England, led by Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, booked their ticket for Euro 2024 football on Tuesday, October 17, taking their revenge on Italy (3-1), their tormentor during the last continental final at Wembley, and now in danger in qualifying.
In London, the Three Lions overcame the Azzurri’s quick, against-the-odds opening score to offer their supporters a convincing and soothing victory, two years after a cruel defeat on penalties. They showed composure, desire and a good dose of talent in a packed stadium, under the leadership of their captain Kane and the young lieutenant Bellingham, already sparkling and with the behavior of a boss at only 20 years old.
With them, the English will have a good number of favorites next summer in Germany, even if the competition promises to be tough with France, Spain and Belgium, other major nations having already validated their ticket. The Italian European champions, absent from the last two World Cups, could conversely miss a major international meeting again. They are third with three points less than Ukraine, who they will face at the end of qualifying on November 20.
Without its “English” Sandro Tonali (Newcastle) and Nicolo Zaniolo (Aston Villa), mired in an illicit sports betting affair, Italy created a surprise after a quarter of an hour on its first real offensive, initiated by Destiny Udogie , left side of Tottenham, and concluded closely by Gianluca Scamacca (15e0-1).
The first international goal of the number 9 of Atalanta, holder in the absence of Ciro Immobile, made a rather sovereign English defense feverish in qualifying, with only three goals conceded. The rare Italian incursions, like that of Udogie before half-time (45e+2), plunged Wembley into apnea.
Jude Bellingham as boss
But the jewel in the crown, Jude Bellingham, behaved like a real boss to remobilize the troops. The Real Madrid phenomenon, so brilliant since his arrival this summer in Spain (10 goals in 10 matches), harangued the crowd from the start, multiplied the initiatives and dribbles, and obtained the equalizing penalty by causing a foul by Giovanni Di Lorenzo.
The midfielder even allowed himself to provoke the Italian supporters, miming windmills with his arms, before leaving it to the home scorer, Harry Kane, to push his national record to 60 goals in 87 caps (1-1, 32e). The next goal also comes from Bellingham, author of a perfect defensive tackle on Nicolo Barella then a ball as powerful as it is neat full axis before serving Marcus Rashford (57e, 2-1). “Prince” Harry Kane completed the festival (77e3-1) to meet his host country, Germany, where he now plays with Bayern Munich.
Gareth Southgate has managed to maintain his selection among the world elite since the World Cup semi-final reached in 2018, with a Euro final lost on penalties in 2021 and a quarter-final which narrowly escaped him against the Blues at the 2022 World Cup. It has a generational mix which could turn into a winning cocktail, finally, between the youth of Phil Foden, Declan Rice and Bellingham on one side, and the captains like Kane, Kyle Walker, Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson from the other. Enough, perhaps, to dust off a list that has remained empty since 1966.