England immediately did a brilliant job in group C in their very first match of the European Championship qualifying campaign. The Three Lions went on to win against Italy. The game ended 1-2 thanks to a penalty from Harry Kane, who became England’s all-time top scorer thanks to that goal.
It didn’t take long for the English, who also came out strong at the last World Cup, to get Italy into trouble. After 13 minutes it was already 0-1 in Naples through Declan Rice and things only got worse for the Squadra when the visitors were awarded a penalty just before half-time. Harry Kane took his responsibility and scored the 0-2.
It was a historic goal for Kane and England as it made the Tottenham striker his country’s all-time top goalscorer. It was his 54th goal in 81 international matches, with which he is now definitely over Wayne Rooney – who scored 53 times in 120 international matches. The latter also congratulated Kane via Twitter. “I knew it wouldn’t be long, but it was fast,” he laughed. “A great man, incredible goalscorer and English legend. Congratulations Harry.”
In the second half, the Italians came back into the game after Retegui’s tying goal. The Squadra then had 34 minutes to force an equalizer and more, but that was no longer possible. Final score: 1-2.
All results in the European Championship qualifying campaign on Thursday evening:
Group A
Italy – England 1-2
Bosnia and Herzegovina – Iceland 3-0
Slovakia – Luxembourg 0-0
Group C
Portugal – Liechtenstein 4-0
North Macedonia – Malta 2-1
Group H
Denmark – Finland 3-1
Kazakhstan – Slovenia 1-2
San Marino – Northern Ireland 0-2
