Scotland produced a gritty display to hold England to a stalemate while a determined Sweden brushed past Slovakia, courtesy a late penalty to put themselves within striking distance of the round of 16 qualification. Croatia, the finalists of the last Fifa World Cup, stare down the barrel after playing out a 1-1 draw versus Czech Republic.

England’s seven-match winning run came to a halt as Gareth Southgate’s men shared the spoils with old foes Scotland in an evenly battled contest at Wembley on Friday.

The England coach made two changes to the lineup from their opening Euro 2020 match against Croatia ahead of the clash with Scotland on Friday, bringing in full-backs Recee James and Luke Shaw, while visiting coach Steve Clarke made four changes to his side.

The Three Lions had the better of the chances early in the first half by far with John Stones smashing a header off the post and Mason Mount flashing wide shortly inside of the opening 20 minutes.

Skipper Harry Kane again lacked sharpness and was replaced by Marcus Rashford with 15 minutes remaining.

Gareth Southgate was understandably left frustrated after the match, having missed an opportunity to qualify for the round of 16.

"It was a frustrating night. You've got to give Scotland huge credit. If you're not going to win a game then it's important that you don't lose it. We can look at ourselves – starting with me – and do better. We didn't do enough to win the game tonight," he said.

England fans booed the team as they left the pitch and Southgate added: "Our fans are entitled to react however they want - we're disappointed - I understand their reaction, we're expected to beat Scotland, they'll be frustrated by it and in the end we have to deal with that."

The battle for qualification in Group D heated up with all the four teams remaining in contention for a place in the play-offs on the final matchday. England and Czech Republic have for points each, with the latter sitting on top of the table courtesy goal difference. Croatia and Scotland have one point each, and in a must win situation to give themselves any chance of qualifying.

Sweden on edge

A late Emil Fosberg penalty put Sweden on the edge of qualification to the knockout phase as they temporarily went on to top of Group E after they edged out Slovakia 1-0 in Saint Petersburg on Friday.

Sweden's young star Alexander Isak put in another impressive performance, acting as the lone bright spark in an otherwise quiet affair for his side. The Real Sociedad striker was his country's most dangerous player during the 0-0 draw against Spain in their Euro 2020 opener.

Sweden are unbeaten so far in 2021, having won six and drawn one of their seven international matches in the calendar year, conceding just one goal across the seven matches.

Speaking to the media after the match, Sweden coach Janne Andersson sounded confident. "It's good to have four points after two games. We've played seven games this year and conceded just one goal. Our attack deserved more today, they were fantastic at times."

The coach made no effort to hide his admiration for the 21-year old Isak. "It's really good to see him on the pitch, he's a huge talent. He's a young player who's still got a lot of room for improvement. There is a lot more to come from him. He played really well today," he said.

"It's a pity. If they hadn't scored the penalty, we would probably have got a draw and it would have been a 'golden' point. We were a little more passive in the second half and we paid dearly for it," Slovakia captain Marek Hamšík said.

Croatia in trouble

Patrik Schick zoomed ahead in the race for the Golden Boot scoring his third goal of Euro 2020, although under controversial circumstances, as the Czech Republic drew 1-1 with Croatia in Group D.

The Czech Republic striker fired home from the penalty spot as a controversial penalty was awarded to the Czechs in the 37^th minute of the game.

Returning centre-back Dejan Lovren was penalised for inadvertently catching Schick in the face as the pair jumped during a Czech Republic corner. VAR intervened and after a check of the pitchside monitor, referee Carlos Del Cerro Grande awarded the penalty.

But Croatia hit back almost immediately after half-time after a wonderful solo effort from Ivan Perisic. Both sides had chances as the half wore on, with Nikola Vlasic missing the best chance to win it when he skied an effort across the face of goal.

After the game, both coaches accepted the draw as a fair result. “At the end both teams deserved a draw. We had a bad start, we were slow and we were trying to set unnecessary pressure; we were not compact. But, after the goal, we played better. Everything is still in our hands,” Croatia coach Zlatko Dalić said.

"I must say I was surprised by how much possession we had in the first half. Our opponents did not press us that high and they let us play – we had some half-chances and scored from the penalty. I am sorry for the goal we conceded soon after the restart as it was caused by our loss of focus," Czech Republic coach Jaroslav Šilhavý said after the match.

Today's matches:

Hungary vs France (6:30 pm IST)
Venue: Puskas Arena

Portugal vs Germany (9:30 pm IST)
Venue: Allianz Arena

Spain vs Poland (12:30 am IST, Saturday)
Venue: Estadio Olimpico de Sevilla