Kane extends England goals record, Spain stays perfect and Italy beats France in the Nations League

Harry Kane capped another record-breaking night with his 92nd goal for England in a 2-1 win against Croatia in the Nations League on Thursday.

World Cup winner Spain beat the Czech Republic 2-0 and Italy rallied to a 3-1 win against France.

It's all eyes on Spain vs. England in Madrid on Sunday with top spot in Group A3 up for grabs. Both teams have qualified for the quarterfinals, but England can still secure first place if it wins by two goals or more, having lost 3-2 against Spain in September.

“In the last game against them we knew we left a bit out there,” Kane told broadcaster ITV Sport. "We knew we could have done a little bit better and we said to ourselves, ‘OK, let’s win every game from now til the next one and then see what happens.’

“It’s a perfect opportunity now Sunday to try to prove ourselves.”

The newly-crowned Ballon d'Or winner celebrated becoming England's outright record appearance maker by winning his 126th cap in the game at Wembley Stadium.

England went ahead through Morgan Rogers in the 24th minute, but Petar Sucic leveled just before the hour mark.

Then came Kane's moment from the penalty spot in 64th and he fired in the winning goal to extend his scoring record for his country.

“Once the game starts it’s just about getting the win, getting the three points,” Kane said.

If England is to top the group it will have to end Spain's 100% record in the competition and breaking an unbeaten run that now stretches 43 matches after victory against Czech Republic.

Alex Baena struck from the penalty spot late in the first half. The Czechs went down to 10 men in the second half when Ladislav Krejci was sent off and Spain's victory was sealed in the sixth minute of added time through Marc Pubill.

Kevin De Bruyne and Charles De Ketelaere scored in Belgium's 2-1 win in Turkey after going behind to an Arda Guler goal.

Pio Esposito scored twice, while his brother missed a penalty, as Italy recorded its first victory over France on home soil since 1962.

Italy moved top of Group A1, above France thanks to a better head-to-head record. France would have secured a quarterfinal berth if it had avoided defeat at San Siro.

Italy got off to a nightmare start as goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who has made a couple of high-profile mistakes for Manchester City recently, played the ball straight to Michael Olise.

The France forward pounced on it just outside the area and glided past Alessandro Bastoni before slotting in his fifth goal in his past four matches for his country.

Italy responded through its own star striker in the 26th minute. Nicolò Cambiaghi got down the left and pulled the ball back from the byline for Esposito to prod in at the near post. It was the 21-year-old’s eighth goal for Italy in just 14 matches.

France hit the woodwork twice before Pio Esposito’s older brother, Sebastiano Esposito, had a great chance to fire Italy into the lead from the penalty spot on the hour mark after Cambiaghi had been tripped by Malo Gusto.

But Sebastiano, not a regular penalty taker, blazed his effort well wide. He was replaced moments later by Federico Dimarco, who had an immediate impact down the left, crossing for Davide Frattesi to fire Italy in front.

Italy earned another penalty when Antonio Vergara was clumsily brought down by Daoyot Upamecan. This time Pio stepped up and drilled it into the bottom left corner.

James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

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