Lukas Podolski brought the curtain down on his international career in spectacular fashion as he fired Germany to a 1-0 win over England on Thursday (AEDT).

The former Bayern Munich and Arsenal forward captained his country on the occasion of his 130th and final cap and blasted in the only goal of the game – his 49th for Germany — in the second half to give Joachim Low's side the win.

Podolski made a lengthy speech before kick-off after being honoured with an on-pitch presentation and a mosaic in the stands, but England threatened to spoil the party as it produced the better performance for most of the match.

Gareth Southgate's side looked comfortable in an experimental 3-4-3, in which Michael Keane was handed a full senior debut, and Adam Lallana hit the post before Dele Alli missed a one-on-one in an encouraging first-half display.

But Podolski, starting an international match for the first time in 859 days, thumped his side's first shot on target of the match into the net in the 69th minute, and although England pushed for a leveller, it was unable to muster the sort of comeback that saw it come from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in Berlin a year previously.

For England, the defeat was only their second in 17 away games, but Southgate will consider it a chance missed against a Germany side missing a number of stars including Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng, Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira and Julian Draxler.

But the night was all about Germany hero Podolski in the end. The 31-year-old received a standing ovation as he was replaced late on, as Germany saw out a useful win ahead of Monday's (AEDT) World Cup qualifier with Azerbaijan. England, meanwhile, will now prepare to host Lithuania at Wembley.