Without a penalty awarded to the Three Lions at the very end of the match for a handball after recourse to the VAR and viewing of the images on the edge of the field, the draw (1-1) would have better reflected the balance of power eight months from the start. of the World Cup in Qatar.

The joy of English striker Harry Kane, after scoring the second goal from the penalty spot against Switzerland, during their friendly match, March 26, 2022 at Wembley Stadium in London Ben STANSALL AFP

Well organized and having created more dangerous actions on the whole, even if they were only threatening in phases, the Helvetii seem to have a solid working base, despite this first defeat under the orders of Murat Yakin.

For his part, England coach Gareth Southgate has seen that a system of three central defenders is not the most natural for his players, even if it has sometimes worked well for them in the past.

But with an overhauled defence, whether by choice or because of injuries, the lessons of this match will be put into perspective and England still recorded a 21st consecutive match without defeat (17 wins, 4 draws), the most long series of its history.

Southgate had thus decided to leave Harry Maguire on the bench at kick-off to launch Crystal Palace player Marc Guéhi.

Even John Stones' warm-up injury did not return the Red Devil to the starting lineup, with the England manager preferring Arsenal's Ben White.

The absences of Reece James and Trent Alexander Arnold, also injured, also opened the door for Southampton's Kyle Walker Peters, on the right, while Conor Gallagher, another Palace player, was started as a right attacking midfielder, setting Mason back Take it up a notch.

Entering at the end of the match, Tyrick Mitchell – still a player playing under the orders of Patrick Vieira at Palace – also had his first cape, becoming the 100th player used by the coach since he was at the head of the Three Lions.

Kane four goals shy of Rooney's record

This gave an often laborious offensive animation, whether for lack of automatisms or of conviction, like the soft header (70th) of Harry Kane, useful in construction, but not very successful in front of goal.

This did not prevent the captain from getting even closer to the 53 goals in the selection of the record holder, Wayne Rooney, by transforming the winning penalty (2-1, 78th).

With 49 achievements to his name, the Tottenham player overtook Gary Lineker and caught up with Bobby Charlton in 2nd place.

English striker Harry Kane scores the second goal from the penalty spot against Switzerland during their friendly match on March 26, 2022 at Wembley Stadium in London Adrian DENNIS AFP

Before that, England had to whip to come back to score.

At the heart of the first act, a too loose marking had allowed Breel Embolo to place a crossed header well out of reach of Jordan Pickford to open the scoring (0-1, 22nd) and, two minutes later, the Everton goalkeeper had deflected on his bar a recovery from Fabian Frei which could have made the break.

The joy of Swiss striker Breel Embolo, after opening the scoring against England, during their friendly match, March 26, 2022 at Wembley Stadium in London Ben STANSALL AFP

At the very end of the first period, good pressing from Gallagher and Walker-Peters on the right allowed the former to cross back for Luke Shaw, launched, whose shot from the left left Jonas Omlin no chance, for the Only 5th goal from the left side in 299 games with Manchester United and England.

English defender Luke Shaw equalizes against Swiss goalkeeper Jonas Omlin during their friendly match on March 26, 2022 at Wembley Stadium in London Adrian DENNIS AFP

On Tuesday, England will host Côte d'Ivoire, beaten in extremis (2-1) by France on Friday, while Switzerland will host Kosovo.

But it is the date of April 1, when the draw for the World Cup groups in Qatar will be held, which is already in everyone's mind.

© 2022 AFP