Gareth Southgate’s side battled hard to earn the statement victory that has so often eluded England, and it was their talisman of this tournament, Raheem Sterling, who made the decisive breakthrough.
Sterling, who scored the winners against Croatia and the Czech Republic in the group stage, steered in Luke Shaw’s cross after 75 minutes to send England’s fans, with more than 40,000 inside Wembley, into wild celebrations.
The win was secured with another moment of significance four minutes from time when captain Harry Kane, who had once again struggled to influence the game, headed in from substitute Jack Grealish’s perfect delivery for his first goal of Euro 2020.
England were again thankful for the brilliance of Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, who has yet to concede a goal in the tournament and saved crucially from Timo Werner and Kai Havertz in each half, while Thomas Muller missed a glorious chance to equalise before Kane struck.
England now face Ukraine in the quarter-finals in Rome on Saturday after they scored a last-minute winner in extra time to beat Sweden.
