08:23 PM BST
32 min ENG 0 AUS 0
England hold the ball at the back, but the Socceroos are well disciplined in defence, knowing when to press and when to hold off.
Colwill and Bacchus get involved in some handbags after the English player gives away a foul. Bacchus gives Colwill a shove, and the Chelsea player retorts with a shove of his own. Both players are shown yellow cards – that’s one for Colwill on his debut.
Gallagher then receives England’s second booking in quick succession for a late challenge.
08:19 PM BST
28 min ENG 0 AUS 0
But now it’s Australia’s turn to be caught knapping. Ollie Watkins with a well timed run is released by Maddison to create a one-on-one. The striker shows good composure to take it round the keeper. But as he does so, he’s pushed slightly wide. He tries to hook his foot around the ball to steer it back across into the beckoning net, but he gets too much on it. With the defenders back-pedaling, the ball beats everyone and ricochets out off the far post.
08:16 PM BST
28 min ENG 0 AUS 0
Australia have a corner, and there’s suddenly danger for England again. They can’t get the ball away and it pinballs around until it’s eventually fired over the bar by Australia. England get away with one.
08:14 PM BST
24 min ENG 0 AUS 0
Grealish releases Maddison who find space on the left flank. The forward beats his man and darts to the corner of the box, looking to caress one into the far corner. It all looks good until he lets fly, but oh dear…the ball catches the wrong side of his boot and cannons out for a throw-on. The only person troubled by that is the fan sitting in row D.
Maddison checks the turf – it must have been a bobble in the pitch…
08:11 PM BST
21 min ENG 0 AUS 0
Fantastic opportunity Australia. After England lose the ball up top, Australia move it to the right flank and whip a ball in to Goodwin around the penalty area. The forward takes it first time on the swivel and makes a good connection with his right boot, flashing a sighter past the post of Johnstone.
08:08 PM BST
19 min ENG 0 AUS 0
England look comfortable in possession and are finding joy up the left flank through Grealish who is proving a nuisance holding up his opposite man.
England win a free kick which looks a very harsh decision from the referee. Australia’s midfielder Burgess appeared to get to the ball first and had his ankle stood on by Gallagher for his efforts. The award of the free kick against him adds insult to injury.
08:06 PM BST
18 min ENG 0 AUS 0
Australia’s midfield have dropped deep, allowing England to hold possession further up the field. Grealish has it left before England move it round the dish, probing for an opportunity, This is good from Southgate’s side.
08:04 PM BST
15 min ENG 0 AUS 0
Despite the greasy conditions, England have looked to play so far and shown a twinkle in their eye when in space.
Southgate spoke about wanting his fringe players to be hungry for opportunities, and you can see that in their approach so far, especially from the like of Watkins.
After Alexander-Arnold plays a neat through ball in an attempt to release Watkins, Australia intercept and end up winning a corner.
The ball is bent in towards the back post but the whistle goes for a foul on Henderson. There looks to be minimal contact, and the skipper is back on his feet soon enough.
08:01 PM BST
12 min ENG 0 AUS 0
Nearly a goal for Australia. England have plenty of men behind the ball, but Baccus moves in from the right and looks to shape a shot/cross to the back post. The ball takes a deflection and looks to be angling wickedly into the far corner, but it is well watched and beaten around the post by a diving Johnstone. England must be careful of Australia on the break.
07:59 PM BST
10 min ENG 0 AUS 0
A lovely touch from Watkins to turn his man before looking to release Maddison, but the Tottenham player slips and the ball ends up just behind him.
07:57 PM BST
7 min ENG 0 AUS 0
A chance goes begging for England. Gallagher puts in a sharp underlapping run to receive the ball off Bowen before flashing it across the box. Maddison gets a touch on the ball before it ricochets through the legs of Grealish.
England’s much changed attack looks sharp.
07:55 PM BST
6 min ENG 0 AUS 0
Despite England having the majority of possession in these opening encounters, it is Australia who have had the best of the opportunities to give the England keeper some early touches. They have played a form of gegenpress to put pressure on England’s back four.
07:53 PM BST
5 min ENG 0 AUS 0
Goalkeeper Sam Johnstone has another bite of the cherry and clears with aplomb this time.
07:52 PM BST
3 min ENG 0 AUS 0
Danger for England as Australia knock the ball back into the box following a throw-on. It bounces with no England player picking it up, before Alexander-Arnold takes charge and clears. After a brief back and forth, England play up-field and hold possession around half-way.
07:50 PM BST
2 min ENG 0 AUS 0
Slightly disappointing first touch for England goalkeeper Sam Johnstone who wellies the ball into touch for an Australian throw.
07:49 PM BST
1 min ENG 0 AUS 0
And we’re off! With the inclement weather, there’s a zip to the surface early on as England retain possession at the back and move the ball around.
07:47 PM BST
A moment’s silence
With the rain beating down, England, wearing black arm bands, gather on one side of the centre circle with arms behind their backs. Australia mirror them on the other side of the circle.
The silence is well-observed by the crowd, and after half a minute or so, the referee blows her whistle. Kick-off is next.
07:45 PM BST
England anthem
England have sung God Save The King. The teams line up for photos – a treasured moment for Levi Colwill who earns his first cap.
Henderson leads England and takes part on the coin toss. Next up, a period of silence before kick-off.
07:43 PM BST
Nigel Farage:
07:42 PM BST
The teams are out
Australia, dressed in gold, sing their anthem first. Next up, it will be England, before both teams observe a minute’s silence.
07:41 PM BST
Henderson returns as captain following LGBTQ+ backlash
Two months after Jordan Henderson controversially signed for Saudi side Al-Ettifaq, which led to widespread condemnation from LGBTQ+ supporters, the former Liverpool captain leads out England tonight.
The 33-year-old midfielder’s critics include former England player Jill Scott, who is part of Channel 4’s punditry panel for tonight’s friendly.
“I’m a Jordan Henderson fan … but, for me, the fact that I couldn’t go and watch him represent his team, that’s what doesn’t sit well for me,” said Jill Scott while on duty as a television pundit last month.
Despite public backlash, Gareth Southgate has stood by Henderson. Speaking ahead of England’s fixture against Ukraine last month, amidst threats of protests at Henderson’s selection, he said: “I don’t pick the team based on external reaction as you’ll be well aware over the course of seven years.”
07:26 PM BST
FA’s response to Hamas attacks on Israel has been utterly spineless
After turning the Wembley arch red for Turkey, blue and yellow for Ukraine, and every colour of the rainbow for the sake of a “One Love” armband, the Football Association decides it cannot countenance any light show for Israel.
For a decade, the national game has draped itself in a cloak of virtuousness, hitching its wagon to every fashionable cause. Shoelaces for LGBTQ+ rights, taking the knee for Black Lives Matter: you name it, the FA has championed it. But now, confronted with the gravest geopolitical crisis in a generation, the governing body has found the one subject it dare not touch.
Go here for Oliver Brown’s full report.
07:14 PM BST
The Australia team
Former Brighton and Arsenal goalkeeper Mat Ryan captains the Socceroos, while Leicester’s Harry Souttar and Cameron Burgess of Ipswich are also on the team sheet.
Australia XI: Ryan, Strain, Souttar, Burgess, Rowles, Baccus, Irvine, Metcalfe, Boyle, Duke, Goodwin
Subs: Glover, Degenek, Bos, Silvera, Borrello, Mabil, Redmayne, O’Neill, Behich, Miller, Luongo, Circati
07:10 PM BST
The England team
Jordan Henderson captains England as Gareth Southgate makes wholesale changes to his side.
The Al-Ettifaq midfielder’s inclusion in last month’s squad was controversial following his switch to the Saudi Pro League but he retains his spot this time around and leads out the hosts.
In a much-changed side, Chelsea defender Levi Colwill makes his senior debut at left-back as Lewis Dunk and Fikayo Tomori partner in the heart of defence.
Trent Alexander-Arnold completes the back-four while Crystal Palace goalkeeper Sam Johnstone earns a rare outing.
Jack Grealish returns having missed the September fixtures through injury while Jarrod Bowen and Ollie Watkins are also selected.
England XI: Johnstone, Alexander-Arnold, Tomori, Dunk, Colwill, Maddison, Gallagher, Henderson, Bowen, Watkins, Grealish
Subs: Ramsdale, Pickford, Trippier, Maguire, Stones, Guehi, Walker, Rice, Rashford, Kane, Foden, Phillips, Bellingham, Nketiah
Injuries: Saka, Wilson, Eze, Chilwell, Shaw, Mings, James
06:53 PM BST
Former FA chairman David Bernstein: Football has turned its back on its own
It gives me no pleasure to clearly state that the top end of English football is increasingly driven by greed, commercialism, vested interests, posturing, and double-standards.
This is clearly apparent in the reaction to the murderous attack on Israel, including the torture and abuse of women and children…The so-called football family has turned its back on some of its own.
Go here for David Bernstein’s exclusive report in The Daily Telegraph.
06:47 PM BST
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06:45 PM BST
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06:44 PM BST
The FA’s statement on its decision not to illuminate Wembley arch
“On Friday evening, we will remember the innocent victims of the devastating events in Israel and Palestine.
“Our thoughts are with them, and their families and friends in England and Australia and with all the communities who are affected by this ongoing conflict. We stand for humanity and an end to the death, violence, fear and suffering.
“England and Australia players will wear black armbands during their match at Wembley Stadium and there will also be a period of silence held before kick-off.
“Following discussions with partners and external stakeholders, we will only permit flags, replica kits and other representations of nationality for the competing nations inside Wembley Stadium for the upcoming matches against Australia [Oct 13] and Italy [Oct 17].
“The British Red Cross have also launched an emergency appeal to support the people affected by the humanitarian crisis in the region, and we will promote this appeal within the stadium on Friday.”
06:40 PM BST
FA Wembley arch decision shows ‘Jews don’t count’, says Government’s anti-Semitism adviser
Lord John Mann, who has advised the Government on anti-Semitism since 2019, accused the FA of letting down England’s Jewish community and demonstrating “a failure of leadership.”
Lord Mann had lobbied the FA to light up the Wembley arch in the blue and white colours of the Jewish prayer shawl, rather than the Israeli flag, in the days leading up to tonight’s game and has directly expressed his disappointment to the organisation for refusing to do so.
Lord Mann said: “I don’t speak for the Jewish community, but I already know what they think about this. People have rung me and messaged me repeatedly from across the Jewish community and the message is that, in terms of football, ‘Jews don’t count’. That is what people are saying. Of course, the FA have let down the Jewish community.
“It’s a failure of leadership at the top of football and their arguments to Parliament about a football regulator and not needing one or that the FA should be the regulator are dramatically weakened by it.”
Lord Mann informed the FA why he felt a minute’s silence at a game being played during the Jewish Sabbath would not be appropriate and has now asked them to name the Britons killed in Israel during the Hamas attack on the Wembley big screens.
“I pointed out to them that a minute’s silence on Friday was useless because there won’t be any Jewish people there. It’s a Friday evening match. I explicitly pointed that out to them. I also told them that the last time there was a minute’s silence for the Jewish community that I can recall was after the Munich Olympics, when the FA called one, and it wasn’t successful. So I told them that as well.
“I’ve expressed my disappointment directly to them and what I’ve asked and what I hope is that they will name the British citizens, whose names are known, who have been murdered. On the big screens. Only some names are known, but I hope they will have the decency to do that.”
06:23 PM BST
England arrive at Wembley around an hour ago
06:22 PM BST
Ange Postecoglou takes aim at Australia – saying he will not manage them again
Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou has vowed never to manage Australia again because he says the country is not really interested in football.
Postecoglou is expected to be at Wembley tonight for England’s friendly against Australia, who he managed for four years.
But having quit the job in 2017, just two weeks after securing qualification for the Russia World Cup, Postecoglou believes all the problems that convinced him to walk out still exist.
“I walked away from a World Cup,” said Postecoglou, who subsequently resumed his managerial career in Japan before joining Celtic. “We qualified and I walked away. The reason I walked away was I just didn’t enjoy what I was doing.
“I think I’ve said all along, it’s not just doing the job and winning games of football. It’s got to be a higher purpose and my higher purpose in Australia was to change the game. I just don’t think that will happen.”
Asked if he saw himself ever managing the Socceroos again, Postecoglou, who became the Premier League’s first Australian manager this summer, firmly answered: “No. I gave up that fight. It’s a much easier space for me to live in because I was so frustrated for so long. It was my biggest frustration. One of my major drivers for doing what I did was to change football in Australia. And that’s the reason I left. I felt I hadn’t made an impact at all.
“That’s easier for me to deal with than to think maybe I still can now with what I’m doing. I just think I’d be disappointed, so I’d prefer to think it’s not going to happen.”
Despite his reservations over returning to coach his native team, Postecoglou was brought into camp this week by Socceroos manager Graham Arnold to gee up the troops.
“The speeches that Ange said yesterday were very similar about what we’ve been saying for years with doing it for the kids in Australia, the nation and your family and people who are close by and the supporters,” said Arnold.
For more on Postecoglou’s tenure with Australia – and why he knew it was time to leave – check out Matt Law’s full report here.
06:07 PM BST
The last time England played Australia – a 2-1 thriller at Upton Park
05:55 PM BST
Grealish on England’s ‘intense’ competition and being a ‘group of brothers’
Jack Grealish praised the “unbelievable” talent among the current crop of England wingers but said stiff competition for places does not come between them.
The Manchester City forward returns tonight after suffering a dead leg against Sheffield United in August that left him on crutches due to a 20-centimetre haematoma in his thigh.
The 28-year-old will be hoping to maintain his fitness to retain his place in the England squad, but he faces fierce competition from the likes of Jarrod Bowen, James Maddison and Eberechi Eze, who have added to the numbers in the last year. Raheem Sterling cannot currently get a game.
Grealish says there is competition but also a camaraderie that sees players arrive and stay on England duty even when they are injured or suspended. And the fight to be first choice in the forwards is intense.
“If you put six or seven of us wingers in that same category it is probably the best any international team or club-level team have got,” he said. “There’s [Bukayo] Saka, [Phil] Foden, [Marcus] Rashford, myself, obviously Jarrod has been on fire and now he’s here. There’s people who aren’t here like Raheem and Eze got injured.
“We feel like there’s unfinished business with that. We feel that now is probably the perfect time to succeed together. You look at the players we have and it’s when you do think about it properly it’s unbelievable, the talent we have
“Going back in the day, they had such a talented squad but I don’t know if they really got on with each other but when we come here, we proper get on, and I’m not just saying that. I don’t know if people would even like fake injuries or whatever but people here, they get injured and they want to come here to see the guys instead of staying at their club.
“Last month I was injured and I came and met up with the guys, stayed for a night. Saka came and did it. Luke Shaw did. I think it’s brilliant and I think you need that. It’s all good having the talent and stuff like that but you need bits of everything. It sounds cringe but when you are a group of brothers playing together, a group of friends.”
05:31 PM BST
Ollie Watkins – England’s most prolific player over last year
Gareth Southgate has challenged fringe players in the England squad to stake their claim against Australia as the countdown begins towards Euro 2024.
There are probably only six matches before Southgate names his squad for next summer’s tournament, and he is likely to rest key players tonight with England due to face Italy next week in a crucial Euros qualifier.
Among those players in with an outside chance of making the Euros squad is Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins, who last week received his first international call-up since March 2022.
The 27-year-old may have gone under some fans’ radars, but he has has contributed to more Premier League goals in the last year (25) than any other player.
“His England recall has been a long time coming,” writes Matt Law.
05:20 PM BST
England’s squad to face Australia
Bukayo Saka has pulled out of the England training squad after a hamstring injury ruled him out of Arsenal’s win over Manchester City on Sunday.
Saka reported to England’s St George’s Park on Monday but his withdrawal was confirmed soon after, having not been able to train since limping off during Arsenal’s Champions League defeat by Lens. Gareth Southgate has not called up a replacement.
Goalkeepers: Sam Johnstone (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)
Defenders: Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Lewis Dunk (Brighton & Hove Albion), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle United), Kyle Walker (Manchester City)
Midfielders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Jordan Henderson (Al-Ettifaq), Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City), Declan Rice (Arsenal)
Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United) Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), James Maddison (Tottenham Hotspur), Eddie Nketiah (Arsenal), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
Southgate’s match-day squad will be announced soon.
04:58 PM BST
Wembley arch controversy looms large
Hello and welcome to Telegraph Sport’s football coverage as England take on Australia at Wembley Stadium for the first time in more than seven years.
England come into the game off the back of a mixed set of results, having drawn 1-1 against Ukraine in August before rallying to win 3-1 away against Scotland, with Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, and Harry Kane all getting onto the scoresheet.
Tonight may only be a friendly, but Gareth Southgate’s side will look to use the fixture to gather some much needed momentum ahead of next week’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Italy where they can seal their place at next summer’s tournament.
The last time these two sides met was at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light in 2016 when England, under the command of Roy Hodgson, secured a 2-1 victory thanks to a 75th-minute winner from Wayne Rooney.
The England squad may be dazzling with more star quality these days, but besides a smattering of goal-fests against second rate opposition, they have a checkered record against top-tier sides over the last season and will need to hit their stride soon if they are to fulfill their potential at the Euros next year.
“It’s one of the great sporting rivalries and if Australia have any sniff that we’re not taking the game seriously, then we will be in trouble,” Southgate said. “We have good players and we need to give people opportunities to show what they can do.”
Australia, meanwhile, will be hoping for a change of fortune having not managed a win in their last three fixtures.
Speaking ahead of tonight’s match, Australia manager Graham Arnold said: “I know one thing is that [the players] will run until they drop, the energy will be there and they’ll put in the performance of their lives.
“We aim to win. We’re not going out there to lose or draw the game, we’re going out there to win the game.”
However, any excitement in the build-up to tonight’s clash has been eclipsed by off-field controversy over the Football Association’s refusal to illuminate the Wembley arch in recognition of the Hamas terror attack against Israel.
Instead, players are due to wear black armbands while a period of silence will be observed to remember the victims of the conflict.
The decision not to illuminate the arch was slammed by Britain’s Secretary for Culture, Media and Sport Lucy Frazer, who posted a message on X to say that she was “extremely disappointed”.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the FA’s Inclusion Advisory Board (IAB) Deji Davies has come under fire for Tweets dating back to 2013 in which he advocated boycotting Isreael as hosts of the European Under-21 Championship.
Addressing the FA’s decision, Southgate offered his “thoughts and feelings to everybody who has suffered” but said “whatever decision they came to would have been criticised in one way or another”.