Euro 2020: England v Denmark, scores and latest news

England is into the Euro final against Italy after some Harry Kane heroics – but a disgraceful act has put a dampener on celebrations. Watch the video.

England will play in their first major tournament final for 55 years after coming from behind to beat Denmark 2-1 after extra time in front of a delirious 65,000 crowd at Wembley in Wednesday’s Euro 2020 semi-final.

But the victory has come with a strong dose of controversy.

With the scores locked up at 1-1 halfway through the first period of extra time, Raheem Sterling was given a controversial penalty despite replays showing the English attacker appeared to be untouched by his Danish opponents.

Cleared by VAR, England captain Harry Kane stepped up to the spot to take the penalty against arguably the best man on the field, Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.

New footage has now revealed somebody in the crowd attempted to put the Danish star off by shining a laser in his eyes.

While Schmeichel saved the penalty, he was unable to hold onto the ball and Kane pounced on the rebound, converting what would become the match-winning goal.

Social media erupted over the footage, which now appears to have been wiped on Twitter and Facebook due to a copyright claim from the broadcasters.

CCTV everywhere so the idiot who shone a laser pen at Casper Schmeichel during the penalty should be pictured, identified, prosecuted, jailed, shamed and banned from football for life. Dangerous idiot #Euro2020

— Kevin Maguire (@Kevin_Maguire) July 7, 2021

Very, very poor form by someone shining a laser in Kasper Schmeichel’s face at this key moment. He was man of the match, which shows, for me, that England deserved their win. #ENGDENpic.twitter.com/uJ9zlRe9lk

— Phil Baty (@Phil_Baty) July 7, 2021

Earlier, Mikkel Damsgaard’s stunning free-kick after 30 minutes threatened another semi-final disappointment for Gareth Southgate’s side, three years on from losing in the last four of the World Cup.

But Simon Kjaer’s own goal eight minutes later and Kane’s extra-time winner means England will attempt to win the European Championship for the first time when they face Italy back at Wembley in Sunday’s final.

HARRY KANE FOR ENGLAND 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🦁

Raheem Sterling goes down in the box, and the ref points to the spot!

Kane eventually does the rest to send England to the #EURO2020 final.

LIVE | https://t.co/Rl0Qkp2S4s#EURO2020#OptusSportpic.twitter.com/UdKKTuR4ZT

— Optus Sport (@OptusSport) July 7, 2021

Defeat ends Denmark’s fairytale run to the semi-finals, the furthest they have been at a tournament since winning Euro 92.

The Danes’ tournament began in nearly-tragic circumstances when star midfielder Christian Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest in their opening game against Finland.

Kasper Hjulmand’s men have since ridden an emotional wave and played plenty of slick football in sticking four goals past Russia and Wales on their way to the semi-finals.

However, England’s huge advantage in having six of their seven matches on home soil has paid off as they were the physically fresher side in the latter stages.

Roared on by the deafening noise created by the biggest crowd for an England game in nearly two years, the hosts came flying out of the traps.

Kane’s teasing cross just evaded Sterling as he burst in towards the far post.

Denmark settled after a shaky start and started to pose a threat themselves as Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg shot straight at Jordan Pickford before Martin Braithwaite and Damsgaard saw efforts fly off target.

Not Simon Kjaer 😥

Denmark's talisman turns it into his own net, and England are right back in this.

Another own goal at #EURO2020 😩

LIVE on #OptusSport | https://t.co/Rl0Qkp2S4spic.twitter.com/NfJkNpb2tz

— Optus Sport (@OptusSport) July 7, 2021

Damsgaard stunner

England were on a national record run of seven consecutive clean sheets, but were finally breached in spectacular fashion by Damsgaard’s free-kick that flew into the top corner.

Any questions over how Southgate’s men would react to falling behind for the first time in the tournament were emphatically answered as England rapidly hit back.

Sterling should have equalised when he fired straight into Schmeichel’s midriff with just the ‘keeper to beat.

Moments later, the hosts were level when Kane freed Bukayo Saka down the right and Kjaer turned into his own net under pressure from Sterling.

Denmark’s exertions in being forced into a 9,000-kilometre (5,592 mile) round trip for their quarter-final win over the Czech Republic showed in the second half as they desperately tried to keep England at bay.

What are we saying then, penalty or not? pic.twitter.com/NuOQu1IKip

— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) July 7, 2021

Penalty controversy

Schmeichel produced another stunning save from Harry Maguire’s header low to his right, while Kane could not get a telling connection in a goalmouth scramble in the 96th minute.

Hjulmand made all five of his allotted substitutions before the 90 minutes were up to give his side an extra boost of energy, but they could not get any forward momentum.

Schmeichel kept his side in the game in extra time with another agile low save to his right to deny Kane before repelling a Jack Grealish piledriver.

England’s pressure finally paid off in controversial circumstances when Sterling was awarded a soft penalty for a challenge by Joakim Maehle in the 104th minute.

Fans of England celebrate their side's victory. Picture: Carl Recine - Pool/Getty Images

Schmeichel even denied Kane from the spot but the ball fell kindly for the England captain to sweep home his fourth goal of the tournament.

The penalty was widely panned by experts around the world.

Denmark legend and father of Kasper, Peter Schmeichel, said on BeIN Sports that the penalty decision was a tough pill to swallow.

“Made a really big mistake on the penalty,” he said.

“This will be debated for a long, long time.

“In a way, it’s a hard one to take because it’s not a penalty.”

“No one knows who gave away that penalty,” Socceroos legend John Aloisi said on Optus Sport.

“Was there enough contact? I don’t think there was .. in my opinion, it wasn’t a penalty.”

Mark Schwarzer added: “I didn’t see any touch whatsoever. Raheem Sterling obviously did well to milk the contact ... I think it was really harsh on Denmark.”

However the call could have been seen as balancing the ledger, after Kane was earlier brought down in the box without a call being made.

“That’s a penalty,” Stuart Pearce said on talkSPORT.

“VAR will hide behind the referee’s on-field decision.”

Southgate was the fall guy when England last made it to a Euro semi-final 25 years ago as he missed the decisive penalty in a shoot-out defeat to Germany.

But he has the ultimate shot at redemption come Sunday as England have the chance to finally bring a major trophy home after so many years of hurt

England 2 (Kjaer 39-og, Kane 104)

Denmark 1 (Damsgaard 30)