Nations League: France, England win; Israel upset Belgium

MILAN: Adrien Rabiot and Lucas Digne combined perfectly to celebrate their 50th international caps to give France a 3-1 away win against Italy in the Nations League Group A2 decider as they finished top of the table on Sunday.

Rabiot grabbed a brace after being set up twice by Digne, whose screamer of a free kick was deflected into his own goal by Guglielmo Vicario while Italy scored through Andrea Cambiaso.

The result put France on 13 points at the end of the group phase, ahead of Italy on goal difference after the Azzurri had prevailed 3-1 at the Parc des Princes in September.

Israel claimed their only win in the group as they beat Belgium 1-0 in Budapest to finish level on points with the Red Devils, but last due to their worse head-to-head record.

"We had a young squad, I wanted to see a lot of players and winning here against an Italian team who were full of confidence is a great performance," said coach Didier Deschamps.

After a lacklustre goalless draw against Israel at home on Thursday, Deschamps's side showed their resilience in the absence of captain Kylian Mbappe, who was omitted from the squad.

France got off to a dream start when Rabiot netted his fifth international goal by smashing a header home after two minutes from Digne's corner.

Italy upped the pace but Digne's splendid left-footed 27-metre free kick bounced off the bar and onto Vicario's back for France's second in the 33rd.

Two minutes later, however, the Azzurri reduced the arrears after pressing hard, with Cambiaso finding the back of the net with a volley from Federico Dimarco's cutback.

Christopher Nkunku forced Vicario into a low save in the 59th minute as the visitors pressed for a third at a packed San Siro.

Digne and Rabiot were at it again as the fullback delivered a pinpoint free kick for the former Juventus midfielder to head home again and restore a two-goal lead.

England secured promotion back to the top tier of the Nations League with a 5-0 romp over 10-man Ireland in interim manager Lee Carsley's last game in charge at Wembley.

After a turgid first half, Harry Kane's penalty, Anthony Gordon's volley and a tap-in by Conor Gallagher in the space of five minutes at the start of the second broke Ireland's resolve.

Jarrod Bowen made it 4-0 with a crisp shot from the edge of the area, his first touch after coming off the bench, before debutant Taylor Harwood-Bellis headed England's fifth.

Ireland played virtually the whole of the second half with 10 men after Liam Scales was sent off for a foul on Jude Bellingham that resulted in England's penalty.

England finished top of Group B2 with 15 points from six games, the same as Greece but with a superior goal difference in the two games between the two nations.

Carsley will now hand over the reins to Thomas Tuchel having won five of his six games in charge and with some useful pointers for the German who takes charge in January.

Israel debutant Yarden Shua scored an 86th-minute winner as they upset more fancied Belgium 1-0 in Budapest, but it was not enough for them to avoid relegation from the Nations League's top tier.

Shua, who had come on as a second-half substitute, took advantage of a defensive mistake from Matte Smets to earn Israel their first win in Group A2, moving them level on four points with third-placed Belgium in the final standings.

Belgium, however, avoided finishing bottom due to a better head-to-head record after beating Israel 3-1 in September. Agencies

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