England will face Denmark in the second and final Euro 2020 semi-finals at Wembley on Wednesday with the former waiting to banish the ghost of their ill-fated past. England will also be aiming to reach their first major final for 55 years as Italy wait for a contender.

Gareth Southgate’s team are hoping to reach the European Championship final for the first time with Denmark standing in their way.

Denmark, who were dealt a heavy blow with Christian Eriksen suffering a cardiac arrest in their Group match, are being propelled with the desire to carve something big out for itself.

Both teams will be playing in front of 60,000 fans at Wembley, most English.

Since winning the 1966 World Cup, England have reached only four major semi-finals, including at Euro 1996, when Southgate infamously missed a crucial penalty in the shoot-out against Germany.

Those agonising defeats have been etched in the psyche of English football ever since.

Yet to concede a goal in their five matches in the tournament, England underlined their potential with a 2-0 last-16 win against old rivals Germany before routing Ukraine 4-0 in Rome.

“We don’t have as a good a football history as we like to believe sometimes,” Southgate said.

“These players are making massive strides and breaking barriers all the time. We have broken barriers in this tournament and we have another opportunity to do that tomorrow,” Southgate added.

Building momentum, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted: “Today is the day. Come on England!” while Prince Charles posted a good luck message accompanied by a clip of a military band playing England’s iconic “Three Lions” anthem.

Denmark, who won Euro 92, can count on the support of many outside England after their emotional campaign.

But, with Eriksen on the mend after the shocking incident, Kasper Hjulmand’s team have embarked on a three-match winning run that has taken them to the first semi-final in 29 years.

Eriksen has been invited to the Wembley final by UEFA and Hjulmand has urged his underdogs to make it a date with their team-mate.