England v Ireland LIVE: Nations League result as Taylor Harwood-Bellis scores on debut in thrashing
England 5-0 Ireland: Four players scored their first international goal - including debutant Harwood-Bellis - as the Three Lions returned to the top tier of the Nations League
England secured promotion back to the top tier of the Nations League with a 5-0 thashing of 10-man Republic of Ireland in interim manager Lee Carsley’s last game in charge at Wembley.
After a turgid first half, Harry Kane’s penalty, Anthony Gordon’s volley and a tap-in by Conor Gallagher in the space of five minutes at the start of the second broke Ireland’s resolve.
Jarrod Bowen made it 4-0 with a crisp shot from the edge of the area, his first touch after coming off the bench, before debutant Taylor Harwood-Bellis headed England’s fifth.
Ireland played virtually the whole of the second half with 10 men after Liam Scales was sent off for a foul on Jude Bellingham that resulted in England’s penalty.
England’s night of firsts reveals true value of Lee Carsley’s tenure
Sir Alf Ramsey remains the only England manger to win a World Cup, a status he may retain for another few decades, but Lee Carsley can bow out as the interim with a unique distinction of his own. Carsley is the only England manager to win promotion. And if that reflects both the newness of the Nations League and the reality that, in an otherwise successful reign, Gareth Southgate contrived to get relegated, Carsley has at least spared Thomas Tuchel a play-off in his first fixtures and can step down with an 83 per cent win rate. This was the most emphatic. The former Republic of Ireland midfielder oversaw England’s biggest victory over the country he represented 40 times.
Ireland were beaten in the space of eight minutes, when their earlier obduracy became irrelevant as they were reduced to 10 men and conceded three times. Uninspired before the break, Carsley’s team then showed a ruthlessness to capitalise as Ireland capitulated. A November of 3-0 and 5-0 wins, even as the number of withdrawals entered double figures, has been a personal triumph.
England’s night of firsts reveals true value of Lee Carsley’s tenure
England 5-0 Republic of Ireland: The interim manager secured promotion to the top tier of the Nations League, as four players scored their first international goals at Wembley
Lee Carsley to prepare handover for England boss Thomas Tuchel
“I’m trying to put together, with the rest of the staff, a debrief on all three camps,” Carsley said.
“I will put together a document, then hopefully meet him and present what we think and what we’ve found.
“The job for us as an Under-21s staff is to support the senior manager as much as we can, find out what he needs and how we can help.
“I’m really comfortable with that role. I’m looking forward to meeting him now in the next few weeks.”
England thank Lee Carsley for selecting ‘exciting new players’
A giant ‘thank you’ to Lee Carsley was displayed on the Wembley screens at full-time, when Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham released a statement expressing gratitude.
“I would like to thank Lee Carsley and his coaching team for their hard work and results in the last six games,” he said.
“Lee has achieved the main objective from the six fixtures this autumn: securing promotion back to the top tier of the Nations League.
“He has selected some exciting new players and will be providing Thomas Tuchel and Anthony Barry with a very detailed handover as they start work on our qualifying campaign for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
“The players have really enjoyed working with Lee and his team – they have made a real impact in their interim roles.
“Lee will now return to the Under-21s and will continue to play a vital role supporting the seniors by developing England’s best young players.
“His leadership and coaching gives us the best possible chance of back-to-back U21 Euro wins next summer, and he will continue to play a big part in elite football development across the FA.”
Lee Carsley admits ‘relief’ after handing England job to Thomas Tuchel
“It’d be fair to say there’s a bit of relief,” Carsley said. “If we’d have spoken at the start of the campaign we’d probably have said you’re expected to get promotion but it’s difficult.
“No team has rolled over for us and let us just carry on. I’ve found it personally challenging and I know the staff have. It’s good that we’ve finished the campaign with such a strong performance.
“We spoke about not only gaining promotion from the Nations League but to potentially increase the pool of players Thomas has got to choose from.
“The challenge now for the players that have been involved for the last three camps is to be in and around the March squad.
“A lot of them have done themselves a lot of good in terms of enhancing their reputation of their ability to play in the England senior team and gaining a cap is no mean feat. I’m really proud for a lot of them.”
Lee Carsley admits ‘relief’ after handing England job to Thomas Tuchel
Interim England manager Lee Carsley was relieved to seal Nations League promotion in a spectacular send-off against the Republic of Ireland and will now prepare a presentation to new boss Thomas Tuchel.
Gareth Southgate called time on his eight-year stint in July after losing in a second successive European Championship final, leading the Football Association to temporarily promote the Under-21s boss.
Carsley has had his ups and downs during a three-camp caretaker stint with England’s senior set-up that was bookended by victories against the nation he represented as a player.
Harry Kane scored from the spot after Ireland defender Liam Scales received a second booking shortly after half-time, with Anthony Gordon, Conor Gallagher, Jarrod Bowen and debutant Taylor Harwood-Bellis then scoring their first international goals in a 5-0 win.
Lee Carsley admits ‘relief’ after handing England job to Thomas Tuchel
Carsley has had his ups and downs during a three-camp caretaker stint with England’s senior set-up but finished by securing Nations League promotion
Ireland ‘lost for words’ amid claim players ‘gave up’ against England
“Well, I’m kind of lost for words,” Hallgrimsson said.
“Six minutes of kind of madness. Yeah, it was a shock, conceding a penalty, conceding a goal, losing a player.
“We probably lost our heads at this moment, leading into a second goal and a third goal. And from there you can see, yeah, we maybe lost our head, gave up.
“We’ve talked and I said before we’re struggling with confidence, and they clearly took away all confidence from what we did really well in the first half.
“So, yeah, you cannot explain things like this. It’s just happened, a slap in the face and was difficult to come back from it.”
Ireland ‘lost for words’ amid claim players ‘gave up’ against England
Republic of Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson was furious about his side’s humiliating 5-0 hammering against England, suggesting his players “gave up” after Liam Scales’ sending off.
A Nations League campaign that started with a 2-0 defeat to Lee Carsley’s side in Dublin ended in embarrassment at Wembley, where the visitors had started well and frustrated the Euro 2024 runners-up.
But Scales’ sending-off for a second yellow card shortly after half-time saw the Irish spiral, with Harry Kane converting the resulting penalty before Anthony Gordon and Conor Gallagher scored in quick succession.
Substitute Jarrod Bowen found the net with his first touch before debutant Taylor Harwood-Bellis came off the bench to complete a chastening end to 2024 for Ireland.
Ireland ‘lost for words’ amid claim players ‘gave up’ against England
A Nations League campaign that started with a 2-0 defeat to Lee Carsley’s side in Dublin ended in embarrassment
Roy Keane praises future son-in-law on first England goal, but warns ‘it’s not done and dusted yet’
Roy Keane praised his future son-in-law Taylor Harwood-Bellis on scoring his first England goal but jokingly warned the marriage to his daughter is “not done and dusted yet” after the Republic of Ireland were thrashed 5-0 at Wembley.
The 22-year-old Harwood-Bellis marked his debut by scoring just minutes after coming off the bench, to cap a week where his engagement to Keane’s daughter Leah has hit the headlines.
The notoriously stern Keane, who captained the Republic of Ireland as well as Manchester United, was working as a pundit for ITV at Wembley and couldn’t resist commenting when presenter Mark Pougatch explained that Harwood-Bellis was his future son-in-law.
“It’s not done and dusted yet,” he quipped, as fellow pundit Ian Wright laughed along. “Listen, things can change really quickly in the Keane household!”
Up next
England do not yet know their next match, as it will be a World Cup qualifier in March 2025. The groups for that qualification process will be drawn in December, so Thomas Tuchel will have a watchful eye on that draw.
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