England's 100% record in Euro 2024 qualifying came to an end as Ukraine held out for a 1-1 draw at Stadion Wroclaw in Group C.
The Blue and Yellow's skipper Oleksandr Zinchenko broke the deadlock against Gareth Southgate's stale side, who drew themselves level just before the break as Kyle Walker poked home his first goal for the Three Lions on his 77th appearance, but the Ukraine-heavy contingent in Poland were in full voice as Sergiy Rebrov's men claimed a well-earned point.
To the chagrin of some England supporters, Southgate kept faith in the experienced duo of Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson, while opting for James Maddison to occupy the left flank ahead of Marcus Rashford.
The Three Lions dominated possession early doors as expected, but a diligent Ukraine were proving tough to break down, and England did themselves no favours with some passive attacking sequences.
As Ukraine grew in confidence, the 'hosts' began to strive forward with more purpose and got their reward in the 26th minute, as Yukhym Konoplya charged past Ben Chilwell on the overlap and squared for the arriving Zinchenko to crash home the opener from 10 yards out.
Rebrov's men were only in the ascendancy for 15 minutes, though, as captain Harry Kane took dropping deep to a new level - falling back as far as the centre circle before picking out Walker with a sumptuous lofted pass, and the Manchester City man took the ball down brilliantly before poking home his first Three Lions goal from close range.
Having waited 77 caps for his maiden England goal, Walker earned a slice of history as the player to go the longest before scoring their first Three Lions goal, and a quick VAR check for offside showed that he had timed his run to perfection.
Arsenal starlet Bukayo Saka had been moving a little gingerly in the first half following a knee to the thigh from Vitaliy Mykolenko, but the 22-year-old was inches away from giving England the lead in the 58th minute, cutting inside and letting fly with his left foot, but Heorhiy Bushchan produced a stunning fingertip save to push his effort onto the crossbar.
Saka managed to find a yard of space in the Ukraine box moments later and unleashed a low shot bound for Bushchan's net, but the ball was blocked by the arm of a sliding Serhiy Kryvtsov, and penalty appeals from the Three Lions fell on deaf ears.
England spent most of the final moments camped in the Ukraine half, but Southgate's men had no more answers to the Blue and Yellow's dogged defending as they failed to make it five wins from five in Group C.
Nevertheless, Southgate's side remain top of the section on 13 points ahead of Tuesday's 150th Anniversary Heritage match against Scotland, while Ukraine - who have a game in hand - sit second on seven points and will meet Italy at San Siro in three days time. body check tags ::
