Nations League: England destroy Ireland to earn promotion, Belgium slips again

England's youngsters shine in wins, Italy and France swap blows, Belgium falters again, and key Euro qualifiers loom with Croatia and Spain in action.

 

England youngsters celebrate after putting Ireland to the sword at Wembley. England won 5-0 to earn promotion to League A of the UEFA Nations League. (Photo credit: BBC)

Following his disappointment over the withdrawal of many players from the international games against Greece and Ireland, Harry Kane has expressed confidence in the youngsters who gave Lee Carlsey a winning finish to his short England managerial career.

After the likes of Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, and Declan Rice withdrew due to injuries, Carsley handed debuts to Newcastle’s Lewis Hall, Southampton’s Taylor Harwood-Bellis, and Tino Livramento, with all of them giving a good account of themselves.

Curtis Jones was the star of the two games, scoring and assisting goals; he has changed as a player since becoming a father, and Harry Kane couldn't hide his excitement for the new manager, Thomas Tuchel, who he said has a wealth of options.

"Thomas [Tuchel] has a lot of players to choose from," Kane told ITV. There is a good balance between the young players who have excelled and the more experienced players who are recovering from injuries. I'm confident that Tuchel will be closely observing everyone.

"We spoke about new opportunities for new lads, and they've shown why they are here with a couple of good finishes, and it was nice for Jarrod [Bowen] to come on and score straight away."

Elsewhere on the international front, France repaid Italy in full for the embarrassment of Parc des Princes, beating Luciano Spalletti’s Azurris 3-1 in Milan on Sunday. The Italians had won the reverse fixture by the same margin, and a draw would have been fine to win the group.

Lucas Digne took the left-back role for Le Bleus and made it his own, assisting Adrien Rabbiot twice and scoring himself as France won the group, leaving Italy as runners up, and both will now advance to compete in the last eight.

Belgium has once again suffered a loss, this time against Israel, raising questions about the team's decision to retain Dominco Tedesco, who has failed to make a significant impact. Belgium has never been this poor, as they barely escaped relegation after finishing on the same points with Israel.

On Monday, Croatia must pick something from the game against Portugal. It’s a tough ask considering how strong Portugal is, but the Croats could miss out on qualification for the next round if Scotland beats Poland.

Spain against Switzerland is another game to look out for; the Swiss failed to beat Serbia the other night, with the latter chasing points against Denmark. That would be a great game to look forward to on Monday night.