England will head to the World Cup on a six-game winless run, but eased some of the pressure on manager Gareth Southgate by fighting back from 2-0 down to salvage a 3-3 draw against Germany on Monday.
The Three Lions had already been relegated from the top tier of the Nations League and the knives were out for Southgate after his faith in Harry Maguire backfired for two German goals early in the second half.
Maguire has been publicly backed by the England boss despite being dropped at club level by Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag.
Ilkay Gundogan slotted home the opener from the penalty spot after Maguire had gifted possession to Jamal Musiala and then chopped down the Bayern Munich midfielder.
Kai Havertz then curled brilliantly into the top corner after Maguire was dispossed in the German half.
England had failed to score from open play in any of their opening five games in Group A3.
But two goals in three minutes completely changed the atmosphere around Wembley and the scrutiny on Southgate’s position heading to Qatar.
Luke Shaw was also restored to the starting line-up despite his lack of game time at Manchester United and started the fightback by volleying in at the back post.
Moments later, two of Southgate’s substitutes combined to deadly effect as Bukayo Saka set up Mason Mount to curl home.
Harry Kane looked to have completed the turnaround from the penalty spot seven minutes from time after Nico Schlotterbeck’s challenge on Jude Bellingham was punished following a VAR review.
Yet, there was more drama to come as Nick Pope spilled Serge Gnabry’s shot and Havertz pounced on the rebound to snatch Germany a point.
