England hammer Italy 3-1, qualify for 2024 Euros: Key stats
England thrashed Italy 3-1 in the 2024 Euro Qualifiers at the Wembley Stadium on Tuesday. Gianluca Scamacca opened the scoring for the visitors before Harry Kane equalized from the spot. Later, Marcus Rashford handed England the lead in the second half before Kane completed his brace. With this win, England have qualified for the 2024 Euros in Germany. Here's more.
England maintained their superior record in qualifiers for major tournaments
England have suffered only one defeat in their last 63 major tournament qualifiers (World Cup and Euros). As per Opta, the Three Lions are unbeaten in their last 36 such matches at home (31 wins and four draws). Their last defeat in a major tournament qualifier came against Croatia back in 2007. Croatia defeated England 3-2 at the Euro Qualifiers.
Harry Kane has been extremely consistent for England
Kane has been directly involved in 33 goals in his last 30 games for England, which includes 27 goals and six assists. As per Opta, he has either scored or assisted for England consecutively in the last 10 games. He scored his 60th and 61st goals for England in his 87th appearance. Kane scored his seventh goal of the qualifying campaign.
Fourth Italian to score their first international goal against England
Scamacca scored the first goal in the game which was also his first in international football. As per Opta, the Atalanta forward is the fourth Italian footballer to score their first international goal against England since Sergio Brighenti (1959), Gennaro Gattuso (2000), and Mateo Retegui (March, 2023). This was his 12th appearance for the Azzurri. He joined Atalanta from West Ham earlier this season.
England have qualified for the 2024 Euros
With this win, England have now booked their ticket to the 2024 Euros in Germany. The Three Lions will join teams like Belgium, France, Portugal, Austria, Turkey and Scotland along with hosts, Germany for the continental event. Gareth Southgate's men have won five out of six matches in the ongoing Euros Qualifiers (16 points). Their only draw came against Ukraine in their last clash.
Third-highest goal-scorer in the 2024 Euro Qualifiers
With this brace, Kane has now amassed seven goals in the ongoing Euro Qualifiers. He is the third-highest goal-scorer in the competition. The veteran striker is only behind Belgium's Romelu Lukaku with 10 goals and Cristiano Ronaldo, who has returned with nine strikes.
16th international goal for Marcus Rashford!
Rashford scored a very crucial goal in the context of the game and it was his 16th goal for England on his 56th appearance. Also, this was his second goal in the ongoing qualifiers. Overall, he has now scored four goals in nine Euro Qualifiers.
How did the match pan out?
Italy had a good start with Scamacca combining with Giovanni Di Lorenzo as the former scored the opening goal. However, Di Lorenzo pulled down Jude Bellingham in the penalty area to gift England a spot-kick. Kane dispatched it to bring England to level terms (32nd minute). Later, Bellingham and Rashford combined to hand England the lead before Kane scored a fantastic solo goal.
