England vs Malta LIVE: Euro 2024 result and highlights after Three Lions win at Wembley
England 2-0 Malta: Gareth Southgate’s side are still unbeaten in Group C though they struggled against a stubborn Malta team
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Your support makes all the difference.England ensured a top seeding at Euro 2024 with a laboured 2-0 home victory against Group C makeweights Malta that will not live long in the memory of an underwhelmed Wembley crowd.
Until the 75th minute all that separated Gareth Southgate’s lacklustre side from 171st-ranked Malta was an early own goal by Enrico Pepe and they endured some anxious moments in between.
Captain Harry Kane finally doubled England’s lead with his 62nd goal for his country after good work by Bukayo Saka before Declan Rice had an effort ruled out for offside.
There was precious little to get enthused about though as several England fringe players wasted the chance to make a statement of intent to Southgate.
England had already qualified for next year’s finals in Germany and victory over Malta ensured they will win Group C, regardless of what happens in North Macedonia on Monday.
Relive the action from the Euro 2024 qualifiers plus get the latest odds and tips right here:
England vs Malta
Malta have never won an away European Championship qualifying match in 59 attempts (with five draws and 54 defeats), losing their last eleven away qualifiers in a row.
They have lost all seven of their qualifiers for Euro 2024 and not since Euro 2000 have they lost 100 per cent of their games in a complete qualifying campaign (World Cup and European Championship combined).
Southgate looking to keep up winning momentum
Despite having already secured qualification for Euro 2024 after their win over Italy last month, Gareth Southgate does not want his side to take their feet of the gas and explained how important it is to pick up two victories from their final two qualifiers.
“We need to win games, not only to make sure that we’re one of the top seeds next summer but also with England, you always have to win matches,” said the Three Lions manager.
“The bigger message is around our standards every day on the training pitch. We aim to be a top team, and we have been consistent for a period of time now and that stems from everything you do and the things that nobody else sees.
“You’ve got to have good habits every day and there’s never a day off from that. If you’re a top player, you’ve got to have those standards about you all the time, not just while you’re training but when you’re away from training as well.
“You’ve got to maximise the opportunity that you’ve got because it’s a short career so you’ve got to be a good professional and our senior players in particular set a great example.
“We also have lots of young players who have great habits.”
England vs Malta
England are unbeaten in their last 36 home European Championship/World Cup qualifying matches (with 32 wins and four draws), since a 3-2 loss to Croatia in November 2007.
The Three Lions have scored 120 goals across these matches, an average of 3.3 per game.
England vs Malta
England manager Gareth Southgate admits his plans for this week’s game with Malta and the trip to North Macedonia have been disrupted.
The Three Lions squad are missing a number of players but the next two outings provide an opportunity for Southgate’s men to finish their qualification campaign with a flourish. “You always have to adapt and ten days ago, we’d maybe have written two possible teams for the two games but you never really know what’s going to come your way,” said Southgate.
“We have lost more players than is normal and there’s some long-term injuries amidst that, which is a big shame for the players themselves, but then there’s always opportunities for the players coming in.
“In terms of the selection of the team we’re looking at things like what is the right balance with the different qualities of the players that we’ve put together so we have the best possible attacking output but also structure and balance behind that.”
England vs Malta
The Three Lions arriving at Wembley.
Scotland secure late draw in Georgia after Khvicha Kvaratskhelia brace
Lawrence Shankland headed a stoppage-time equaliser as Scotland averted more torment in Tbilisi with a 2-2 draw against Georgia.
The Hearts striker was a late call-up for the injured Che Adams and seized his chance when he headed home fellow substitute Stuart Armstrong’s cross two minutes into added time.
Scott McTominay earlier took his Euro 2024 qualifying campaign tally to seven goals when he cancelled out the first of two strikes from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Scotland secure late draw in Georgia after Kvaratskhelia brace
Georgia 2-2 Scotland: Scott McTominay and Lawrence Shankland twice pulled Steve Clarke’s side level
England team changes
Gareth Southgate makes five changes to the England team that defeated Italy last time. It seems the manager has elected to go with a 3-4-3 formation as Harry Maguire retains his spot in defence but is joined by Marc Guehi and Fikayo Tomori in a back three.
Kieran Trippier and Trent Alexander-Arnold will push into midfield alongside the returning Jordan Henderson and Conor Gallagher while Phil Foden, Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford make up the forward line.
John Stones, Kyle Walker, Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham and Kalvin Phillips are the men to drop out.
England vs Malta starting line-ups
England XI: Pickford, Trippier, Maguire, Guehi, Tomori, Alexander-Arnold, Henderson, Gallagher, Foden, Kane, Rashford
Malta XI: Bonello, S. Borg, Pepe, J. Borg, J. Mbong, Yankam, Guillaumier, Teuma, Camenzuli, P. Mbong, Reid
England vs Malta
England have won all six of their matches against Malta, scoring 18 goals and conceding just once, with that coming via an own goal by goalkeeper Richard Wright in a 2-1 win in June 2000.
Malta’s two away games against England have ended in a 5-0 defeat in a European Championship qualifier in 1971 and a 2-0 loss in a World Cup qualifier in 2016, which was Gareth Southgate’s first match as England manager.
England vs Malta
England have won all six of their matches against Malta, scoring 18 goals and conceding just once, with that coming via an own goal by goalkeeper Richard Wright in a 2-1 win in June 2000.
Malta’s two away games against England have ended in a 5-0 defeat in a European Championship qualifier in 1971 and 2-0 loss in a World Cup qualifier in 2016, which was Gareth Southgate’s first match as England manager.
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