The lion cries loudly
England welcomed the Republic of Ireland in a must-win situation to win a ticket to the top flight to play in League A next season. Throughout the first half, coach Lee Carsley and his team took the initiative, gaining up to 70% control time, but could not penetrate the tightly organized defense of the opponent.
However, the turning point of the match came in the 51st minute, when center back Liam Scales fouled star Jude Bellingham in the penalty area and received a second yellow card and left the field. On the 11m mark, Harry Kane made no mistake to break the deadlock in the match.
2 minutes later, taking advantage of the advantage of playing with one more player and the disruption of the Republic of Ireland's defense, winger Anthony Gordon had a close-range shot to double the gap. The remaining 3 goals were scored by Conor Gallagher, Jarrod Bowen and Taylor Jay Harwood-Bellis.
With a resounding 5-0 home win, England have secured a ticket to direct promotion next season. Coach Lee Carsley also ended his interim period by helping the Three Lions return to the top flight of the Nations League.
France shows dominating strength
Although it was just a formality match, the French team was still eager to win against their opponent Italy. 2 minutes after the opening whistle, Adrien Rabiot jumped high to head the opening goal after a corner kick from Lucas Digne.
With 1 minute and 59 seconds, Rabiot was the French player who scored the earliest goal for the "Goloa Roosters" away in an official tournament.
The most recent record belongs to Patrick battiston in the 4-0 win at Luxembourg on 13/10/1984. This was also Italy's earliest home goal since 2008.
In the 33rd minute, Lucas Digne continued to leave his mark with a free kick of nearly 30m that sent the ball into the top corner, hit the crossbar and hit goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario into the net. The goal was counted as an own goal by goalkeeper Vicario.
midfielder playing for Marseille Rabiot ended his day on the rise with a header to seal the victory for France. Interspersed with the visitors' 3 goals was the goal of full-back Andrea changeaso.
Since a 3-goal win over Albania on 30/31991, France have only had one win from three set pieces in a match. This was also the first time Italy have lost by at least two goals in an official match, since a 3-0 loss to Sweden in the Euro qualifiers on 15 October 13.3.
With this result, France has risen to the top of Group A2 with 13 points, equal to Italy but with a better goal difference. Both teams have secured tickets to the quarterfinals.
There are currently 7 teams that have passed the group stage, including Spain, Portugal, Germany, France, Netherlands, Italy, Croatia. The quarter-finals will take place in two legs starting from 20 March 2025.
