Thanks to star striker Harry Kane, England has secured a ticket to the European Football Championship in Germany. The Three Lions beat defending champions Italy 3-1 (1-1) and thus completed their qualification for the tournament next summer.
Bayern Munich attacker Kane (32nd minute/penalty kick and 77th) with a brace and Marcus Rashford (57th) scored the goals for the English team at Wembley Stadium. Gianluca Scamacca (15th) scored the opening goal for the Squadra Azzurra in front of 83,194 spectators.
The Italians fell back to third place in Group C and have to worry about their European Championship ticket. Italy has three points less than second-placed Ukraine, which won 3-1 (2-1) at bottom-placed Malta. However, Italy also played one game less. The first two teams qualify directly for the tournament in Germany. Italy and Ukraine will play against each other at the end of the European Championship qualification.
Hungary misses early qualification
Hungary missed early qualification with a 2-2 (0-2) draw in Lithuania. Fedor Cernych (20th) and Pijus Sirvys (36th) scored the goals for the hosts. Ex-Leipzig player Dominik Szoboszlai (67th) and Barnabas Varga (82nd) ensured the draw. With success, Hungary would have secured its ticket to the European Championship. Nevertheless, the leaders of Group G are now virtually certain of taking part in the finals.
Before all European Championship qualifying games, minutes of silence were held to commemorate the fatal attack on two Swedish fans in Brussels and the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel.
