Harry Kane’s 69th goal for England sparked a five-goal second-half burst that took England back to the top flight of the UEFA Nations League.
In Lee Carsley’s last game as interim manager, the 5-0 victory against Ireland secured promotion to the A-League and guaranteed that England will once again be among Europe’s elite teams in the next edition of the competition.
“I wanted the England team to be exciting to watch and offensive,” Carsley said. “I see them do it day after day in training. And now we have seen it on the field.”
England won their group on goal difference ahead of Greece, who finished in second place after beating Finland 2-0.
Kane’s 53rd-minute penalty at Wembley Stadium saw him extend his international record after Liam Scales brought down Jude Bellingham in the area and was sent off for a second yellow card.
Within five minutes, England were already leading 3-0 thanks to goals from Anthony Gordon in the 55th minute and Conor Gallagher in the 58th.
Substitute Jarrod Bowen made an immediate impact, scoring with his first touch in the 75th and Taylor Harwood-Bellis, on his debut, headed another goal four minutes later.
“A really important win for us,” Kane said. “It was a difficult first half, but we came out in the second half with a lot more energy and we finished well.”
England, who will welcome new coach Thomas Tuchel in January, needed to match Greece’s result to top Group B2.
Tuchel will start in January and lead the campaign to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
He should be spoiled for choice when selecting his first team after Carsley debuted eight players during his brief tenure.
In their final match, Gordon, Gallagher, Bowen and Harwood-Bellis scored their first first-team goals for England.
“Lee has achieved the main objective of the six matches this autumn: securing promotion back to the top flight of the Nations League,” said Mark Bullingham, CEO of the English Football Association. “The players have really enjoyed working with Lee and his team; “They have had a real impact in their interim roles.”
Anastasios Bakasetas had put Greece ahead in the 52nd in Finland, with Kane’s opening goal for England coming a minute later.
Christos Tzolis scored Greece’s second goal.
Double of Rabiot
Adrien Rabiot scored a pair of goals in France’s 3-1 victory over Italy to win Group A2.
Both teams already had their place in the quarterfinals prior to their confrontation in Milan, but France needed to win by a two-goal difference to take the lead in the sector.
“It had been a good time since we played a match like that, all fighting together,” Rabiot acknowledged to the French TV channel TF1. “The aggressiveness we show, the team spirit is what must be highlighted. “This is the real face of the France team.”
It was the first time Italy lost a home game by two or more goals since 1983, according to Opta.
In the same group, Belgium surprisingly lost 1-0 to Israel.
Belgium will seek to avoid relegation in a playoff game.
Haaland registra has a trick
Erling Haaland leads the Nations League scoring charts after registering a hat trick in Norway’s 5-0 win over Kazakhstan in Group B3.
The Manchester City striker reached seven goals, two ahead of Viktor Gyokeres, Cristiano Ronaldo and Benjamin Sesko, who are tied with five.
Norway was promoted to the top flight, ahead of second-place Austria, who drew 1-1 with Slovenia.
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This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.
