- England suffered their first loss under Thomas Tuchel, losing 1:3 to Senegal in Nottingham
- Harry Kane scored early, but Senegal turned it around with goals from Sarr, Diarra, and Sabaly
- This was England’s first game at the City Ground since 1941
Key Takeaways:
England suffered their first defeat under Thomas Tuchel, falling 1:3 to Senegal in a friendly played at the City Ground in Nottingham. Harry Kane opened the scoring in the seventh minute, while Ismaila Sarr equalised in the 40th. Habib Diarra completed the turnaround in the 62nd minute, and Cheikh Sabaly sealed the final result in stoppage time. The Three Lions had won all three of their matches under Tuchel before this, though the performances were not particularly convincing. Last night, the English side once again played poorly, as they did against Andorra a few days ago, and were outplayed—thus suffering their first ever defeat to an African opponent. Senegal, on the other hand, extended their impressive unbeaten run to 24 consecutive matches without a loss in regular time or extra time.
Senegal is the first African national team to defeat the England men's national team 😳 pic.twitter.com/aiQzyJqsHm
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) June 10, 2025
The match started openly, and the first goal came in the seventh minute. Eze won the ball deep in the visitors’ half and built the attack well, continuing to Gallagher, who passed to Gordon. Mendy failed to deal cleanly with his shot, and Harry Kane followed up from close range for another goal. Thus, the Bayern striker has scored in all four of England’s matches so far under Tuchel.
In the 15th minute, Sarr headed a very good cross from Diouf, but Henderson reacted well and made the save. That was the England keeper’s second strong intervention after earlier stopping a shot from Jackson.
In the 28th minute, Anthony Gordon missed a huge opportunity to double the lead, as Walker’s cross reached him at the far post, but the Newcastle star failed to find the empty corner from just a few metres, pressured by Diatta.
Senegal’s strong attacking play paid off in the 40th minute, when the visitors equalised. Jackson reached a deep pass just before the byline and sent the ball back into the box with one touch. Kyle Walker was beaten to it by Ismaila Sarr, who finished from close range to make it 1:1.
Senegal continued to be the more dangerous side at the start of the second half and in the 62nd minute completed the turnaround, as Diarra was played in behind England’s defensive line and beat Henderson with a shot through his legs at the near post for 1:2.
The English team immediately tried to respond, with Mendy first saving a powerful shot from Gibbs-White and then producing a much more impressive save to divert a well-placed strike by Bukayo Saka just wide. In the 84th minute, Jude Bellingham thought he had equalised. Colwill headed the ball down to him after a corner, and the Real Madrid star fired it into the net. Stephanie Frappart was called to review the play and decided to disallow the goal for handball by Colwill.
In stoppage time, Senegal launched a brilliant counterattack, which ended with a goal by Cheikh Sabaly. He received the ball from Camara and calmly beat Henderson, while the City Ground sent England’s stars off with boos.