Looking to regain respect after failing to qualify for a second World Cup straight, the Azzurri advanced to next year’s finals tournament in the Nations League by winning at Hungary 2-0, thanks to goals by Giacomo Raspadori and Federico Dimarco on Monday.
By topping a group also comprising England and Germany, the Italians joined the Netherlands and Croatia in qualifying for the final four, which will be hosted by the Dutch in June.
Portugal or Spain will complete the line-up when they face off on Tuesday.
Unlike Italy, England and Germany will be going to the World Cup in Qatar in less than two months and they’ll head to the Middle East on the back of a wild 3-3 draw at Wembley Stadium, where all the goals were scored in the second half.
Trailing 2-0, the hosts scored three goals in a 12-minute span from the 71st — through Luke Shaw, Mason Mount and Harry Kane’s penalty — only for Kai Havertz to pounce on a fumble by goalkeeper Nick Pope to equalise in the 87th.
England’s winless run stretched to six games, with Gareth Southgate’s team finishing their campaign without a victory and relegated.
“A couple of errors have cost us the goals,” Southgate said.
“But I’ll focus on the fact they played with tremendous spirit and showed a belief that we haven’t shown in the last few games.”
Germany isn’t in much better shape ahead of the World Cup, with just one win in their last seven games.
Italy won Group A3 with 11 points, one more than Hungary, who went into the game in Budapest needing only a draw to reach the Nations League final four for the first time.
The Italians, meanwhile, are finding it easier to qualify for Nations League finals than World Cups.
They also got to the 2021 tournament, losing to Spain in the semi-finals on home soil in their first few months as the reigning European champion.
Plenty has changed in the team since beating England in the European Championship final at Wembley last year, not least up front where Raspadori is making his mark.
Three days after scoring the winner against England in Milan, the on-loan Napoli striker put Italy ahead in the 27th after Adam Nagy’s back-pass came up short.
Gianluigi Donnarumma produced a string of diving stops — including a triple save in a matter of seconds — before Nicolo Barella played a ball through at the other end to Bryan Cristante, who crossed for Dimarco to score from close range for his first goal for Italy.
“We were excellent for 70 minutes, the last 20 I didn’t like too much,” Italy coach Roberto Mancini said.
“We’re happy — it’s important to have reached the Nations League final four for the second time.”
— With AAP.
