Italy must continue to tremble
England takes sweet revenge and goes to the European Championships
October 17, 2023, 10:52 p.m
England qualifies for the 2024 European Football Championship in Germany. The Three Lions clearly win the new edition of the 2021 final against defending champions Italy at Wembley. Meanwhile, Hungary surprisingly left a European Championship match point behind against Lithuania.
Led by double goalscorer Harry Kane, England took sweet revenge on Italy and booked their ticket to the 2024 European Football Championship in Germany early. With the Bayern star as captain, the Three Lions deservedly won the new edition of the lost 2021 final at Wembley 3-1 (1-1). Still European champion Italy is threatened with the next knockout after missing the 2022 World Cup
Kane (32nd) initially equalized the early deficit by Gianluca Scamacca (15th) with a penalty kick. After the break, Marcus Rashford (57th) gave England the lead, with former Dortmund Jew Bellingham, who was once again outstanding, playing a key role. In the 77th minute, Kane scored his 61st international goal. 828 days after losing the penalty shootout in the European Championship final at the same place, it was Kane who led the way again in a thrilling game. The 100 million man now has 27 goals in his last 30 appearances for England.
Things will be tight for Italy, however: In Group C, the four-time world champions slipped to third place with ten points behind Ukraine (13), while the Eastern Europeans won 3-1 (2-1) on Malta. Everything now boils down to a showdown on November 20th, when Ukraine meets the Italians in Leverkusen on the final day of the match. If they fail, the Azzurri would still have to take a detour via the Nations League play-off tournament in March.
Italy is suffering from the betting scandal
Italy had to do without its England legionnaires Sandro Tonali (Newcastle United) and Nicolo Zaniolo (Aston Villa) in London – both had left to testify in the extensive betting scandal back home. Juventus professional Nicolo Fagioli was suspended for seven months on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Hungary surprisingly missed a European Championship match point in a 2-2 (0-2) draw against Lithuania. With a win, Italian coach Marco Rossi’s team, in which Roland Sallai from SC Freiburg was the only Bundesliga legionnaire in the starting line-up, would have completed their third European Championship participation in a row.
In total, nine of the 24 final round participants have been determined. Denmark, semi-finalists in 2021, and Slovenia are almost through. After a meager 2-1 (1-0) in San Marino, the Danes are level on points with the Slovenians (1-0 in Northern Ireland) at the top of Group H thanks to goalscorer Yussuf Poulsen from RB Leipzig (70th). Both teams need only one win from the remaining two games.
All games were preceded by a minute’s silence. UEFA decided to do this in memory of “all members of the European football family who have been killed in Europe and Israel in recent days.” On Monday evening, a gun attack caused consternation in the Belgian capital, killing two Swedish citizens. The crime scene was just five kilometers from the stadium where Belgium was playing Sweden at the time. The game was abandoned at halftime.