Rabiot knocks down Italy and France claims first place

England and Norway promoted to the first division of the Nations League

France beat Italy (1-3) this Sunday at the San Siro stadium (Milan) and took first place in Group 2 heading into the quarterfinals of the Nations League, while England and Norway certified their promotion to the first division of the tournament.

A double from Adrien Rabiot led the revenge of a France that needed to beat the Italians by two goals at home to be seeded in the quarterfinal draw. After the matches three days ago, the pools were on Italy’s side, with the doubts left by France in a 0-0 against Israel and Italy’s away victory against Belgium.

However, on the last day, Didier Deschamps’ men, again without Kylian Mbappé, opened the scoring with Rabiot after two minutes and everything turned upside down for the revenge of ‘Les Bleus’, who two months ago had lost 1 -3 in the Parc des Princes against the Italians. The match between football giants did not disappoint and goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario made it 0-2 with an unfortunate own goal, after a big foul by Lucas Digne.

The former FC Barcelona player had a great game, assisting in the first and also in the second, but first Italy wanted to get into the match with Andrea Cambiaso’s 1-2 score before the break. France, solid in defense and successful in attack, found Rabiot again to close 2024 on a good note and with sensations.

On the other hand, England scored goals in the second half against Ireland with a 5-0 win at Wembley to be first in Group 2 of League B and promoted to the top category, despite finishing tied on 15 points with Greece . The second yellow card for Liam Scales and the penalty that Harry Kane converted sparked the English rout with goals also from Anthony Gordon, Conor Gallagher, Jarrod Bowen and Taylor Harwood-Bellis.

In addition, Erling Haaland scored a hat trick in Norway’s 5-0 victory over Kazakhstan to launch his country into the top category of the Nations League, first in Group 3 of League B with 13 points to Austria’s 11. The Manchester City striker, who became his team’s all-time top scorer last month, now has 38 goals in 39 games.