Harry Kane scored again as England secured two wins of two in qualifying for Euro 2024 by beating Ukraine 2-0 at Wembley on Sunday, while Denmark were beaten by Kazakhstan. Captain Kane, who broke Wayne Rooney’s all-time goalscoring record for England midway through the week, scored his 55th international goal from a Bukayo Saka cross in the 37th minute. In form Arsenal winger Saka all but ended Ukraine’s resistance three minutes later.
The win puts England three points clear at the top of the early Group C table after winning in Italy for the first time since 1961 on Thursday.
“Two wins out of two is all we asked for at the start of the camp,” midfielder Jude Bellingham told Channel 4.
“We followed up a really good result in Italy tonight with another result and when you do that it feels rewarding.”
Gareth Southgate’s men put in a successful performance in their first home game since their agonizing World Cup quarter-final defeat to France last December.
Kane missed a big early chance before putting England ahead.
Ukraine failed to get a shot on goal and Conor Gallagher, Harry Maguire and Jack Grealish were all close to a third goal for the hosts late on.
Still awaiting their first major tournament title since 1966, England return to qualifying action against Malta and North Macedonia in June.
The top two teams in each group automatically reserve a place for next year’s European Championship in Germany.
Denmark shocked
Denmark squandered a two-goal lead and crashed to a surprise 3–2 defeat in Kazakhstan.
The Euro 2020 semi-finalists looked set to victory in the Group H fixture as Atalanta youngster Rasmus Hojlund scored twice in the first half after a hat-trick against Finland on Thursday.
Kazakhstan had started their attempt to qualify for a first-ever major tournament with a home defeat to Slovenia.
But Bakhtiyor Zaynutdinov’s penalty in the 73rd minute gave the hosts hope for a famous turnaround in Astana.
Midfielder Askhat Tagybergen crashed a long-distance drive past a helpless Kasper Schmeichel with four minutes of normal time remaining to equalize.
Substitute Abat Aymbetov provided the golden moment for Kazakhstan – which has already secured at least a play-off spot for Euro 2024 via the Nations League – with a header into the top corner in the 89th minute.
He was later sent off for a second yellow card, but had already taken all three points by then.
Slovenia fought to a 2-0 victory over San Marino in the second match in Group H to top the early standings.
Elsewhere, Iceland bounced back from their opening defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina in Group J by beating Liechtenstein 7–0.
Later on Sunday, Italy will play against Malta and Portugal against Luxembourg.
(This story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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