How England clinched Euro 2024 qualification with 3-1 win over Italy thanks to Kane double

Italy manager Luciano Spalletti says that the betting investigation involving Nicolo Zaniolo and Sandro Tonali has "affected" his squad ahead of the game against England this evening.

The Athletic reported last week that Newcastle United’s Tonali and Aston Villa’s Zaniolo had been questioned by police at Italy’s Coverciano training base as part of an investigation into illegal digital betting platforms.

The two players will not be available for the game at Wembley later tonight after being released to their clubs by the Italian Football Association. Spalletti, who replaced Roberto Mancini as national team manager in August, has spoken about the effect that the pair's departure has had on his team.

"The players (Tonali and Zaniolo) were absolutely distraught," Spalletti said. "When you are part of a national team, very strong ties and bonds are created. We’ve all been affected by this. It’s sad. It’s hurt us all."

However, despite losing two key players, the 64-year-old Italian remains optimistic about the game, warning his side to not be fearful of England. He said: "We must not come here with fear. We must not be hung up on the colour of the shirts the opposition wear, the names on the back, or the stadium we are in."

A "moment of silence" will be held before tonight's European qualifiers — including at Wembley for England's match against Italy — in tribute to the Swedish nationals killed in Brussels.

Monday's European qualifier between Belgium and Sweden was abandoned at half-time after two people were shot dead in a suspected terrorist attack.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo confirmed the victims in Monday's shooting were Swedish.

The Metropolitan Police says there will be a "highly visible" presence from its team at tonight's England-Italy match.

It added there is "robust policing plan" for the fixture, following the fatal shooting in Brussels last night, which saw Belgium's game against Sweden abandoned at half-time.

UEFA described the killing of two Swedish nationals as a "suspected terror attack" and Brussels has increased its terror threat to the highest level.

The Metropolitan Police are responsible for the security operation for tonight's game, with UEFA not involved in the management of European qualifiers.

Scotland qualify, Wales win big, England host Italy & Ratcliffe makes his Man United move

Jimbo (James Richardson) welcomes Jack Lang, Tom Williams and Tim Spiers into the studio in a stacked week of international football.

England host Italy today with a betting scandal enveloping the squad ahead of kick-off. James Horncastle tells us what to expect from Luciano Spalletti’s Italy.

That portion of the podcast runs from 21:00-41:00. Listen here!

For perhaps the first time in Euro 2024 qualifying, Italy were able to deliver a genuinely comfortable victory, much to the relief of the supporters. Those inside the Stadio San Nicola in Bari witnessed as convincing a win as they will have seen in a few years.

Giacomo Bonaventura broke a record when he opened the scoring with a brilliant free kick as, at the age of 34 years and 53 days, he became the oldest player to score their first goal for Italy.

On the stroke of half time, Domenico Berardi doubled the advantage and he added a second around 15 minutes after the restart. With the three points safely in the bag already, Davide Frattesi netted his fourth international goal in second-half stoppage time.

"I don’t understand the booing but that seems to be the landscape," Gareth Southgate said. "I have no idea how that is expected to help him."

That was Southgate after his first match as England manager in 2016. The player who had been booed was Wayne Rooney, England’s most-capped outfield player and the man who had broken their goalscoring record 12 months previously.

Seven years on and Southgate, in charge for the 88th time, was using almost exactly the same words of exasperation when asked about the booing of Jordan Henderson during Friday’s 1-0 win over Australia.

"I don’t understand it," he said. "How is that going to help him or the team?"

Henderson is in good company. Ashley Cole is arguably England’s best left-back of all time, but he was booed by England fans. John Barnes is one of the most gifted wingers to pull on an England shirt. Booed. John Terry? Frank Lampard? Booed.

"It’s part of playing for England, I suppose," Lampard said. Perhaps it is. Is it just a natural part of the England soundtrack, so we should not make such a big deal out of it? Jude Bellingham will probably be booed one day. Read more below...

Perhaps to deflect away from a somewhat below-par performance, England boss Southgate spent much of the post-match press conference complaining about the reception received by stand-in captain Jordan Henderson, who was making his first performance at Wembley since moving to Saudi Arabia.

"I really don’t understand it," said the England manager. "He’s a player who has 79 caps for England, his commitment and what he’s delivered for England is exceptional, his role within the group on and off the pitch is phenomenally important.

"He’s the one who’s taken the likes of Jude Bellingham under his wing… he’s a brilliant role model in his professionalism. Some people decided to boo, I really don’t understand what that is for."

It was hardly vintage England in their last game. But it's not surprising given it was only a friendly and a few days before the most important qualifier of the campaign.

A much-changed side huffed and puffed but struggled to blow Australia's house down until, just before the hour mark, Ollie Watkins slid in at the back post to score the only goal of the game from a low Jack Grealish cross.

It allowed some players to get some more vital England experience, something Southgate said before the game was essential so close to a major tournament.

And, after all, a win's a win.

England are making a habit of comfortably qualifying for major tournaments and they have not been in any trouble yet throughout this campaign.

Their only slip up so far was the draw away against Ukraine last month, leaving them on the brink of a place at next summer's finals.

Here is how they have done it:

• Italy 1-2 England (Rice, Kane)
• England 2-0 Ukraine (Kane, Saka)
• Malta 0-4 England (Apap [OG], Alexander-Arnold, Kane, Wilson)
• England 7-0 North Macedonia (Kane [x2], Saka [x3], Rashford, Phillips)
• Ukraine 1-1 England (Walker)

Permutations: the dreaded word that kicks in towards the end of every qualifying campaign, every group stage and every league season. Euro 2024 is no different and we are reaching the stage where the mathematics is getting easier.

For England, one more win will see them confirm their place in Germany next summer.

For Italy, it is slightly more complex. They're level on points with third-placed Ukraine but have the head-to-head advantage.

Ukraine will have the chance to match, or better, that when they meet in the final qualifier on November 20. In the meantime, Italy's fate is in their own hands.

If you want to tune in to the game live alongside our live blog, here are some of the options.

• UK: Channel 4
• Italy: RAI 1
• U.S.: FS1
• Canada: DAZN
• Australia: Optus Sport

While England and Italy do battle at Wembley, there is one other game being played in Group C.

The final group matches will be played in November.

Today

• England vs Italy
• Malta vs Ukraine

Friday, November 17

• England vs Malta
• Italy vs North Macedonia

Monday, November 20

• North Macedonia vs England
• Ukraine vs Italy

Italy manager Luciano Spalletti has not been quite as fortunate as his opposite number on the injury front.

Federico Chiesa was one of three players to withdraw from the Italy squad with injury, along with Ivan Provedel and Mattia Zaccagni, while Sandro Tonali and Nicolo Zaniolo were forced to do the same as the subjects of an investigation around illegal betting.

Fortunately (for them), the European champions have quality replacements to call upon, as was highlighted in their convincing 4-0 win against Malta on Friday.

There was a blow for England at the beginning of this month's camp as Bukayo Saka returned to Arsenal with a hamstring injury that had forced him to miss Arsenal's victory against Manchester City.

However, there have been no subsequent issues, leaving Gareth Southgate with a strong group of players to pick from later on. While no England line-up can be considered weak at the moment, he opted for a starting XI that was far from the best available to him for England's 1-0 friendly win against Australia on Friday:

Sam Johnstone; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Fikayo Tomori, Lewis Dunk, Levi Colwill; Jordan Henderson, Conor Gallagher, James Maddison; Jarrod Bowen, Ollie Watkins, Jack Grealish.

Harry Kane, Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham and Kyle Walker were all unused substitutes that day and will expect to return to the starting XI tonight.