England captain Harry Kane had two big reasons to celebrate as he scored in the Euro 2024 win over Italy.
Kane became England’s record international goal scorer after he helped his team beat reigning champions Italy 2-1 in Group C.
The skipper converted a penalty shortly before half time to make it 2-0. Earlier, Declan Rice opened the scoring.
In the 56th minute, debutant Mateo Retegui scored but England survived the pressure.
They secured a first win over Italy on Italian soil for 62 years even after Luke Shaw was sent off.
Italy beat England on penalties to win Euro 2020 at Wembley Stadium. The visitors sank deeper and deeper as they appeared to run out of legs but Italy struggled to create clear chances and suffered a first Euro qualifying defeat in 41 games.
It was England’s first competitive victory over Italy since 1977 and meant Gareth Southgate has racked up 50 wins as the national coach since taking the job in 2016.
But the night belonged to Kane.
“This means everything,” Kane said. “So excited to get back out there and put the England shirt back on. And it had to be a penalty of course. Once it hit the back of the net there was so much emotion. Just huge thanks to the players, staff and fans.”
England play Ukraine on Sunday.