The Three Lions will play the next campaign of the UEFA Nations League in the second division. They dropped to League B following a narrow loss to Italy, the same opponent that beat them on penalties to win the European championships last summer.
Gareth Southgate’s side enjoyed a dominant first half but were unable to create any clear-cut opportunities to take the lead. The closest the away side came to taking the lead was through Harry Kane, whose effort from long range sailed comfortably over the bar and away to safety. Reece James had attempted his luck prior to Kane’s chance, but the Chelsea full-back saw his effort deflect wide of the target.
Italy took the lead eight minutes past the hour – out of the blue. Leonardo Bonucci created the opening for Giacomo Raspadori from inside his half with a long ball, which the latter brought down with a feather-light touch after Kyle Walker had misjudged its trajectory. Raspadori turned inside with the ball and curled a superb shot into the far corner of Nick Pope’s net, putting the Azzurri ahead.
At the other end, minutes later, Gianluigi Donnarumma made a fantastic double stop to deny Kane from restoring parity. Shortly after, Inter Milan’s Federico Dimarco raced down the England end and rattled the far post with a cross-cum-shot from the left side of the box. Jude Bellingham missed a late header, and, with that, England’s fate was sealed.
Elsewhere, Hungary beat Germany 1-0 to retain the top spot going into the final matchday of the competition. Adam Szalai scored the only goal of the game in the 17th minute by flicking a Dominik Szoboszlai corner with the outside of his boot at the near post.
The defeat left Germany out of contention for the top-four spots. Hungary, meanwhile, need a point against Italy to seal a berth in the semi-finals.
