Serbia v England: Jude Bellingham strikes as Three Lions edge to victory at Euro 2024

Jude Bellingham got England's Euro 2024 campaign off to a winning start on Sunday night but a nervy 1-0 victory over Serbia in Gelsenkirchen failed to justify the Three Lions' billing as pre-tournament favourites.

Bellingham, though, was in a class of his own as the Real Madrid midfielder's powerful header on 13 minutes crowned a fine individual display.

Expectations of England have rarely been higher ahead of a major tournament, but they had won just one in five matches going into the game, including a 1-0 defeat to Iceland in their final warm-up match before departing for Germany.

Skipper Harry Kane told the BBC afterwards: "We knew it was going to be a tough game, Serbia pose a lot of threats and have some good players. They will make it a battle for you and I think we dealt with it really well. There was a spell in the second half where we got camped in our box and we found it hard to get out but it was an important win tonight.

"It's a tough game. They are a tough team and have good players. We stood up to it well and it is good to get the three points and [for us] to progress. It's good that we got the win today."

Restored to full strength, Gareth Southgate's Euro 2020 finalists made a dominant start to the game. Serbia coach Dragan Stojkovic saluted Bellingham as a future Ballon d'Or winner before kick off and he more than lived up to the hype.

The 20-year-old played with the swagger of a newly-crowned Champions League winner as he bewitched the Serbian midfield. Bellingham also showed his hunger and determination to score goals as he broke the deadlock on 13 minutes.

He started the move before surging into the box to meet Bukayo Saka's cross with a bullet header into the top corner.

England were in complete