The day after the night before for England fans as Three Lions supporters nurse hangovers after partying into the early hours following the team’s breathtaking win over the Netherlands

Three Lions supporters are nursing hangovers today after partying into the early hours following the team’s breathtaking win over the Netherlands last night.

England fans are daring to dream after the team moved one step closer to Euro 2024 glory by beating the Netherlands 2-1 in a dramatic semi-final.

Many were out all night celebrating the win after late substitute Ollie Watkins sent the nation into delirium when he fired a stunning strike with just seconds remaining to send Gareth Southgate’s men into Sunday’s final against Spain in Berlin.

Watkins had replaced captain Harry Kane, who had earlier equalised for England with a penalty in the first-half – cancelling out Xavi Simons’ wonder strike which had given the Netherlands the lead inside seven minutes. 

But fans will be feeling the effects of their celebrations this morning as they drag themselves to work.

England’s star-studded squad were supported in Dortmund by an army of WAGs and celebrities including Adele and Ed Sheeran as they reached their first ever Euros final on foreign soil. 

Southgate’s squad will now attempt to go one step further than Euro 2020, when they also reached the final but lost to Italy on penalties at Wembley.

Nervous England fans suffered early heartbreak when Simons opened the scoring with a thunderbolt shortly after kick-off. But their agony turned into euphoria when Kane equalised from the spot in the 18th minute.

With the game heading to extra-time again, Watkins – who had only been on the pitch nine minutes – clinched a historic winner in the 90th minute, prompting England’s substitutes to run onto the pitch, as pints flew across pubs and fan zones at home.

Among the England fans watching was Sir Keir Starmer who managed to catch Kane’s goal in a room with his Dutch counterpart – as they are both in Washington for the Nato summit.

The Prime Minister got out of his seat as the spot-kick was drilled home, then shook hands with the Netherlands’ PM Dick Schoof.

Sir Keir, who has confirmed that he will attend the final in Berlin on Sunday, posted on X: ‘Picked the right moment to pop out from Nato meetings and check the score…’

Kane’s penalty was controversially awarded by VAR after he went down from a Denzel Dumfries challenge in the aftermath of blazing a strike over the crossbar. But the England captain was not going to complain – and made no mistake in dispatching the penalty into the corner.

In a much-improved England performance, the Three Lions then nearly doubled their lead as Phil Foden danced around several defenders in the box before rolling the ball under the keeper only to see his effort hooked off the line by Dumfries at the critical moment. 

The heavily-involved Dumfries almost made amends for giving away a penalty minutes later as he crashed a header off the bar from a corner.

But an electric England pushed for another and Foden came inches away from doing so, curling a stunning effort against the woodwork himself, before the break.

During the half-time break, ITV’s Mark Pougatch paid tribute to BBC commentator John Hunt – whose wife and two daughters were allegedly shot dead with a crossbow in their home in Bushey, Hertfordshire, last night.

ITV commentator Sam Matterface then said: ‘That echoes our thoughts, a wonderful commentator and a wonderful man.’ 

In the second-half, England carried on from where they left as Saka drove to the byline and pulled the ball back, but had no support with him.

With 30 minutes remaining, the Netherlands came back into the game, seeing more of the ball as the semi-final became more even as England fans watched the game through their fingers.

Their pressure almost paid off as Virgil Van Dijk forced a smart save out of Pickford to keep the scores level in the 65th minute. 

England fans were sent into raptures again with 11 minutes to go as Saka gave the Three Lions the lead, finishing off a brilliant team goal. But their cheers soon turned to despair as the offside flag ruled that Walker – who cut the ball back for Saka – was offside in the lead-up.

Moving into the final seven minutes, Marc Guehi brilliantly intervened to block Wout Weghorst from scoring at the other end. 

And the memory of Saka’s goal being ruled out was all forgotten about when Cole Palmer played Ollie Watkins in, who swiveled his body and fired a strike into the bottom left corner with seconds to go to send England to Berlin.

Shortly after full-time, King Charles and Queen Camilla congratulated the team, with a statement. His Majesty said: ‘My wife and I join all our family in wishing you the warmest congratulations on reaching the final of the U.E.F.A. European Championship – and in sending our very best wishes for Sunday’s match.

‘If I may encourage you to secure victory before the need for any last minute wonder-goals or another penalties drama, I am sure the stresses on the nation’s collective heart rate and blood pressure would be greatly alleviated! Good luck, England. Charles R.’

Prince William, the president of the FA and a lifelong Aston Villa fan, tweeted: ‘What a beauty, Ollie! Congratulations England! #EURO2024 Finalists. W.’

The build-up to the semi-final was marred by violence as Dutch hooligans injured five England fans in a series of shameless attacks at Dortmund bars.

Thousands of fans who packed out the BVB Stadion Dortmund were also drenched with torrential rain due to a leaking roof. 

But the Three Lions’ travelling fan base will be celebrating into the night after a historic win. 

Speaking after the game, Watkins told the BBC: ‘I never thought I’d be playing in the Euros for England. You can dream but I am a realist, I just take by day and one step at a time. I was just focused on getting back into the first team at Exeter!

‘I have put a lot of work to get to this point, not just this season. I will enjoy every moment.

‘Recently I have obviously got a bit frustrated. I don’t like to be on the bench, I have had the best season of my career. 

‘A few friends messaged me and said be patient and the amount of people who messaged me tonight saying I would score when I come on was ridiculous. Hopefully they can do the same for the final or give me the lottery numbers.’

England fans danced with joy  and sang ‘all the way, all the way’ after Watkins’ late goal put the Three Lions in the final.

Among the fans who was 69-year-old James Whittaker, from Birmingham.

He said: ‘It is one of the best feelings in the world right now. This England team are bringing our country together and giving us all to celebrate.

‘I retired last year as a binman and this trip with my family is the first holiday I’ve had in five years. It’s so wonderful.

‘I am from Birmingham and Ollie has made the entire Midlands and England fans everywhere so proud.’

Bill Steele, 40, of Manchester, kissed his England badge and raised his beer towards the England team as they celebrated.

Mr Steele said: ‘This is just awesome. I was prepared for extra time. And then the unexpected happened we scored a winner. Absolutely amazing.’

Gavin Lee, 47, of Southend, said: ‘What a great night for England. For the supporters and the players. I would not have missed this for the world.

‘It was such a surprise when we scored with only a few minutes left. I was psyching myself up for an extra half hour and maybe penalties.

‘But the atmosphere right now is unbelievable. The fans are just singing and celebrating and we are so happy. Thank you, Harry Kane and the team.

‘I just wish I had a ticket for Sunday. It’s going to be an incredible final.’

Kieran Maloney of Manchester said: ‘This is the best night of my 21 years.

‘My heart is still pumping and I just can’t believe I am there for this night.

‘We showed tonight that we are a team who play for each other and don’t give up. When we went a goal down, it could’ve so easily been over . But we have come back and we’re are in the final!’

Callum Kay, 21,  wiped away tears of joy and said: ‘I never thought I’d see such a great night, and such a great performance from an England.

‘I can’t stop crying. My whole body is in shock. But it’s such a great feeling.

‘I can tell you one thing. I don’t have a hotel room tonight so all I can do is go drink loads of beer and just keep celebrating.’

Both sets of supporters descended on Dortmund in their droves – with England’s fans outnumbered on a rare occasion. Back in the UK, the motorways were empty at kick-off as fans at home were glued to their screens.

The Orange Army marched through the streets of the German city ahead of kick-off, singing, dancing and letting off flares as they followed an orange double-decker bus to the stadium. 

It was a night to remember for the young England squad – who put on their best performance of the tournament by far. 

The crunch clash came after tens of thousands of Dutch and England fans had partied the day away in Dortmund. 

Some 40,000 Three Lions supporters are in Dortmund for the game as England played their third semi-final in the past four major tournaments. 

Millions more were watching back home on TV with 28million people expected to tune into ITV’s coverage and an estimated 35million pints set to be poured.

The Three Lions topped their group in unconvincing fashion; scraping through against Slovakia after a late Jude Bellingham strike in the last 16; then beating Switzerland on penalties in the quarter-finals.

Britain’s pubs were set for a multi-million pound bonanza from fans who are watching at home.

Landlords were expecting to pull an extra eight million pints from the pre-match build up to the final whistle.

Thousands of those pints, including gallons of alcohol-free beers, will flow during the late night licensing hours with pubs in England allowed to remain open until 1am.

The late-night hours were proposed in the last days of the Conservative government and will be enacted unopposed in Parliament tomorrow by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.

Emma McClarkin, Chief Executive of the British Beer And Pub Association hailed the boost.

She said: ‘We expect an incredible eight million extra pints to be poured in our pubs during England’s semi-final against the Netherlands.

‘This amounts to an amazing £40 million in additional trade for pubs and breweries.

‘And let’s not forget that England making it to the semi finals now means pubs will be licensed to stay open until 1am on Wednesday night, giving fans even more time to enjoy the game and support our pubs.

In Dortmund today, Netherlands supporters turned the city into a sea of orange as they danced, chanted and let off flares.

Most do not have match tickets but made the journey to watch the game in one of the city’s two fan parks, causing one to put the ‘full house’ signs up seven hours before kick off.

Thousands were jammed into the city centre, on trams on the city’s underground and outside their team’s hotel near the BVB Stadion.

Supporters started a two-mile march to the stadium some five hours before kick-off, led by an orange double-decker bus. 

The exciting day was thrown into chaos, however, when Dutch hooligans started attacking England fans – as The Euros exploded into sickening violence.

Videos surfaced on X of swathes of people dressed in the iconic bright orange football shirts throwing stools and benches outside of Sausalitos restaurant and bar in Germany ahead of kick-off.

UK Police have said groups of ‘risk supporters’ are known to be in Dortmund and warned England fans to seek refuge in areas populated by German police.

In one of the clips locals attempted to guard the cafe, with fans who chose to venture out and engage with the mob being quickly set upon.

A bar staff member at the restaurant claimed that the fight broke out after Dutch fans attempted to steal a flag from England supporters.

Speaking to the MailOnline Leo Woeho said: ‘There was provocation from both sides. They were singing songs.

‘The Dutch were saying to the English that they were going to go home and lose tonight.

‘Then I saw the Dutch fans trying to take the England flag and that’s when the trouble started.

‘The Dutch fans started throwing things like tables and chairs and bottles and then the England fans retaliated.’

‘He said nobody was seriously injured, although police made several arrests.

‘There is a lot of damage, a TV has been smashed, furniture broken and damage is elsewhere.

‘It was quite scary and it is a shame. It means we have to close and open now until tomorrow.’

A spokesperson for the UK Football Policing Unit said: ‘We are aware of some reports and videos circulating of disorder in Dortmund.

‘It appears that there have been several instances of Dutch fans attacking England fans in bars and attempting to steal flags.

‘We understand this has resulted in minor injuries to five people. We are also aware that in addition to the tens of thousands of Dutch fans there to enjoy the game, there are groups of risk supporters who have travelled to Dortmund from the Netherlands.

‘Our officers are at the location supporting German colleagues. We would advise supporters to be aware of their surroundings and seek areas where there is a German Police presence.’