69’

The first real chance came in the sixty-ninth minute. Demien received in the right half-space with a Ukraine defender stepping out to him and another shutting the lane into Kane, the wall closing in front of him.

He didn’t dribble into it. His Andrea Pirlo’s Deep-Lying Playmaker vision opened the picture instead — Saka pinned wide, Kane dropping a step short, Bellingham starting a run through the inside channel before anyone tracked it.

Rather than forcing the obvious through ball into the crowd, he rolled it into Kane’s feet with his 88 Short Passing weighting it perfectly, and Kane cushioned it back first-time into the channel Bellingham was already attacking. Bellingham took one touch and struck it low — thwack — forcing the Ukraine keeper to fling himself down to his near post and parry it behind.

The Wembley crowd came up off their seats with a roar, the first real surge of belief all night, because England had finally cut through rather than circled.

73’

The breakthrough came four minutes later. England held the ball after a cleared cross, and Rice won the second ball on the edge of the area before nudging it into Demien before Ukraine could step out and reset.

Demien took it facing the pitch with the nearest Ukraine midfielder rushing at him to block the pass into Kane, and Saka stayed wide to pin the fullback while Kane dropped short again to drag his marker. The obvious ball was into Kane’s feet — and Ukraine’s line leaned that way, reading it.

That was the half-beat Demien waited for. Bellingham had started his run early, slicing between the center-back and the fullback, and the moment the defenders shifted toward Kane the seam cracked open for an instant.

His Mesut Özil’s Eye-of-Needle technique threaded it through — the inside of his boot slipping the ball between two defenders’ legs and out the far side, his 88 Short Passing putting it exactly into Bellingham’s stride before the gap could shut.

Bellingham reached it inside the box, took it across the diving keeper with one touch, and rolled it into the bottom corner — fsshh.

ENGLAND 1-0 UKRAINE

Wembley erupted, the noise crashing down off the arch, and "Sweet Caroline" started up somewhere in the lower tier before the goal had even settled. Bellingham sprinted toward the corner with both arms wide, and on his way he pointed back hard at Demien, shouting, "THAT BALL! WHERE’D YOU SEE THAT?" before the others swallowed him near the flag.

Commentary Booth

"Oh, that is a gorgeous pass!" the commentator said over the song. "Walter waits for Ukraine to commit to Kane, then threads it through the eye of a needle for Bellingham! He’s been on the pitch thirteen minutes and he’s unlocked the whole thing!"

78’ - 84’

Ukraine had to open up now, chasing the game, and England’s job shifted from breaking them down to managing the lead without inviting trouble.

Demien dropped his work back into control. His Claudio Marchisio’s Balanced Engine kept him connected to both phases — supporting the edge of the box when England pushed, then sliding back beside Rice to block the counter lane when possession turned over, the two of them no longer caught chasing the same spaces. In the eighty-first minute he read a loose Ukraine pass in midfield and stepped across to cut it out before the break could start, then laid it simply into Kane rather than gambling forward.

Kane kept talking from the front, a hand up to slow it down, a shout to push it on, England moving the ball with the calm of a side that had the game where it wanted it.

87’

The second goal belonged to the front line. Ukraine pushed high and committed numbers, and Pickford rolled it short to Stones, who fed Rice. Rice turned away from a presser and slid it into Demien, and Demien took one touch before releasing Saka early down the right rather than holding it.

Saka attacked his fullback, cut inside onto his left, then slipped it into Kane, who laid it off first-time into Rashford’s run. Rashford opened his body and stroked it low across the keeper into the far corner — thwack-fsshh.

ENGLAND 2-0 UKRAINE

"Sweet Caroline" swelled again, the whole bowl on its feet, and Rashford slid toward the corner with Saka leaping onto him.

Commentary Booth

"That’s the move of the night!" the commentator said. "Quick out from the back, Walter springs Saka, Kane links, Rashford finishes — Ukraine opened up and England punished them clinically. The substitution changed this game, but the finish is all front-line quality."

90+4’

Ukraine pushed for a consolation in stoppage time, but England held their shape and saw it out, Rice and Demien shielding in front of the back four while Kane chased the corners to run the clock.

The whistle came.

Fweeeeet! Fweeeeet! Fweeeeeeeeet!

FULL TIME: ENGLAND 2-0 UKRAINE

Wembley applauded the team off — not a demolition, but a block solved and a lead managed without panic, the kind of professional night that won qualifying groups.

The system surfaced as Demien walked toward the tunnel.

「MATCH COMPLETE」

「Appearance: Substitute」

「Minutes Played: 30」

「Pass Accuracy: 90%」

「Chances Created: 2」

「Progressive Passes: 4」

「Defensive Block Broken: Achieved」

「Reward: 70 MP」

「Bonus: Goal Contribution For England — Completed」

「Assist: 1」

「Bonus Reward: 5 SP」

「Current Balance: 637 TP | 363 SP | 1128 MP」

Demien read it once and let it go, because England hadn’t won through him — they’d won because the players around him had read the change and moved with it.

Wembley Stadium — England Dressing Room

Post-Match

The room moved into recovery — cooldown work, hydration bottles being handed round, the physios calling players over one by one. Demien sat near his locker with his boots off and a towel round his neck, the adrenaline still draining out of his legs, when his phone started buzzing harder than usual against the bench.

He assumed it was match reaction at first.

Then the first message resolved.

Marcus: Bro. Are you seeing this shit??

Two lockers down, Rashford was staring at his own phone with his eyebrows up, and he glanced over before going back to it.

Another came in.

Luca: You stupid bastard. Ballon d’Or nominee?? I was going to congratulate you properly but now I’m just annoyed.

Then Marco, flat and fast.

Marco: Call me when you’ve seen the list. Do NOT talk to any journalist tonight. Nothing.

Demien’s thumb slowed over the screen.

He opened the article one of them had sent.

Not the Kopa Trophy. Not Golden Boy.

The Ballon d’Or shortlist — the thirty nominees for 2023, the names built off last season.

His was on it.

Wembley Stadium — England Dressing Room

Post-Match

The dressing room noise blurred behind him for a moment — players moving, laughing, calling for ice, a physio reading out the recovery schedule — while Demien sat still with the screen in his hand.

Rashford was typing again. Luca’s name flashed with another message stacking on top of the last. Then Sophia’s name lit the top of the screen.

He didn’t open any of them yet.

He kept looking at the list, at his own name sitting in a column of players he’d grown up watching, the Atalanta season that had put it there feeling like it belonged to a different person in a different country.