There's only been one round of Euro 2016 qualifying, but England are already looking as good as in the tournament. They played their hardest game first and won it impressively, defeating Switzerland 2-0 in Basel on Monday.
England had the better of the play early on, but their midfield looked susceptible to counter-attacks from the beginning of the match. Fabian Delph, making his first start for England, was extremely active but also committed a large number of turnovers and fouls. Jack Wilshere was a bit out of place as the most defensive midfielder in the team, though his passing was certainly impressive.
Haris Seferovic had the game's first big chance in the 33rd minute, forcing a kick save out of Joe Hart. An error by Phil Jones led to the chance and Gary Cahill kept Seferovic onside with some lazy defending, but the Swiss striker couldn't finish.
The Three Lions nearly scored before the break, but were denied by Yann Sommer a couple of times late in the first half. He parried a Wayne Rooney aside in the 42nd minute, then made a spectacular save on a header by Jones off the ensuing corner.
Switzerland and England continued to trade blows early in the second half, and both should have scored early in the period. Raheem Sterling whiffed on a great chance in the 51st minute, leading to a ricochet off Valon Behrami that almost rocketed into the back of his own net. Five minutes after that, Seferovic had another brilliant chance, but Hart tipped his powerful shot over the bar.
Danny Welbeck broke the deadlock in the 58th minute, at the end of a brilliant quick counter by England. Rooney started the move with a ball out wide for Sterling, who beat his man easily and squared. Welbeck made the perfect run and was uncontested while tapping in to put his team ahead.
A late Swiss push featured more good play, but an equal amount of inadequate finishing. Substitute Josip Drnic went around Hart and looked to have an easy goal in the 70th minute, but Cahill recovered from some initial poor defending to get back and make a brilliant block. In the 76th minute, Drnic set up Seferovic with a great diagonal, but Seferovic hit the post before a late flag went up for offside.
With Switzerland growing more and more desperate for an equalizer, holes opened up at the back and England were able to add an insurance goal to seal the win. In stoppage time, Welbeck sprinted past the thin Swiss defense and calmly finished his second, putting an exclamation point on a very good performance.
Switzerland: Sommer, Rodriguez, Von Bergen, Djourou, Lichtsteiner, Inler, Behrami, Shaqiri, Xhaka (Dzemaili 74'), Mehemidi (Drnic 64'), Seferovic
Goals: None
England: Hart, Baines, Cahill, Jones (Jagielka 77'), Stones, Wilshere (Milner 73'), Delph, Henderson, Welbeck, Rooney (Lambert 90'), Sterling
Goals: Welbeck (58', 90')
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