These days, many national teams are involved in make-or-break World Cup qualifiers, but some are involved in casual kickabouts that aren’t much more than a nice friendly gathering and an opportunity to sell some tickets. Such was the feel of the friendly match between England and Switzerland in London. Although the match was played at a reduced pace and intensity, the home crowd could at least revel in watching their national team come back from behind and win 2-1 against a quality opponent.Harry Kane is now England’s joint-second all-time leading goal scorer with 49 goals ✨ pic.twitter.com/dQf7atTuRR— B/R Football (@brfootball) March 26, 2022 The Swiss have been a tough side to beat in the past year or so. They eliminated world champions France from last year’s European Championship and they condemned Italy to the qualifying play-offs for Qatar 2022… and we all know how that one ended. Since their former player took the coaching job last year, Switzerland has only conceded two goals in seven games going into this friendly at Wembley Stadium.Borussia Monchengladbach star Breel Embolo gave the visitors the lead with a great header from a Xherdan Shaqiri cross, beating the excellent Jordan Pickford.
England boss Gareth Southgate had already known that their opponents were very tough, but after Embolo’s goal – it’s become even more apparent.The Swiss nearly doubled the lead just a few minutes later, but this time Pickford pulled off a terrific reflex save to push Fabian Frei header onto his crossbar and away. It was a shakey period of the match for the home team, that could have easily seen Switzerland race into a three-goal lead. But somehow, the Three Lions managed to stay in the game – and managed to draw level just before the break.The visitors were dwelling on the ball, giving Kyle Walker-Peters the chance to lay the ball off for Conor Gallagher in a dangerous position. Two England debutants sparked a move that gave Manchester United man Luke Shaw a chance to fire from the edge of the box. Goalkeeper Jonas Omlin had no chance to stop it and it was 1-1. The second half had a strong friendly vibe. Neither set of players looked too keen on putting in the effort that would really put a spark into the match. England were probably the better team, with captain Harry Kane and Gallagher combining but eventually squandering a promising-looking counter-attack.Arsenal defender Ben White had an ambitious long-range effort sail over the bar as the game looked pretty depleted as both managers reached to their subs benches and vastly changed their line-ups.But then, a lapse in concentration came for the Swiss and they were made to pay. Steven Zuber handled in his box after another debutant Marc Guehi tried a header and the referee pointed to the spot after a brief video review. Up stepped Kane to dispatch the spot-kick and give England the win.In other notable friendlies, last World Cup runners-up Croatia drew with their neighbours Slovenia in Doha, Belgium drew 2-2.