The 10 best England team performances in the Premier League era

#7 England 3-2 Argentina – International Friendly, 2005

It feels strange to be ranking a friendly match in England’s top 10 performances, but the rivalry with Argentina, going back to the 1966, 1986, 1998 and 2002 World Cups, as well as the 1982 Falklands War, means that no England/Argentina match is a friendly by definition.

And this match, played on a neutral ground in Geneva, Switzerland might’ve been one of the most competitive friendlies of all time.

This was Sven-Goran Eriksson’s ‘Golden Generation’ at their absolute peak. The 2006 World Cup is traditionally seen as the high point for that side.

But, this match saw David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, and Michael Owen, all in far better form than during that tournament, with Rooney, in particular, being absolutely outstanding throughout the game.

Argentina went ahead in 31 minutes, via a Hernan Crespo goal, but Rooney equalised just 5 minutes later.

The back-and-forth game saw both teams attacking with verve and defending bravely, but when Walter Samuel headed home from a free-kick early in the second half, it looked like Argentina had the game sewn up, as England were unable to find a way through.

That was until a very late charge, when Eriksson introduced the giant Peter Crouch, to create a three-man attack alongside Owen and Rooney. With minutes to go, it was Owen who popped up to equalise, heading in from a Steven Gerrard cross.

With seconds on the clock remaining, Owen’s poaching instincts struck again, as he somehow rose above his marker and, Crouch, to head home a dramatic winner.

England celebrated like they’d won the World Cup and, while the result didn’t push them on to glory in the World Cup in the summer that followed, it proved that the ‘Golden Generation’ were worth their hype, at least for one night, as they defeated one of the world’s best teams and did it by playing some remarkable attacking football.