Neither side were creating especially dangerous chances before HT, and Bryan Cristante’s strike was blocked by Eric Dier before Kane hit a frustrated shot comfortably over the crossbar. There was a greater intensity as the teams emerged from the break, as Federico Dimarco came within inches of finding Francesco Acerbi in the box before Kane had a shot blocked by Leonardo Bonucci. The England captain endured more frustration soon after, as he was left bleeding following a clash of heads with Rafael Tolói and forced to wait before coming back on.
The match finally received a burst of quality in the 68th minute, as Giacomo Raspadori controlled Bonucci’s ball behind the Three Lions defence, cut across Kyle Walker and curled a strike out of Nick Pope’s reach. Gianluigi Donnarumma hadn’t been tested much throughout the game, but produced an impressive double-stop to deny Kane with a quarter of an hour remaining. Jude Bellingham had been one of England’s better players on the night, but his horrible strike encapsulated the Three Lions’ misery.
The scoreline could have been even worse as Dimarco hit the post late on, but the shorter margin will be no consolation as England were relegated to League B, with plenty of questions yet to be answered ahead of the FIFA World Cup. Meanwhile, Italy secured their place in UNL League A and will even be heading to the finals if they beat Hungary on Monday evening.