England vs Italy is one of the most storied fixtures in international football, rich in history and incident, ranging from ‘the Battle of Highbury’ in 1934 when England beat the world champions, to arguably England’s greatest performance, the Stanley Matthews, Stan Mortensen, Tommy Lawton, Wilf Mannion and Tom Finney inspired 4-0 victory over the still world champion Italians in 1948.
More recently the two have met in countless World Cup qualifiers and Euro knockout matches, most notably the ‘firework up the fundament’ debacle of the 2020 final at Wembley when many fans shamed the nation and England lost on penalties.
Overall, England have won only nine of 31 matches, losing 13, one of their worst records in international football.
Their latest match is England’s sixth in Euro 2024 qualifying group C, which they lead by six points with three matches to play, having beaten Italy, then under the management of Roberto Mancini, 2-1 in Naples in the opening group game. England have won three and drawn one of their subsequent qualifiers, Italy have one draw and two victories plus Saturday’s game in hand against Malta at Bari on Saturday night which should enable them to close the gap to three points before kick-off.
When is it?
The match is on Tuesday, October 17 and kicks off at 7.45pm.
Where is the match taking place?
Gareth Southgate’s side host Italy at Wembley, the national stadium.
What TV channel is it on?
The match will be broadcast exclusively in the UK on Channel 4. Radio 5 Live will provide radio coverage and you can also follow the match here on our Telegraph Sport live blog.
How do I get tickets?
You can’t. It is sold out on all official outlets.
England’s squad to face Italy
England have no specialist left-backs after Luke Shaw and Ben Chilwell were ruled out by injury and Bukayo Saka has pulled out of the England friendly against Australia on Friday night and this match against Italy after pulling his hamstring. Gareth Southgate has not called up a replacement.
**Goalkeepers ** Sam Johnstone (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)
**Defenders **Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Lewis Dunk (Brighton & Hove Albion), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle United), Kyle Walker (Manchester City)
**Midfielders ** Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Jordan Henderson (Al-Ettifaq), Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City), Declan Rice (Arsenal)
**Forwards **Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United) Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), James Maddison (Tottenham Hotspur), Eddie Nketiah (Arsenal), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal) , Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).
Italy’s squad to face England
Italy have a new manager following Mancini’s decision to resign in order to take up a multi-million pound offer to coach the Saudi Arabia national team. ‘Mancio’, the Euro 2020-winner, has replaced by Luciano Spalletti who led Napoli to the Serie A title last May and this will be his third competitive match in charge of the Azzurri, having presided over the draw with Macedonia and victory over Ukraine in September.
The 64-year-old signed a three-year contract and named the following squad, shorn by injury of Leeds United’s Wilfried Gnonto. Spurs’ impressive left-back. Destiny Udogie, has earned his first call-up:
Goalkeepers Gianluigi Donnarumma (captain, Paris Saint-Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Ivan Provedel (Lazio), Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham).
Defenders Francesco Acerbi (Inter), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Cristiano Biraghi (Fiorentina), Matteo Darmian (Inter), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Federico Gatti (Juventus), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta), Destiny Udogie (Tottenham).
Midfielders Nicolo Barella (Inter), Giacomo Bonaventura (Fiorentina), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Davide Frattesi (Inter), Manuel Locatelli (Juventus), Sandro Tonali (Newcastle).
Forwards Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo), Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Moise Kean (Juventus), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta), Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio), Nicolo Zaniolo (Aston Villa).
What is the latest news?
Harry Maguire, the target of much ire and ridicule for much of the past year because he seemingly remains an automatic pick despite rarely starting for Manchester United, has revealed that captain David Beckham has been in touch with him after he was jeered and mocked at Hampden Park last month.
At the time Maguire brushed it off as a “little bit of banter” but says Beckham’s call meant the world to him.
“I actually spoke with David about three weeks ago, after the Scotland game,” Maguire said.
“He got in touch with me, so it was really nice of him and I really appreciated that. It meant everything. I’ve spoken throughout my career about David Beckham being someone I looked up to and watched when I was a young boy.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t end up on the right wing scoring and assisting as many goals as he has. But he was a big role model when I was growing up.
“It shows how classy he is to reach out to me and to message me. It was something I really appreciated. It was touching really.
“Every career is so up and down, especially when you reach what I’ve reached, in terms of being the captain of the biggest club in the world for 3½ years. He’s been in that position and knows what it’s like.
“Things haven’t gone to plan over the last year or so, but I am sure it will get back on track. A career is a long path. Many ups, many downs, it probably has been a little blip and I am trying to be back to where I was.”
