Liverpool teammate and club captain Virgil van Dijk led out his country for their opening game of Group D in Hamburg, completing the full match in the centre of defence.

However, after dominating early possession, it was Poland who opened the scoring against the run of play in minute 16 via the head of Adam Buksa following Piotr Zielinski’s corner ball.

The Netherlands, though, restored parity quickly just before the half hour mark as Gakpo took the ball in his stride to drive on and strike goalwards from outside the area.

His effort took a deflection via the retreating defence, which left Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny wrong-footed and unable to halt his shot.

Denzel Dumfries and Xavi Simons came close as Netherlands continued to push for a winner after the half.

Nevertheless, Poland gained momentum and began to pose a threat in the opposing box, forcing goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen into several saves.

Gakpo departed nine minutes from time with the game seemingly heading for a draw, though it was substitute Wout Weghorst who provided the decisive intervention in the 83rd minute, finding space in the area to shoot low into the bottom corner and earn the spoils for his nation.

In this match, Van Dijk had 8/10 duels won, 6 Clearances, 5 Headed clearance, 8 Passes into final third

Meanwhile, Gakpo excels in attack and defense with 3 Chances created, 4/4 dribbles and up to 14/17 duels won

Gakpo told UEFA post-match: “I think it was a tough match, [they are] a tough opponent. They are well organised and obviously they scored first so it was a little bit more difficult.

“I think we created a lot of good opportunities and good chances, but we have to be more clinical. Overall, I think we performed really well against them.

“It was a tough match but in the end we won so that’s good.”

He added: “We are a team that never gives up. We have good substitutes and that’s what you saw today. I think we changed the whole frontline and they came in and performed very well so that’s a strength for us as well.”

Liverpool midfielder Ryan Gravenberch was also involved in the contest as an unused substitute for Ronald Koeman’s outfit.

The Reds’ No.66 was selected to start in midfield by head coach Gareth Southgate for the Group C encounter in Gelsenkirchen.

Alexander-Arnold completed 69 minutes of the fixture – with Liverpool teammate Joe Gomez named on the bench – after helping his nation earn an advantage in the first half.

For the 69 minutes Alexander-Arnold played, he will have known that he walked a fine line. Perhaps at the back of his mind was the notion that if he made a mistake – defensive or attacking – then the focus would be upon him.

In the meantime he had to learn a role different from any other he had played. He had to judge when he might burst forward and when he had to cover – which is not easy, in a team in which Bellingham roamed as the mood took him.

Nevertheless, Alexander-Arnold had some very good moments: a key interception that set up a counter-attack, the cross-field ball to Bukayo Saka, a step forward past Nemanja Gudelj that drew a foul for a free-kick that Alexander-Arnold himself claimed.

As Serbia got on top of England at the start of the second half it was Alexander-Arnold who pinged a flat, lofted right-to-left diagonal out to Kieran Trippier. He had a shot on goal too.

Southgate noted that Bellingham’s role meant that Alexander-Arnold had to “cover a lot of space” which was, the England manager said, a new experience.

“He showed great discipline. He showed in some moments that fantastic passing range. We are learning with him in this role. He showed some of the attributes he can bring [to it].”