The jeopardy had long since ended in terms of whether England would qualify for the European Championship in Germany next summer. It was only a question of when and where. The answer was here and there was symbolism in who they beat to do it – the champions, Italy, who they intend to dethrone.
Gareth Southgate had wanted a performance as much as a result; England only needed a draw – something to bolster the collective belief. The manager got it. There was a confidence about England from the outset and an inevitability about the outcome, even after the early concession to Gianluca Scamacca and a few loose first-half moments in defence.
Jude Bellingham took centre stage, his drive truly a thing to behold, and he deserved the ovation that went with his late withdrawal. Twice, he bolted for a ball that might not have been there for him, firstly to win the penalty from which Harry Kane equalised, then to set up Marcus Rashford for the crucial second. Rashford took it so nicely. It was all over when Kane punished slack Italy defending towards the end, extending his England record to 61 goals and setting up a blast of Sweet Caroline after the final whistle. England will travel to Germany in expectation.
The ghosts of the previous European Championship final were present and incorrect for England. How could they not be? It was Italy’s first return to Wembley since that penalty shootout victory, the one that so devastated Southgate and his players, and it did not seem to matter that this was actually the fourth meeting between the nations since then. Payback, as Kyle Walker put it on Monday, was a part of it.
Southgate had stressed he was motivated by qualification – that was enough – by measuring his strongest available lineup against opposition he respects hugely. His team offered clear pointers to his thinking; his batting order, as he likes to put it. The biggest takeaways were Kalvin Phillips over Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield (and Jordan Henderson); Harry Maguire over Marc Guéhi in central defence. The injured Luke Shaw and Bukayo Saka felt like the only ones who might have forced their way in, if fit.
England had started with a strut in their step, winning the one-on-ones, although not when Phillips jumped in for a ball he ought to have got only to miss it and clatter Davide Frattesi for a yellow card. Which made it such a surprise when Italy scored with their first attack, reframing the occasion in the process.
It was only Luciano Spalletti’s fourth game in charge after Roberto Mancini’s sudden departure for the Saudi Arabia job; the new broom had injury absentees, not to mention the issue with Sandro Tonali and Nicolò Zaniolo – stood down after being caught up in a betting probe.
Marcus Rashford celebrates after scoring to make it 2-1. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
His players looked nervous at the outset but then they did not, working a move over from the left and up the right, Giovanni Di Lorenzo crossing low and Frattesi swinging and missing under pressure from Maguire. Scamacca was all alone in front of goal for an easy finish and an England inquest.
Southgate’s team felt the body blow. The mood of the home crowd fell flat and threatened to spill into impatience. Italy grew. England needed something quickly and they got it when Bellingham surged towards a breaking ball.
He was never the favourite to get there ahead of Di Lorenzo but, straining every sinew, he did so, feeling the contact from the Italy defender and going down. In the moment, it felt like a trick of the mind but Bellingham really had made it happen. Kane’s side-footed kick had power and accuracy.
Marcus Rashford would work Gianluigi Donnarumma on 44 minutes but the worry from an England point of view in the first half was how vulnerable they looked at the back. John Stones, starting only his second game of the season (the first was the Community Shield), was a beat too slow too often, and Southgate could not have complained if Destiny Udogie had scored in stoppage time after a lovely Italy move. The full-back stepped inside Stones and watched Jordan Pickford get down and across to save. He should have done better.
England were almost in stick or twist territory as the second half got under way. The draw was perfectly fine but the majority of those present wanted to see more from the players in white. Southgate had started Bellingham in the No 10 role and he seemed to run on adrenaline; confidence, too. He was always looking to make his spin moves, to be direct, to hurt Italy.
The game was meandering when Bellingham again helped to make the difference, sliding in to win the ball off Nicolò Barella on the edge of his own area, watching Phil Foden get on it and setting off himself.
Foden’s Velcro touch and outside-of-the-boot pass got England moving and then Bellingham did what he does, another surge, making the ball his ahead of Frattesi when, again, he did not look the favourite. Enter Rashford, slicing left to right after the pass from Bellingham, past two blue shirts, the finish unerring.
Italy were deflated, especially when Phillips avoided a second yellow card for a late stamp on Barella. Southgate substituted Phillips shortly afterwards, sending on Jordan Henderson to a mixture of cheers and boos, which was an improvement on what he got when he came off against Australia here last Friday.
Foden had extended Donnarumma on 68 minutes and the last word went to Kane after he got the better of Giorgio Scalvini and the substitute, Alessandro Bastoni.
