England qualify for Euro 2024, Italy on the brink
England sealed their place at Euro 2024 on Tuesday as Harry Kane scored twice in a 3-1 win over Italy at Wembley, while Denmark scraped to victory over San Marino to keep their qualification bid on track. Luciano Spalletti's Italy still have plenty of work to do to avoid missing out on a major tournament for the third time in four qualification bids. England wrapped up top spot in Group C with two games to spare, sitting three points clear of second-placed Ukraine who won 3-1 in Malta, with Italy three points further back. England started brightly on Tuesday but were caught out in the 15th minute by a sweeping Italian move which ended with Gianluca Scamacca tapping home his first international goal from Giovanni Di Lorenzo's low cross. But the home side levelled shortly after the half-hour mark as Kane planted a penalty into the corner after Jude Bellingham had been fouled in the box. England only needed a point to qualify but completed the turnaround 12 minutes after the restart as the rampaging Bellingham won the ball in midfield before feeding Marcus Rashford, who cut inside and lashed a shot past Gianluigi Donnarumma. Kane put the result beyond any doubt in the 77th minute, powering through the Italy defence and slotting home his 61st England goal. "Qualifying is never easy. Sometimes we are just expected to go to the big tournaments but we have seen in the past it is not as easy as it looks," Kane said. Meanwhile Denmark avoided an almighty shock with a nervy 2-1 win in San Marino to stay second in Group H. The Danes could make sure of qualification in their next match with a win against group leaders Slovenia next month. But they had to work hard against perennial losers San Marino. Panathinaikos midfielder Adam Gnezda Cerin kept Slovenia top as he netted the winner in a 1-0 victory over Northern Ireland in Belfast. But Slovenia still need another win from their last two matches to clinch a place at the finals, after Bakhtiyor Zainutdinov's late double snatched Kazakhstan a dramatic 2-1 win in Finland. Hungary missed the chance to wrap up progression from Group G despite coming back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Lithuania. An Aleksandar Mitrovic brace and Dusan Tadic's goal helped Serbia beat Montenegro 3-1 to stay second. (AFP)