Elegant England triumphed over Italy with a score of 3-1 at Wembley, securing their spot in next year's European Championship during Tuesday's qualification round. In contrast, Hungary's aspirations were thwarted by a draw against Lithuania.
On a pivotal Tuesday, only England and Hungary had the chance to guarantee their positions in the forthcoming Germany-based finals in June. Gareth Southgate's squad, battling back from a deficit, managed to defeat the reigning European champions and clinch the top position in Group C.
Italy suffered a setback despite initially leading with Gianluca Scamacca's goal. England surged ahead with two goals from their record-breaking scorer Harry Kane, one of which was a penalty, and an additional strike from Marcus Rashford. As a result, Italy found themselves in a tenuous third place.
Ukraine climbed into the second position by defeating Malta 3-1 away, overturning Paul Mbong's early lead for the hosts. Two first-half goals, including an own goal and a penalty, placed Ukraine in the lead, and they added a third goal near the end, courtesy of Mykhailo Mudryk.
Ukraine's qualifying journey will conclude next month with a home match against Italy, to be played at a neutral venue due to the conflict with Russia.
Hungary could have secured qualification with a victory against Lithuania, a team they had defeated five times in their previous six encounters. However, they fell behind by two goals in Kaunas before making a valiant comeback to secure a 2-2 draw.
Lithuania, who had won only one game in Group G, held the lead at halftime with goals from Fedor Cernych and Pijus Sirvys. Hungary fought back with a 67th-minute penalty from captain Dominik Szoboszlai and a header from Barnabas Varga eight minutes before the final whistle.
Despite their efforts to find a winning goal, Hungary will have to wait until next month to secure their place in Euro 2024. They maintain a one-point lead after Serbia, occupying second place, defeated their neighbors Montenegro 3-1 in Belgrade, thanks to a brace from Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Denmark and Slovenia both secured away victories in Group H, putting them on the verge of qualification.
The Danish team faced a moment of anxiety in San Marino, where the small republic managed to score their first goal of the campaign. However, the visitors still emerged victorious with a 2-1 win. Meanwhile, Slovenia secured a 1-0 victory over Northern Ireland in Belfast, with Adam Cerin finding the net just five minutes into the match.
These outcomes have left Kazakhstan with slim hopes of automatic qualification, even though they caused an upset by defeating Finland 2-1 away in the early Tuesday match. Bakhtiyar Zaynutdinov was the hero, scoring twice - first from the penalty spot in the 77th minute and then netting the winning goal in the 89th minute.
In a friendly held in Lille, France, France clinched a resounding 4-1 victory over Scotland. The match had a delayed kickoff by 10 minutes to ensure fans had time to safely enter the stadium, given the heightened security measures in place.
Both teams had already secured their places in the Euro 2024 finals, and Scotland briefly took the lead with a goal by Billy Gilmour after 11 minutes. However, Benjamin Pavard swiftly equalized five minutes later and went on to score a brace before halftime.
Kylian Mbappe converted a penalty for France just before the break, following a foul on Olivier Giroud. Kingsley Coman completed the scoring with a rebound goal in the 70th minute.
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Teams that have already secured their places in the finals are Germany (hosts), Austria, Belgium, France, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, England and Turkey.
The final round of group qualifiers will take place next month, and the tournament is scheduled to be held from June 14 to July 14.
