Defending European champions Italy’s hopes of reaching the Euro 2024 suffered a blow after the gli Azzurri drew 1-1 with North Macedonia Saturday within the Group C qualifiers the place leaders England took a beneficial level in a 1-1 away draw in opposition to Ukraine.
England lead the group on 13 factors with Ukraine on seven. Italy and North Macedonia each have 4 factors.
Italy subsequent face a vital qualifying check in opposition to Ukraine on Tuesday.
Luciano Spalletti took cost of Italy for the primary time following Roberto Mancini’s shock resignation however his staff flopped in opposition to the aspect which dumped them out of the final World Cup within the playoffs.
Ciro Immobile put Italy forward however Enis Bardhi smashed in a free-kick for the hosts with 9 minutes remaining in Skopje.
Ukraine hosted England in Poland and marched out onto the pitch in Wroclow with nationwide flags draped over their shoulders in entrance of round 40,000 of their very own followers.
“Very tough place to come. You could feel the atmosphere, a unique occasion,” mentioned England supervisor Gareth Southgate after his staff’s run of 4 consecutive wins within the group got here to an finish.
Oleksandr Zinchenko put Ukraine in entrance with a thundering shot after a sweeping drive by way of midfield on 26 minutes.
England, nonetheless, hit again within the forty first minute when Harry Kane performed a ball excessive and Kyle Walker slipped the ball house for his first worldwide purpose on his 77th look.
Belgium went joint high of Group F with a 1-0 away win at Azerbaijan, lifting them degree on 10 factors with Austria.
Yannick Carrasco scored the one purpose in Baku as new supervisor Domenico Tedesco prolonged his run to 5 video games with out defeat.
Sweden are third within the group on six factors after they thumped Estonia 5-0.
Switzerland lead Group I by two factors after a see-saw 2-2 draw with Kosovo for whom La Liga based mostly Vedat Muriqi scored twice.
In the identical group, Romania and Israel drew 1-1 and are locked in a wrestle for second place, separated by a degree on 9 and eight factors respectively.
The high two groups in every group qualify for the finals.
As hosts, Germany are taking part in solely pleasant internationals however they’re a staff in disaster and their issues worsened in a 4-1 humiliation by the hands of Japan in Wolfsburg.
Junya Ito and Ayase Ueda scored both aspect of a Leroy Sane strike within the first half, with Japan scoring twice within the ultimate 5 minutes as house followers jeered.
Germany captain İlkay Gündoğan mentioned merely “we are not good enough right now, it’s a completely bitter day – we all need to ask questions of ourselves.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com
