolekzjarany8904]

:) for sure

[@Too_Much_Caffeine]

@Wiktor Kobus and got defeated

[@matoncrack6316]

Am I the only one here trying to predict the score for tonight’s match after 7 years finally a reunitement

[@logiic8835]

1-1

[@Gg-zd8xz]

It says something about how truly mediocre our World Cup campaign was that this qualification game was probably the most exciting thing

[@hughseager5691]

This, for an England game was pretty entertaining. Was end to end, lots of chances and a great atmosphere

[@TonyEnglandUK]

"Twenty thousand Polish fans are packed into Wembley" - big deal, they only had to travel half a mile.

[@unicornsquad7403]

Tony England n

[@unicornsquad7403]

England are the best ⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚡⚡👏👋👋👐👏💝💝💙💚💖💖💞💞💟👍👍💜💪💪💪💪💪😻😻😻😻😍😘😘😎

[@scept_2134]

hey England and poland are my country

[@scept_2134]

Temi Camble

[@katie-uf9jq]

Tony England phaaaa😂😂😂😂🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿❤️

[@gmondair6314]

remember gerrard goal like it was yesterday. what a ledgend.

[@moleboy96]

Well done lads!! Really proud!

[@germanladybigass5337]

Good job England. From Germany

[@Rattlesnake153]

England's team looks a bit faster and quicker than usual. I saw them all sprinting to the ball when it was lose. That's going to be tough for their opponents.

[@sthill1993]

"He's scored 21 goals now, have any been this significant?" So with that in mind, not many of his England goals have been more significant.

[@callumv1711]

Damn, i wish i'd watched the game! Looked extremely action packed

[@bubbahkiriza]

Congratulations, England... from a Filipino fan. Hope you'll do great in Brasil.

[@SamTheYorkist]

So much passion in Gerrards celebration

[@suhailraje6897]

Gerrrraaarrrrddddd

[@abdoubelouizdadi8862]

Suhail Raje slippped

[@eugenejefferson1838]

I swear Danny Welbeck couldn’t finish a curry

[@bestgrimbarianever]

underrated comment :P

[@safeysmith6720]

That had to be one of Gerrard’s best goals.

[@Tom-pv6yr]

Agreed. He is important.

[@99annanic]

I wish England very good luck in the World Cup! Italy will see you in Rio!

[@GreyDay2morrow]

As a Pole I must say and admit that the better team won. It was a pleasure to watch England play most of the time, exquisite performances from Baines and Rooney. The only positive that I think people will agree with is that Szczesny is a quality goalkeeper. Good luck at The World Cup. It should be highly exciting :)

[@Andre41549]

Steven gerraad is the best the legend 😎

[@BDAKs24]

I don't know what would have been more embarrassing, our world cup performance or if we didn't even qualify for it

[@neilchalk1273]

Welbeck is a good player for England. His goal to game ratio proves this .

[@islaarundel3741]

Well done the lads and Roy. Hope everyone gets behind them.

[@EvansBulali]

i love schenzky.. he was the man of the match..

[@AnkitAmaruShrestha]

Man United Players should be there in every game!! Well Played Carrick and Rooney Proud!!!

[@abuhaidar6512]

This is the best in youtube

[@dodgerdannyboy]

Good attacking football from England, Townsend looked good give them problems, but Stevie G' what a goal, Bianes was exceptional, there is hope, if we can sort defence out and attack like that, we have hope.

[@nikz200]

Captain Fantastic with a goal of sheer persistence

[@TopTenSam]

love it, unbeaten under Hodgson when will it end?...

[@Gg-zd8xz]

In tears against Iceland

[@hodmananimation]

I wish every England game was so fluid and attacking, good luck in Brazil!

[@BROXENDALE]

Gerrard is inspirational

[@bascet1]

I fear for Sturridge as a City fan I've seen him come up and seen how good he is, one or two more injuries and maybe he'll not come back from them? Missing massive chunks of seasons usually leads to early retirement or losing that yard of pace, either way I hope he comes back for England's sake and he's also a nice kid.

[@tomrose6395]

Anythings better than that fat shit rooney

[@tiktokvines2528]

I think ENGLAND can become once again world champions,they have great players,great skills,n physically fit but the matter is they dont play as a team. if they play like spain or italy they will rock. everything thing is there they just need a right guidance.

[@iain772]

I remeber when i got an england shirt with gerrard and when i showed my dad he went mental cos we're man utd supporters.....StevieG is my fav player!!

[@arsenio009]

It's always good to see rival players play together.

[@charvey101]

Wish they had shown Roy about a minute before Gerrard scored looking like he was about to throw up, and a glance at his joy 5 seconds after...

[@radarekxp]

After we lost score with Ukraine i have been supported England from begining of the match. And i'm very glad You won. :) Good Game

[@FlyerKBOS]

Well I'm Polish. Well done England! Congratulations!

[@geoffbroad]

Thank you!England and Polska!

[@fortniteitemsinreallife8472]

Geoff Broad fuck England all the English ppl in school are so fucking annoying saying Poland sucks

[@tnsfan3970]

FlyerKBOS your goalkeeper is good

[@rjn8846]

Fortnite Items In Real Life Poland are shit

[@Too_Much_Caffeine]

@@fortniteitemsinreallife8472 Said some poor pole who came to England work as a plumber 😂

[@gogoshizzle]

I'm so happy!!!

[@petrbalogovi9862]

i think sturridge deserves more than just 83 rated card

[@XComPointer]

we will not win world cup without rooney.... he has been the best english player this year...........

[@cheskybeast]

Good Luck in Brazil Cheers from Poland

[@simonm615]

Hodgson's played a blinder with Townsend's selection. What a find that man is. I wonder how 'Arry Redknapp is feeling now, being he didn't trust the boy while managing Spurs. So much for trusting young English talent eh 'Arry?

[@sthill1993]

Now that we're there, Hodgson can toy with the idea of Cole or Gibbs at LB, and Baines as a LM. We all know his crosses are excellent, movement and work-rate are good, but Cole is more solid defensively. A lot of people want to see that at least tried before we get there.

[@SamTheFisherMan100]

Townsend's curling shot was beautiful. If it went in wouldve been a great moment

[@ibraheemyounas3592]

have to say they where cracking goals

[@oliviach1112]

heartbreak..........

[@xetalq]

Thanks, mate - great comment. Apologies for the various anti-Polish remarks appended to this video, but having read through the comments, there's one guy here (I think he identifies as Polish) who started the ball rolling by rubbishing England. Having said that, it is sad to see responses that descend to sheer rudeness, and once the abuse starts, it's so hard for everyone to stop. Poland's a great country, and England and Poland have long been friends and allies.

[@jamesjoseph4594]

Gerrard your the best

[@jimboba7434]

I would like to see Baines over Cole too. He's fantastic player with much more to offer. Ashley was/is great but the times are changing.

[@asadosman7358]

szczesny amazing match

[@manhead3]

Xaxi ,Inesta ,Messi, Ronaldinho ,Zidane and Pirlo are all real world class players on a high technical level. Steven Gerrard is probably the closest thing England have to a world class player. But what he's done for Liverpool and England, he def deserves and commands respect from all players and fans across the world.

[@larrytubehd9270]

I love Jack Wilshere !!!!

[@EnsighT2Games]

England look better under Roy and it's nice to see our team playing together and we certainly look stronger as a team! Brazil here we come :)

[@MrReconnaissence]

As long as Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson, Daniel Sturridge, Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling are in that starting line up for the World Cup. I wouldn't worry too much my little petals.

[@synziel]

Liverpool fan by any chance? lol

[@sthill1993]

Fair point, but I think it's worth a go, there's absolutely nothing to lose in these friendlies, not even trying to get a higher FIFA ranking (already decided). Baines would add some width on that side in a similar way to Townsend on the right.

[@TheGhostingReturns]

Everybody said the same in april when England went up against Brazil. However a 2-1 win for England proved them wrong. The England team has potential, they just need to use it .

[@SvetRebenska]

you are goddamn right!

[@olikokaful]

Townsend is wow!!

[@99annanic]

Not even from England! But Steven Gerrard you are the best!

[@strikebot1]

i agree :)

[@cowboyshort]

I was there. An amazing night

[@troylancer1118]

Poland Deserved to win this game.

[@bazen1831]

nie ma bata szczęsny mistrzem świata

[@nathanielnyalugwe4707]

roooooooooooney you are the BEST

[@xetalq]

Agreed. A Spurs fan.

[@maa2295]

Banes looks like mr.Been

[@14ccr]

yep, that sentence made alot of sense.

[@perrypaoshingkuo5528]

you can count on Gerrard !!!! like one ,two ,three

[@aprburwk]

back when andros townsend wore 7 for england ...

[@unicornsquad7403]

England is this best✌💝💛✌💝💛✋✋✊👌

[@BROXENDALE]

The gerrard goal made me really happy

[@USloyal2009]

Townsend is really playing good. Good choice

[@SakuraTempura]

Thanks Poland. The probability is most of the Polish supporters who were there live in our country and yet you boo our national team, pathetic.

[@adamurbanek2111]

YarbJohnCarpLips In poland politicians doing everything only to earning cash for themselves. Polish people want to live in England and that's problem also for poland

[@mrgreatbritain]

YarbJohnCarpLips well usually I’m fine with fans being supportive but you’re right, booing is unacceptable unless it’s a single player they hate

[@rotex_535]

Theres nothing wrong with it, their just supporting their national team. Also im british and i think that polish people have the same amount of right living in the uk as much as england does in poland. No need to meake a big deal out of it

[@Jakobthestriker]

Dear YarbJohnCarpLips shut up!

[@raptorbullets]

@@rotex_535 ok yeah they can support their own team no ones denying that, but let's say you, as a British person, were living in Poland and went to a Poland vs England match, would you jeer Poland? I wouldn't because I'm not petty like that but you have to consider if it were you in that position and what you would do. It makes no sense to jeer your adoptive country it just reeks of little-man mindset, with that being said why on earth would you live in Poland over UK

[@ohthatsnotme867]

if Andros scored that shot.that will be awesome. smash it !

[@Lipz101]

Make sure Baines is in that World Cup first team ahead of Cole!

[@AayuvL]

best of luck

[@LasarMoon]

im from Poland :( they lost, but now im in england so well done england

[@zokakaa]

Gerrard !

[@sherycedoherty9734]

GO ON ENGLAND WIN POLDAN

[@matthewferguson8669]

townsend had such potential

[@Jigaboo123456]

"As a Pole I must say and admit that the better team won"........ You are a Pole, a sportsman and a gentleman, Sir.

[@peloquin1979]

This could be a possible 2nd round game for the 2018 World Cup.

[@tare82]

Great goals but the team showed signs of weakness as a team.

[@stupidmo1]

Yes

[@SamTheFisherMan100]

We have a slim chance of winning it but this team is certainly a lot LOT better than the one we've had in previous years so who knows

[@1joker1312]

Whether you be a Gooner, a red devil, a toffee, a man city fan, a chelsea fan, a liverpool fan, a hotspur fan, or any other fan of any team.... You just can't hate Stephen Gerrard.

[@MK-ps2gw]

Finally got amazing leftfooted winger, Good times

[@EnsighT2Games]

Plus it's the best I've seen england for a along time.. So all thought out there thinking we have no chance in the World Cup, think again!

[@peloquin1979]

The best last England teams were from the 90s and early 00s. I don't know if we'll ever get to those levels again. :(

[@lukebrewer8781]

There's a possibility the future England team could be better than the 90s early 00s teams I could name some classy youngsters that have potential to be world class for England's future, Jack Butland (22) Goalkeeper, Gary Gardner (21) Central Midfielder, Loftus-Cheek (17) Midfielder, Reise Allassani (17) Attacking Midfielder, Ross Barkley (19) Central Midfielder, Jordon Ibe (17) Winger, Luke Shaw (18) Full back, Jack Wilshere (23) Central Midfielder, Tom Carroll (21) Central Midfielder, Saido Berahino (20) Striker, Ravel Morrison (20) Attacking Midfielder, Calum Chambers (19) Full back, Harry Kane (21) Striker

[@lukebrewer8781]

Mark Richardson TheGolDan95 its only a suggestion but in my opinion I think we have the capability to have a better national team in the future if we work hard on the youth and bring them up to their potential, not saying we should use them all the time because that would ruin their potential but it doesn't mean we can't give them a chance.

[@lukebrewer8781]

Mark Richardson we will have to wait and see

[@commonsense6257]

We did well in '86, '90, '96, '98, '02, '04 and even '06 was ok. We haven't done eff all since '06. S.A. and Brazil were pitiful and we never do well in the Euros. We should have won '96 on home soil and we could have won '86, '90 and '02 had we gotten past Brazil. '98 was a tall order against The best French teams ever and one of the best Brazilian teams. '04 and '06 we were on the slide but we still had some great players in Gerard, Scholes, Lampard, Rooney, Terry, Ferdinand, Cole, Carrick, Hargreaves.

[@lukebrewer8781]

Mark Richardson​ Being picked to play for your national team no matter who you are or how much money you earn is one of the greatest achievements any sports player ever achieves, so saying they have no desire or hunger is just wrong, of course they're going to have the desire it's just the performance sometimes doesn't meet the expectations of what the fans of that country expect them to reach and that applies to everyone not just England

[@adamcoatham]

We don't play with an orthodox LM though, otherwise Baines might be suited there. The left-sided attacker plays much further forward so is much more suited to be a Welbeck-style player.

[@congruenceofsouls7895]

lewandowski...omg....should've been a grt goal

[@rajapurasingh3077]

Poland are beast\

[@BROXENDALE]

We did it come on ENGLANDDDDD!

[@Tom-pv6yr]

Even with a brilliant team, 1990 comes to mind, we don't seem to reach the bloody final. Anyway we have another chance!

[@jordanpower251]

Hon Stevie g and sturridge

[@GreyDay2morrow]

why , thank you for such kind words , Sir. :D

[@nattaere]

Redknapp was the one who got him in to QPR for his loan spell and started him every game... That loan spell made him

[@allankles]

Why would anyone hate him? Unless he's a hater? I also never understood England fans hatred of Lampard. As a Chelsea fan I always considered him an excellent and adept footballer. But for some reason England fans liked to undermine him, even though he was a top player for them,