Italy

Italy, June 9 (PL) The Italian national team, playing at home at MAPEI Stadium-Citta, defeated Moldova 2-0 and secured its first victory in the European qualifying tournament for the 2026 World Cup.

After losing 0-3 to undefeated Norway, which beat Estonia 1-0 today, in their first Group I match, the Blues earned three points and remain in contention for a spot in the World Cup, after failing to qualify for Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022.

The four-time world champions took control of the match in the 40th minute after dominating the field, with a right-footed shot from Giacomo Raspadori that sent the ball into the back of the net.

In the second half, thanks to an assist from Davide Frattesi, Andrea Cambiaso scored the second goal, closing out the night's scoring.

This marked the end of coach Luciano Spalletti's tenure, who was dismissed after the defeat against the Nordics, leaving everything ready for the official appointment of another coach.

Following these results, in Group I, Norway is at the top with a perfect score (4-0), followed by Israel (2-1), Italy (1-1), Estonia (1-3), and Moldova (0-3).

In other matches on the day, Macedonia defeated Kazakhstan 1-0 to take the lead in Group J with eight points, ahead of Wales (7), which lost 3-4 to Belgium (4) today.

The Czech Republic remained at the top of Group L with nine points, despite losing 1-5 to Croatia (6), and the Faroe Islands (3) beat Gibraltar (0) 2-1.