Italy and Ukraine will continue their Euro 2024 qualifiers after a loss each so far with both nations aiming to chase down the unstoppable England at the top of Group C with the Italians having games in hand.
The two extra games for Italy to play in these qualifiers come as a result of them reaching the last four in the Nations League this past June. They did end up losing the eventual winners Spain in the semi-finals, as Ciro Immobile netted from the spot to make it 1-1 at the time in a 1-1 draw. A late goal from Joselu won it in the end for the Spanish.
Italy then met with the Netherlands in the third-place playoff battle, as Federico Dimarco scored after six minutes before David Frattesi made it 2-0 just 14 minutes later. The Dutch would level things up at 2-2 before Federico Chiesa scored the winning goal in the Netherlands' backyard of the De Grolsch Veste.
Nevertheless, after missing out on the World Cup, the defending champions of the European title have a lot of work to do in order to get fans as hopeful as they were in the build up to Euro 2020. So far, Italy have beaten Malta 2-0 away from home and lost in the capital to England in a 2-1 loss that saw Mateo Retegui score in the second half.
The reigning Serie A champion, Luciano Spalletti, is in charge of the national team now after the departure of the Euro 2020 winning coach, Roberto Mancini. Spalletti was sensational with Napoli last season as he stormed to a 14-point advantage win of the title over Lazio.
As for Ukraine, they have also lost to England at these qualifiers but managed to defeat North Macedonia and Malta in Group C, while also getting a 3-3 draw on the board in a friendly away to Germany.