WROCLAW, Poland — Defending European champions Italy drew 1-1 with North Macedonia in a Euro 2024 qualifier to suffer a blow in their hopes of making it to next year’s finals from Group C where leaders England took a valuable point in a 1-1 away draw against Ukraine.
England leads the group on 13 points with Ukraine on seven. Italy and North Macedonia both have four points.
Belgium went joint top of Group F with a 1-0 away win at Azerbaijan, lifting them level on 10 points with Austria.
England fought back to salvage the draw after Kyle Walker scored from a sublime pass by Harry Kane for his first international goal.
England dominated possession but Ukraine opened the scoring against the run of play in the 26th minute through Oleksandr Zinchenko after Yukhym Konoplia cut back a pass from the right for the midfielder to sidefoot past goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
Ukraine have not played at home since Russia launched an invasion of the country in February 2022 — which Moscow calls a “special military operation” — and the crowd noise inside Tarczynski Arena in Poland was deafening at times.
The visitors levelled close to the break after skipper Kane gathered the ball in midfield and superbly picked out Walker who neatly controlled the ball and slotted home with a composed finish for his first England goal.
Gareth Southgate’s visitors played more directly after the restart and started creating more chances, including a Bukayo Saka shot that bounced off the the bar.
England, who conceded just their second goal in qualifying, are top with 13 points from five games followed by Ukraine on seven from four. The draw against Ukraine marked the first time England have dropped points in the qualifying campaign.
“An amazing result for us. England are one of the best teams in the world,” Zinchenko said. “The atmosphere was unbelievable. It felt like we played at home. I really hope very soon we can play at home.”
Ukraine took the lead on a quick counterattack as Yukhym Konoplya received the ball on the fight flank and squared the ball for Zinchenko, who got away from his Arsenal teammate Declan Rice to score inside the near post.
It was Ukraine’s only shot on target in the game.
Harry Kane created the equalizer for England with a superb ball over the top of the defense to pick out Walker as he raced into the area, and the fullback controlled the ball with one touch before picking his spot to beat goalkeeper Georgiy Bushchan.
Euro 2024 hosts Germany slumped to a shock 4-1 home loss to Japan in their international friendly, deepening the sense of crisis hanging over them after their third straight loss less than nine months before the continental tournament.
The four-time world champions, who crashed out of last year’s World Cup group stage after also losing to Japan, have won just four of their last 17 international matches, putting coach Hansi Flick’s future in doubt.
They next face World Cup finalists France on Tuesday.
“We have to be honest and say that Japan were better. They let the ball run, they played the right spaces, carved out their goals. They were better,” Germany captain Ilkay Gundogan said.
“We made far too many individual mistakes. We have to admit that we are just not on the same level with teams like the one. It is hard but the trend speaks for itself.”
