Congratulations to England, then, as the Three Lions qualify for Euro 2024. David Hytner was at Wembley tonight to witness them book their tickets to Germany. His report has landed, and here it is. Thanks for reading this MBM.
Gareth Southgate speaks to Channel 4. “They’re incredible to work with … so hungry, so eager to learn, so together … you saw that in the performance tonight … it was relentless tonight … what was really pleasing was that when we went behind we stayed calm … we used the ball really calmly from the back … our front players worked unbelievably … there were times in the first half we were a little bit passive … the big difference is we have more legs in midfield, more physicality … our midfielders and wide players did really well today … [the boos for Jordan Henderson] were drowned out, I think people realise his importance for us, to have a player of his experience … to calm things and be that experienced voice … this was the toughest qualifying group with the seedings … we’ve performed really well.”
As England celebrate, an extremely content Harry Kane speaks to Channel 4. “Qualifying is never easy … it’s not as easy as it looks … we’ve had a really tough group this time … we topped it off today, we stayed calm and steady, we knew we had enough for the win and we did it … Wembley is our home and we’ve made it a real fortress in recent years … we want to repay them with good performances and we’ve done that today … we’ll enjoy this … to qualify with two games to go, credit to everyone involved.”
That’s a highly impressive performance by Gareth Southgate’s side. Italy started extremely well and could have been a couple of goals to the good by the time Harry Kane levelled from the penalty spot. Jude Bellingham had won that kick, and his outstanding contribution to the second got Wembley purring: a tackle to win back possession, a dink over a discombobulated midfield opponent, a surge down the middle, a perfectly weighted pass, and a dummy run that set the stage for Marcus Rashford to slot confidently. Kane’s power and persistence made it three, and overall that’s some way to secure qualification for Euro 2024. Group winners as well. Italy meanwhile drop to third as Ukraine have won 3-1 in Malta. Big performances required next month against North Macedonia and, yes, Ukraine, if the Azzurri want to avoid the agony of another qualification play-off. They’re not very good at those.
FULL TIME: England 3-1 Italy
England beat Italy at home for the first time since 1977! They qualify for Euro 2024 as winners of Group C.
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90 min +3: Kean has looked lively since coming on, and here he glides in from the left and aims a curler towards the top right. Guehi gets in the way to bravely block. England break upfield, and Kane briefly thinks about attempting to beat an out-of-position Donnarumma from 40 yards. But nah, what’s the point.
90 min +2: See also this one.
90 min +1: The first of three added minutes passes without incident.
90 min: Bastoni starts an Italian attack from the left-back position. The ball’s pinged up the flank, then infield, then across to Orsolini on the right wing. Orsolini tears infield, considers shooting, then tees up Kean instead. Kean aims a first-time sidefoot towards the top right. He catches it well, but it’s too close to Pickford, who gathers.
88 min: England stroke it around the back in the clock-management style.
87 min: El Shaarawy is replaced by Orsolini.
86 min: On the touchline, Luciano Spalletti wears a hangdog expression. He shouldn’t be too disheartened. Italy have played well, and already look a better team under his watch. England have just been better in the clutch moments, and, well, Jude Bellingham.
85 min: Bellingham is replaced by Grealish, and receives the ovation he deserves on his departure. He’s been sensational. Again. This isn’t news any more.
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83 min: More of the Que sera sera; Wembley en fête. “I know it’s easy to look at Jordan Henderson and think that Saudi Arabia gets what they want,” begins Kári Tulinius, “but even with all the stars, not many people outside the Arabian peninsula watch their league. Of course, if Messi had taken the billion dollars he was reportedly offered, a league with Ronaldo v Messi would be harder to ignore, but the story goes that Antonela Messi had no interest in going to a country with their kind of attitudes to women’s rights. Money can buy a lot, but apparently some people can resist it.”
82 min: Kean works his way down the right but his cross-cum-shot is an easy gather for Pickford.
80 min: Que sera sera, sing the Wembley faithful, and whyever not, because their team are indeed going to Germany. Barring something spectacular from the visitors, England are about to beat Italy on home soil for the first time since 1977, when Kevin Keegan and Trevor Brooking scored the goals in a 2-0 victory.
78 min: Raspadori comes on for Berardi, though the jig is almost certainly up for Italy, because they’ve never scored three times in a match against England.
GOAL! England 3-1 Italy (Kane 77)
They look comfortable now all right! Kane scores his 61st goal for England. A long ball down the right. Kane spins Bastoni on the centre line, jinks infield past Scalvini, tears clear down the middle, draws Donnarumma, and slots past the keeper and into the bottom right. Another lovely goal, and this time it’s all Kane’s own work.
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76 min: Italy haven’t done a whole lot since falling behind. England look pretty comfortable. “Gareth’s masterplan was to start Phillips knowing he would be awful, get booked early and walk the tightrope of a second yellow for so long that Jordan Henderson coming on would get the biggest cheer of the night,” writes Daniel Ashdown. “In Southgate we trust.”
74 min: Pickford goes long for Rashford. Donnarumma comes miles out of his box to head clear. Some entertaining 1980s-style keeper-to-keeper action, though what a drag it is getting old.
72 min: Italy fling a couple of high balls into the England box. The hosts don’t deal with them particularly confidently, but eventually Guehi clears, then Kane dribbles upfield and draws a foul from Barella that puts an end to Italy’s spell of pressure.
70 min: Henderson’s arrival was met mainly by cheers, incidentally. A few initial boos drowned out by a much more positive reception.
69 min: Phillips is withdrawn - not before time, given he’s one trip away from dismissal and should already be taking an early bath – and is replaced by Henderson.
68 min: Foden tries a daisycutter from 25 yards. Aimed for the bottom right, it’s met well by Donnarumma.
67 min: “Welcome to Euro 2024, England. What kept you?” Simon McMahon there, because somebody from Scotland had to.
65 min: Phillips stands on Barella’s lower shin. It’s his third yellow-card-worthy violation of the game, but he’s only been booked for one. Scalvini gets a yellow, though, for protesting about the lack of punishment. Phillips is a very lucky chap.
64 min: Bellingham is nearly perfect, mind. Now he gets Wembley cooing with a gorgeous backheel down the right wing. Nothing comes of it, but that’s not the point.
63 min: England replace Stones with Guehi. Meanwhile Italy make a triple change, hooking Udogie, Scamacca and Acerbi and sending on Dimarco, Kean and Bastoni.
62 min: Kane drops to quarterback a pass down the left for Rashford, who curls powerfully over the bar. England well up for this now.
61 min: El Shaarawy chests down Rice’s poor clearance and slips Scamacca the ball, just to the left of the D. Scamacca lashes a shot straight at Pickford, who nevertheless handles well.
59 min: Bellingham isn’t perfect, though. Cristante shoves him in the chest and the young England genius goes down holding his face. Now then, come along, no need for this nonsense.
GOAL! England 2-1 Italy (Rashford 57)
What a goal this is! Italy are pressing forward. Bellingham’s not having a bar of it. His crunching tackle stops the attack. He gets up and chases the loose ball. Scalvini looks to be getting there first, but Bellingham dinks the ball over him and then races into acres of space. He slips Rashford in to his left. Rashford cuts infield. Bellingham makes a right-left run to confuse the defence. Rashford enters the box and larrups an unstoppable shot into the bottom right. What a goal.
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56 min: Berardi has a speculative rake from 25 yards. Nope. Pickford watches it sail miles over the bar, and wide to boot.
54 min: Bellingham is brought down on the right by a combination of Cristante and Barella. Trippier swings a free kick into the mixer. Italy clear. That first-half intensity is yet to be rediscovered.
52 min: Udogie trips Foden from behind in the centre circle. It wasn’t the most obvious foul, which probably explains why the Italian defender isn’t picking up a second yellow. He’s now in watch-himself territory, though.
51 min: Bellingham rolls a ball across the front of the Italian box, left to right. Foden cushions it to tee up Phillips, who hoicks harmlessly over the bar from the edge of the D. A decent move but Italy holding England at arm’s length.
50 min: Other than that sudden burst of action, the square root of naff all has occurred since the restart.
48 min: Kane powers his way through the centre circle. He’s got the option of going down – Barella is all over him – but instead stays up and finds Foden down the inside-right channel. Foden enters the box and runs slap-bang into Udogie. He wants a penalty but he’s not getting one. What determination by Kane, though.
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47 min: A fairly subdued start to the second half.
Italy get the second half underway. No changes.
Half-time entertainment.
HALF TIME: England 1-1 Italy
Gianluca Scamacca scored his first international goal, Harry Kane his 60th, and here we are after an entertaining first half that fair sped by. As things stand, England are going to Euro 2024.
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45 min +3: Nothing comes of the resulting corner.
45 min +2: Udogie comes jinking in from the left and curls powerfully towards the bottom right. Pickford sticks out a strong arm to stop. Berardi tries to spin and shoot but can only fall over in the environs of the loose ball. Italy so close to retaking the lead.
45 min: There will be three added minutes. Meanwhile here’s Andy ‘Not That One’ Flintoff: “That Bellingham/Scalvini collision - definitely yellow for the head-to-head collision, ten minutes in the sin-bin, and on review by the TMO for possible upgrade to red, oh, hang on, this isn’t the RWC, is it?” No it isn’t. This particular England team are actually worth their good results.
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44 min: Kane slides a ball down the left for Rashford, who takes a touch before sending a low diagonal shot towards the bottom right. Donnarumma gets down well to parry and concede a corner from which nothing comes.
42 min: Both players are given the once-over and rubber-stamped to continue.
40 min: Foden sends Bellingham into acres down the left. He enters the box, shimmies gracefully, then clanks flush into Scalvini, accidentally headbutting his opponent on the chin. Both young men go down immediately, and on come the physios.
38 min: Rice’s really poor upfield pass is cut out by Berardi. He’s extremely fortunate Berardi’s attempt to find Scamacca is similarly bad, because Italy were three on two.
36 min: Some entertaining end-to-end play as Bellingham nearly releases Foden with a cute diagonal pass from the left, only for Udogie to do enough to put the England man off; then Di Lorenzo and Scamacca nearly create a replica of the opening goal, but Stones is on point to block this time. Nothing comes of the resulting corner.
34 min: Berardi cuts in from the right. He curls a shot that thuds into Maguire’s special area. That will have hurt, but England and Pickford might have been in trouble without the intervention.
33 min: That’s Kane’s 60th goal for England. Not a bad return for 87 games, eh?
GOAL! England 1-1 Italy (Kane pen 32)
After more than a minute of faff, Kane eventually knocks his penalty into the top right. Donnarumma sent the other way.
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30 min: A long, long look. But eventually the check’s over, and the penalty decision stands. Di Lorenzo is booked. Kane – who else? - to take.
29 min: VAR takes a look. A long look.
Penalty for England!
28 min: It’s that man Bellingham again! Kane dinks a pass down the middle for Bellingham, who strides into the area and is about to shoot when Di Lorenzo extends a leg in the hope of poking away. He catches his man instead. The referee points to the spot, though it was a close call and VAR will take a look.
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27 min: A couple of crosses from the left by Trippier cause Italy some unease. The second is met by Bellingham, on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. His downward header, meant for the bottom left, is easily snaffled by Donnarumma.
26 min: Frattesi attempts to burst into a pocket of space in the centre circle and is unceremoniously checked by Trippier, who then throws his best couldn’t-get-out-of-the-way-guv-honest pose. The referee buys it. Trippier’s fortunate not to go into the book.
24 min: Channel 4 point out that, 28 seconds before the goal, Kane very nearly robbed Donnarumma on his own line. However the Italy keeper sold him the most outrageous of dummies, and now look. “For the love of all that is holy,” begins Will Morgan. “What does Lewis Dunk have to do to replace Maguire in Southgate’s dream team? He was arguably the best player against Australia and was excellent against Scotland, in fact the only goal he’s conceded whilst playing for England was scored by one H Maguire.”
23 min: Italy look dangerous every single time they go forward. Berardi drifts in from the right and finds Scamacca, his back to goal to the left of the D. He spins and pearls a shot inches wide of the left-hand post. There’s the confidence of a man who has just scored his first international goal.
21 min: England stroke it around the midfield in the sterile style. It’s just like watching Italy circa the 1982 World Cup. The group stage, specifically.
19 min: Walker’s poor clearance affords El Shaarawy more space down the left. He feeds Frattesi, free just inside the box. Had Frattesi controlled properly, he was shooting from 12 yards and surely scoring. But fortunately for England, the ball clanked off his shin. England could very easily be two down already, and Wembley has fallen a little quiet as a result.
17 min: That was a lovely goal from an attacking point of view. From a defensive perspective, not so much. Seems that England have some work to do on the door-bolt front as well.
GOAL! England 0-1 Italy (Scamacca 15)
El Shaarawy strides down the left. His low ball across is missed by Rice, allowing Di Lorenzo to break into the box on the right. Stones can’t get anywhere near his flashed cross, and Scamacca roofs home from close range!
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14 min: Scalvini finds great trouble in clearing his lines, nearly allowing Foden in down the right. Already it’s fair to say this new-look Italian side aren’t yet fully conversant in catenaccio.
12 min: Rashford sends one of his power dippers up and over the wall, then down towards the top left. It’s always clearing the bar, but not by too much. Highly decent effort.
11 min: Kane robs Scalvini and nearly bursts clear. Italy do just enough to hold England at arm’s length, but soon enough Frattesi clatters into Phillips, 25 yards out, and this is a free kick in a central position which Rashford seems to like the look of. He grabs the ball.
10 min: Foden brings down a loose ball in the centre circle and prepares to launch an attack. He’s tugged back by a panicked Udogie, who goes into the referee’s notebook as well. Let’s see if this ends with 22 men on the park, then.
9 min: Phillips comes sliding in on Frattesi and catches his man high. He’ll not be getting away with that one. Into the book he goes.
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8 min: Rashford drives in from the left and attempts a one-two with Kane. Phillips gets involved instead, attempting to help the ball on for Rashford. It pings off Di Lorenzo’s chest – there’s a cheeky claim for a penalty – and is cleared out for a corner. Nothing comes of the set piece.
6 min: El Shaarawy drops deep before tearing off down the middle. He’s stopped unceremoniously by Rice, and wants a foul he’s not getting.
5 min: Trippier bursts down the left before finding Bellingham in the middle of the park. Bellingham wedges a pass forward, hoping to release Foden into the box. Not quite, but there are oohs, aahs and assorted gasps every time the young Real Madrid midfielder takes up possession. Star quality to burn.
3 min: Rice steams out from the left-back position and starts a diagonal pitch-long move that involves Kane and ends with Walker crossing from the right to nobody in particular. Di Lorenzo, head still attached, uses it to direct the ball away from danger.
England kick off … and before the first minute is out, Phillips is fortunate not to go into the book for a high kick that on another day may have taken Di Lorenzo’s head clean off.
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Just before kick-off, a moment of silence in memory of “all the members of the European football family killed in recent days from Uefa member nations Israel and Sweden”. Not perfectly observed, though it was by the vast majority of those in Wembley.
The teams are out! The hosts in white, the visitors in blue. Just enough time to sing the joint national anthem of England and Italy, and then we’ll be off.
Gareth Southgate talks to Channel 4. “Qualifying for the European championship is motivation enough … of course we’ve got some history, but it’s about this team now, a different team we play against with a different coach … it’s a different situation even to Naples six months ago … every team should improve the longer you work together … I feel that’s the way with us … our level of performance has been good and tonight will be a really good test against one of the best teams in the world … Kalvin [Phillips] did a really good job in Scotland … he’s a different player to Hendo, who is a very important part of what we’re doing, but for this game Kalvin was the player we went with … we’ve got to go and cause as many problems as we can.”
Jordan Henderson of Al-Ettifaq has been interviewed by Channel 4 too, and conversation immediately turned to the booing that soundtracked his second-half withdrawal against Australia. Did he hear it? “At the time, not really, but after the game I got told there was a little bit going on … of course it hurts … every time you pull on that shirt is a proud moment and I’m playing for my team-mates, my country and the fans, really … but at the end of the day it’s part and parcel … I’m not the first player to get booed and I probably won’t be the last … [the decision to play in Saudi Arabia] doesn’t change who I am as a person … I tried a little bit hard in an interview a few months ago and maybe some of the stuff I said didn’t come out in the way I think was the truth … an example of that would be when I said I didn’t go out there solely for the money, it’s not the sole reason … having someone like myself with the values I have in Saudi Arabia is only a good thing … they know what my values are and have accepted us, and all they ask in return is for me to respect their values, religion and culture, which I’ve done.”
Does he still support LGBTQ+ groups? “Of course. My values haven’t changed as a person just because I’m going to a different country to play football.”
As for the difference in quality between the Saudi league and the ones his England team-mates are playing in? “There’s no getting away from it … but the fitness and science coaches are on that, and if the manager sees a drop-off he’ll be the first to tell us … it’s something I have to think about and keep an eye on … it hasn’t been an issue so far … Euro 2024 is a big tournament … I’ll do everything I can to ensure I’m one of the players in the squad and I’ll try to help the team … no regrets, definitely no regrets.”
Luciano Spalletti has been speaking to the one and only James Richardson on Channel 4. “I was at the stadium for [Italy 1-2 England in March] because back then I was coaching Napoli … it was an interesting game, England were amazing and Italy were good in stretches … but when the attention levels and pace of the game dropped, England created problems … we’ve got to try to match England and make our mark at Wembley like Italy did in 2021 … I’m really excited to coach in this stadium … it’s my dream ever since I’ve been involved in this job to coach in a game of this level … these are the games I love and the reason I do this job.” Any old excuse to give this classic a spin, huh?
Harry Kane talks to Channel 4. “Our focus is on qualifying, it doesn’t really matter who we’re playing … of course there are some memories that are there … we had a good result away from home against Italy and hopefully we can follow that up … it’d be great to beat them here at Wembley but in football you move on to the next challenge … we back ourselves against any team … we’re in a really good place and hopefully we can show that tonight … I’m itching to play … it’s been a long camp not to play and we just want to get out there.”
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This will be the 12th time England have hosted Italy. The very first was memorable, to say the least …
England manager Gareth Southgate swaps out all 11 players that started the 1-0 win over Australia last weekend. In come his A team, which means Harry Kane gets the armband back while Harry Maguire and Kalvin Phillips start despite their lack of Premier League game time for Manchesters United and City respectively.
Only three players from the victorious Euro 2020 squad make it into Italy’s starting line-up: Gianluigi Donnarumma, Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Nicolo Barella. Two more are on the bench: Manuel Locatelli and Alessandro Bastoni.
The teams
England: Pickford, Walker, Stones, Maguire, Trippier, Phillips, Rice, Rashford, Bellingham, Foden, Kane.
Subs: Johnstone, Ramsdale, Guehi, Henderson, Dunk, Colwill, Alexander-Arnold, Gallagher, Watkins, Grealish, Maddison, Bowen.
Italy: Donnarumma, Di Lorenzo, Scalvini, Acerbi, Udogie, Frattesi, Cristante, Barella, Berardi, Scamacca, El Shaarawy.
Subs: Vicario, Meret, Dimarco, Gatti, Locatelli, Kean, Bonaventura, Raspadori, Darmian, Mancini, Orsolini, Bastoni.
Referee: Clement Turpin (France).
Preamble
England can secure their qualification for Euro 2024 tonight. A point is all they need. But let’s face it, with a home game against Malta to come next month, participation in Germany next summer is as good as confirmed already. Instead, what’s most important for England tonight is getting a little payback for the Euro 2020 final: this is the first time Italy have been back to Wembley since the Azzurri won their second European title there in July 2021.
Italy also have something to avenge: the 2-1 defeat England inflicted on them in Naples back in March. But unlike England, Italy don’t have one foot and four toes in the finals, so there’s more than pride at stake tonight. Ukraine have their eye on the second automatic qualification spot as well, and while Italy currently hold it and have a game in hand on the third-placed Ukrainians, defeat tonight for Luciano Spalletti’s side would suddenly throw that race wide open. The final match of the group? Ukraine v Italy, like you really needed to ask.
So there’s plenty at stake tonight. It’s rarely a goalfest when these teams meet – Italy have never scored more than two goals against England, while in 31 matches the English have only managed three goals three times and four once – but it’s also rarely boring. Here’s to another fingernail-shredding night, then. Kick off is at 7.45pm BST. It’s on!
