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
Sign up to Miguel Delaney’s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for free
Sign up to Miguel’s Delaney’s free weekly newsletter
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’s Euro 2024 squad: Who’s on the plane, who’s in contention and who has work to do?
England players have only four more international games in which to impress Gareth Southgate before the manager names his squad for Euro 2024.
Southgate’s team qualified for the tournament, which will be hosted by Germany next summer, with a stylish 3-1 win over reigning champions Italy at Wembley Stadium, the venue for that agonising shootout defeat by the Azzurri in 2021.
Now England can look ahead to the Euros, with two final qualifiers against Group C minnows Malta and North Macedonia to come in November, before two friendlies at Wembley in the spring.
England’s Euro 2024 squad: Who’s on the plane and who has work to do?
A closer look at which England players are heading to Germany for Euro 2024 and who might miss out on the final 23
England vs Malta
England have met Malta on five previous occasions with the Three Lions enjoying a 100% win ratio against the Red Falcons. The first game came back in February 1971, when it ended in a 1-0 draw in Gzira courtesy of a first-half goal from Martin Peters.
Malta were also the first opposition for current England boss Gareth Southgate, as he took charge as interim manager for the game at Wembley in October 2016.
No drop in standards says Southgate
With victories over Italy and Ukraine already under their belts, England have secured top spot in Group C but hey will be mathematically uncatchable if they pick up at least one point this evening.
Gareth Southgate has been clear that he does not want a drop off in standards for their final two games against minnows Malta and North Macedonia.
"England always have to win and the message is about our standards on the training pitch - being a top team stems from having good habits every day - never a day off if you’re a top player." he said in the build-up to the game.
Southgate in injured left-backs
With Luke Shaw and Ben Chilwell both injured, England have something of a left-back problem with manager Gareth Southgate filling the position with non-specialist players during their absences.
"We have centre-backs who can slide across," he said when talking about those who could play at left-back. "You’d like to have natural full-backs.
“The reality is that even if you look at the league, [Newcastle’s] Dan Burn is a centre-back playing at full-back, [Arsenal’s] Ben White is playing at full-back.
"Germany had [Benedikt] Howedes there when they won the World Cup. There are a vast number of English qualified left-backs who are injured in the league. There are different ways to solve those problems."
Gareth Southgate highlights Sir Bobby Charlton legacy ahead of Wembley tribute
Gareth Southgate showed footage of Sir Bobby Charlton to his squad ahead of England paying tribute to the 1966 World Cup winner at Wembley.
The jewel in the crown for club and country, the news of Charlton’s death at the age of 86 on October 21 reverberated around the world.
Southgate was at Charlton’s funeral at Manchester Cathedral on Monday and further tributes will be paid to the England and Manchester United great on Friday evening at Wembley.
Gareth Southgate highlights Sir Bobby Charlton legacy ahead of Wembley tribute
England will pay tribute to Charlton at Friday night’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Malta
England vs Malta prediction
Malta failed to have a shot against England in the reverse fixture at their home ground and things should play out in a similar way tonight. Gareth Southgate’s team will dominate and look to notch up as big a score as they can.
Jordan Pickford, or whichever goalkeeper Southgate elects to go with, will be in for a quiet time while the attacking talent will all be eager to get on the field.
England should win comfortably.
England 5-0 Malta.
England vs Malta team news and predicted line ups
England have suffered a number of withdrawals from their squad for this fixture and their final qualifier against North Macedonia, with Jude Bellingham and James Maddison the headline names pulling out after strong starts to the season. There is still no place for Raheem Sterling among Gareth Southgate’s group, though, with Chelsea teammate Cole Palmer earning a call up instead and perhaps in line for a senior international debut.
Kemar Reid has earned a first call up for Malta, with the Floriana player now a naturalised citizen of the country. Jodi Jones of Notts County is among the foreign-based contingent and should feature up front, while midfielder Teddy Teuma is also back amongst things after missing the fixture against Italy earlier in the month with an ankle injury.
Predicted line-ups
England XI: Pickford; Walker, Maguire, Guehi, Trippier; Alexander-Arnold, Rice, Gallagher; Saka, Kane, Foden.
Malta XI: Bonnello; Mbong, S. Borg, Pepe, J. Borg, Camenzuli; Teuma, Guillaumier, Muscat; Jones, Nwoko.
How to watch England vs Malta
England vs Malta is due to kick off at 7.45pm GMT on Friday 17 November at Wembley Stadium in London.
Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the match live on Channel 4, with coverage on the channel from 7pm GMT. A live stream will be available via the Channel 4 website and app.
If you’re travelling abroad and want to watch the event, you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN round-up is here to help and includes deals on VPNs in the market. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are, and also with the terms of their service provider.
England vs Malta
Good evening and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of tonight’s international break action as England host Malta at Wembley in a qualifying match for Euro 2024.
The Three Lions have already secured their spot at next summer’s tournament and are aiming to finish at the top of the group in order to gain a high seeding for the Euros - which should lead to an easier group for that competition.
A few members of Gareth Southgate’s initial squad have dropped so their may be some surprises included in tonight’s starting line-up. Cole Palmer, Rico Lewis and Ezri Konsa have all been called up so they may feature over the next two matches with England also taking on North Macedonia on Monday.
We’ll have all the updates, team news and match action throughout the night so stick with us as e build up to kick off at 7.45pm.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies