LONDON: Italy finally came back down to earth a bit in their first game as European champions.

Less than two months after winning the European Championship at Wembley, Italy were held to a 1-1 draw by Bulgaria in World Cup qualifying on Thursday.

That ended Italy’s perfect start to the qualifying campaign but nevertheless matched Spain’s record run of 35 matches unbeaten, set between 2007 and 2009.

Spain lost 2-1 to Sweden in Stockholm to drop to second place in their group, while Belgium thrashed Estonia and England thumped Hungary in a match marred by reported racist chanting to consolidate their group leads.

Elsewhere, Germany claimed an underwhelming win against Liechtenstein in Hansi Flick’s first match as coach.

Only the group winners directly qualify for the World Cup. Second-place finishers face a playoff.

Roberto Mancini had recalled all the fit players from his European Championship-winning squad for the three World Cup qualifiers and nine of the starting lineup against Bulgaria started the Euro 2020 final against England in July.

The Azzurri dominated from the start and took the lead in the 16th minute in Florence when Federico Chiesa played a one-two with Ciro Immobile before firing into the bottom right corner.

Italy seemed fully in control and had several chances to extend their lead before Bulgaria levelled five minutes from halftime against the run of play. Kiril Despodov burst down the left before sending in a low pass for Atanas Iliev to sweep past Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Italy, who missed out on the 2018 finals in Russia, remain top of Group ‘C’, but Switzerland, four points adrift, have two games in hand.

Lithuania are bottom of the group with zero points and lost 4-1 at home to Northern Ireland.

Viktor Claesson’s second-half strike, after excellent work from Juventus winger Dejan Kulusevski, put Sweden two points clear of Spain at the top of Group ‘B’ with a game in hand.

Carlos Soler had given Spain a fifth-minute lead, but Alexander Isak levelled for the hosts just a minute later.

Spain have reached every World Cup since last failing to qualify in 1974, but have plenty of work to do to continue that run.

“Our position is getting very complicated, we no longer have it in our own hands,” admitted Spanish skipper Sergio Busquets. “We were playing well, but we missed that bit of luck. We have to continue, there are still many matches.”

Sweden have a perfect nine points from three games, while Spain have seven points from four games. Kosovo moved up to third after beating Georgia 1-0.

ENGLAND SILENCE HUNGARIAN CROWD

British media reported that Raheem Sterling and Jude Bellingham were targeted with monkey chants as England bounced back from their agonising Euro final defeat by seeing off Hungary 4-0 in Budapest.

The majority of the 60,000 home fans booed Gareth Southgate’s players as they took the knee to highlight racial injustice before kick-off, before repeatedly throwing missiles at the visiting team from the stands. A flare was also launched onto the pitch.

“I didn’t hear that [racist chants]. I will talk to the boys and see if they heard any of it,” England captain Harry Kane told ITV. “We will have to report it to UEFA as the rules permit. If that is the case, hopefully UEFA come down strong.”

Sterling answered the hostile Puskas Arena crowd in the best possible way with a 55th-minute opening goal, before Kane and Harry Maguire both scored headers.

Declan Rice’s late strike capped an excellent night on the pitch for England as they maintained their 100 percent record with a fourth straight victory in Group ‘I’.

Poland now sit second in the table, five points behind England who they meet in Warsaw next week, after Robert Lewandowski netted in a 4-1 win over Albania while Andorra earned its first win by beating fellow minnow San Marino 2-0 at home.

Romelu Lukaku scored twice as top-ranked Belgium came from an early goal down to beat Estonia 5-2 and stay atop Group ‘E’.

Estonia midfielder Mattias Kit put the hosts ahead in the second minute but the heavily favoured Red Devils were quick to turn things around.

With 10 points from four games, Belgium retained a three-point lead in the group ahead of the Czech Republic, who defeated Belarus 1-0.

Wales and Belarus are on three points while Estonia are pointless.

Germany struggled for long periods against Liechtenstein in St Gallen but eventually won 2-0 for a crucial three points to move into second in Group ‘J’, a point behind surprise leaders Armenia.

Flick was visibly frustrated at times but will be happy that his two much-maligned forwards, Timo Werner and Leroy Sane, both got on the scoresheet.

Armenia dropped their first points of the campaign with a 0-0 draw against North Macedonia, who remained third. It is three points behind Armenia and a point above Romania after it won 2-0 in Iceland.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2021