Australia rounded off their Rugby League World Cup group campaign with another rout, this time crushing Italy 66-6 on Saturday.

The defending world champions have made light work of each of their assignments in Group B and ran in 12 tries against Italy at John Smith's Stadium in Huddersfield.

Six of them came in the first half as Valentine Holmes, James Tedesco, Campbell Graham, Latrell Mitchell and Murray Taulagi all went over, the latter claiming a double in the opening period.

There was no let-up from the Kangaroos after the break as Isaah Yeo, Liam Martin, Cameron Murray, Jeremiah Nanai and Lindsay Collins crossed, with Graham joining Taulagi in registering a brace.

Ronny Palumbo's try ensured Italy did get on the scoreboard, but they bow out after finishing third in Group B above only Scotland.

Australia progress having scored 192 points and conceded 14. As Group B winners, they will face either Lebanon or Ireland in the last eight, a prospective semi-final with England likely their biggest barrier to a return to the final.

The 11-time winners are on a 15-game victorious streak in the tournament and have reached every final save for the inaugural tournament held in 1954.

Five years on from its last iteration - and a year after it was originally set to take place - the 2021 Rugby League World Cup kicks off this weekend when England face Samoa at St James' Park in Newcastle.

Shaun Wane's hosts will be one of 16 sides jockeying to be crowned the best national team on the planet, alongside holders Australia, world number one New Zealand and a host of other countries.

Set to run for just over a month, through to the final at Old Trafford on November 19, there are already plenty of narratives for what is shaping up to be one of the most enthralling tournaments the sport has ever seen.

With that in mind, Stats Perform is here to run down who will be gunning for the prize, who is likely to fall by the wayside - and who just might capture hearts and minds along the way.
 

The usual suspects

There have only been three nations who have ever laid their hands on the Paul Barriere Trophy - and you can expect the two of them in the competition this year to be in the mix once again.

Australia have won this tournament a record 11 times, and despite a dearth of international rugby for Mal Meninga's side since they last hoisted it aloft, the Kangaroos firmly remain the side to beat.

In Michael Maguire's New Zealand, they will likely face a familiar foe before the final.

Australia and New Zealand have been drawn in Group B and C respectively, meaning there is no path for them to meet in the showpiece game, despite being the two most highly fancied teams with the bookmakers coming into the tournament.

The Kiwis soundly underperformed in 2017, knocked out in the quarter-finals; here, they'll be desperate to make amends.

Fifty years of hurt

England have never won the Rugby League World Cup - or rather, as a solo nation, having been part of the Great Britain side that last won the Paul Barriere Trophy in 1972.

Preparations have been less than ideal for the hosts too, with a host of key faces - including Super League Grand Final-winning St Helens trio Jonny Lomax, Mark Percival and Alex Walmsley, plus Wigan Warriors back-rower Liam Farrell - all struck off from consideration through injury.

But that has opened the door for a slew of surprises, with Salford duo Marc Sneyd and Andy Ackers handed maiden call-ups alongside Australian-born loose-forward Victor Radley.

Throw in NRL young guns Dom Young and Herbie Farnworth, and there's plenty to be excited for. Could they upset the odds and end a half-century wait for glory on home turf?

The upstart crowd

Last time a World Cup took place, Samoa endured a dismal tournament, with a draw against a gutsy Scotland side their only positive mark of the competition.

Now, it is a different story - Matt Parish's side are stuffed to the gills with NRL superstars, including six of Penrith Panthers' Grand Final-winning squad.

They'll hope to follow in the footsteps of Tonga, who caused a shock five years ago with a remarkable run to the final four, where they then ran England close.

Both teams have taken maximum advantage of rugby league's chop-and-change eligibility rules, and are now credible dark horse contenders.

Perennial semi-finalists, Fiji - who knocked out New Zealand last time around - look as if they will be considerably off the pace of their Pacific rivals, but the Bati's roaring spirit means they are unlikely to go down without a fight.

Throw in Papua New Guinea and the Cook Islands, and the Southern Hemisphere will have plenty to boast about.
 

The rest of the pack

It won't be a lock-out from below the equator if England and the other nations in the tournament have their say.

Wales - coached by the eternal John Kear - Scotland and Ireland ensure a Home Nations lockout for the United Kingdom, while France and Italy bring continental flavour from Europe.

Lebanon, meanwhile, are led by a familiar face from across the rugby code divide - ex-Wallabies supremo Michael Cheika, who will juggle this tournament with his role in charge of the Argentina union national team.

Then there is the two teams making their World Cup debut - Greece and Jamaica.

The former hail from a nation where rugby league has fought to even be recognised as a sport, while the latter stunned the USA to achieve a tournament bow.

While neither team is expected to make a long run, they are sure to earn their fans over the coming weeks.

Daniele De Rossi will take his first steps as a head coach with Serie B club SPAL after the former Italy and Roma midfielder was named as Roberto Venturato's successor.

The 39-year-old De Rossi has signed up to join the team from Ferrara, in Emilia-Romagna, on a contract running until the end of June 2024.

De Rossi had recently been serving as a technical assistant to Italy boss Roberto Mancini but has vacated that post to strike out on his own in Italy's second tier.

SPAL sit 14th in Serie A and have lost their last two league matches, leading to the sacking of Venturato on Sunday.

De Rossi made 616 appearances across all competitions for Roma in an 18-year first-team career, captaining the team in 207 games. Only Francesco Totti has played more games for the capital giants than De Rossi.

He also won 117 caps for Italy, helping the team lift the World Cup in 2006 and playing on until 2017 in the national side.

He left Roma in 2019 and had a brief playing stint at Boca Juniors, before switching to coaching and uniting with Mancini in the Azzurri set-up.

De Rossi was part of Mancini's staff as Italy won the delayed Euro 2020 tournament last year, beating England on penalties in the Wembley final.

His move to SPAL was given the blessing of Italy's football association, the FIGC, with president Gabriele Gravina saying: "To Daniele, I wish you the best of luck for this new professional adventure.

"In the belief that the experience gained in Club Italia will be very useful to him, I thank him for the commitment and passion with which he has always honoured the blue shirt, giving himself and giving us so much satisfaction."

Italy head coach Roberto Mancini is excited by the prospect of facing England in Euro 2024 qualifying, declaring "it will be nice to meet again".

England and Italy were drawn alongside Ukraine, North Macedonia and Malta in a challenging qualification group on Sunday, from which the top two will qualify automatically for the tournament in Germany.

The duo met as recently as last month, when Giacomo Raspadori's goal condemned England to relegation from the top tier of the Nations League, while Mancini also led the Azzurri to victory over the Three Lions in last year's Euro 2020 final. 

England's dismal Nations League campaign meant they – alongside world champions France – were in pot two for the draw in Frankfurt.

Although Mancini claims he expected Italy to land one of those two giants, he remains content with the draw and is looking forward to meeting Gareth Southgate's men.

"I was sure we would have one between England and France, but that's okay too," Mancini told Rai Sport after the draw.

"It's a group of five, it's doable. But there won't be simple games, they'll all have to be played. 

"It will certainly be beautiful with England, with Southgate we know each other and if it continues like this we are pretty good, I don't know if he agrees. 

"By now this challenge is a classic and, although we faced each other 20 days ago, it will be nice to meet again."

While Italy have happy memories of their recent games against England, remaining unbeaten in their last six head-to-head meetings, the same cannot be said about another of their opponents.

North Macedonia clinched a stunning win over Italy in the World Cup play-offs in March, ensuring the Azzurri missed out on a second consecutive edition of the tournament.

Mancini is urging caution ahead of that reunion, adding: "It's one of those games that happen every now and then. As we saw in Palermo, all matches must be played, even the simplest ones."

The Azzurri boss was also pleased to be drawn alongside Ukraine, declaring: "There will be some emotion... but Ukraine is still a good national team."

Gareth Southgate declared England must improve on their poor record against Italy after the two nations were drawn together in a "tough" Euro 2024 qualification group.

The teams faced each other in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley Stadium last year, with Italy emerging victorious on penalties to win their first European Championship trophy since 1968 and deny England their first major title in 55 years.

The sides also met twice in the recent Nations League campaign, playing out a goalless draw at Molineux in June before Giacomo Raspadori gave Italy a 1-0 triumph in the return fixture at San Siro in September.

The Three Lions have not beaten Italy in six attempts since a 2-1 victory in 2012, and Southgate says that run needs to end.

"England's record against Italy generally is not very good," Southgate told Sky Sports. "So we've got to improve that.

"There's not too many surprises, they've changed the team a lot for all of those different matches.

"We know the quality they have, we know the depth that they have."

England and Italy have been drawn in Group C alongside Ukraine, Malta and North Macedonia, the latter of whom knocked the Azzurri out of the World Cup play-offs earlier this year, preventing the European champions from making it to Qatar.

Southgate acknowledged the overall difficulty of the group, adding: "It's clearly a tough draw, given the quality of the opposition.

"But we've had draws in qualification that have probably been a little bit more comfortable than that, although I'd have to say Poland and Hungary in the last qualifying group was particularly tough as well, so we're used to that.

"The draws are what they are, it's how you perform on the day."

England have the opportunity to gain a measure of revenge on Italy for their Euro 2020 final defeat after the two nations were drawn together in Euro 2024 qualifying.

Italy beat England 3-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Wembley in London on July 11, 2021 to win their first European Championship title since 1968.

Gareth Southgate's Three Lions had opened the scoring through Luke Shaw, but the Azzurri levelled via Leonardo Bonucci.

And spot-kick misses by Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka proved costly for England, who had hoped to win a first major title in 55 years.

The two will tussle again – twice – on the road to Germany 2024 after being drawn together in qualifying Group C in Sunday's ceremony, which was held in Frankfurt.

Nevertheless, both teams will still expect to reach the finals given the top two in each group progress to the tournament - joining them will be Ukraine, North Macedonia and Malta.

It was North Macedonia who knocked Italy out of the World Cup qualifying play-offs earlier this year.

Group B is another standout after the Netherlands were drawn alongside reigning world champions France in a pool that also contains Republic of Ireland, Greece and Gibraltar.

Spain will be confident of plotting a way through Group A, which also contains Scotland, Norway, Georgia and Cyprus, though Belgium may face a slightly sterner examination after being grouped with Austria, Sweden, Azerbaijan and Estonia.

Qualifying is set to begin in March 2023 and conclude eight months later, with the winners and runners-up of each group going straight through to the tournament.

The remaining three teams will be decided in March 2024 via a play-off section, which will be made up of 12 group winners from the 2022-23 Nations League.

If a Nations League section winner has already qualified for Euro 2024, their play-off place will pass to the next best-ranked country from the same league.

Draw in full:

Group A: Spain, Scotland, Norway, Georgia, Cyprus
Group B: Netherlands, France, Republic of Ireland, Greece, Gibraltar
Group C: Italy, England, Ukraine, North Macedonia, Malta
Group D: Croatia, Wales, Armenia, Turkey, Latvia
Group E: Poland, Czech Republic, Albania, Faroe Islands, Moldova
Group F: Belgium, Austria, Sweden, Azerbaijan, Estonia
Group G: Hungary, Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Lithuania
Group H: Denmark, Finland, Slovenia, Kazakhstan, Northern Ireland, San Marino
Group I: Switzerland, Israel, Romania, Kosovo, Belarus, Andorra
Group J: Portugal, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Liechtenstein

Italy coach Roberto Mancini is already targeting World Cup glory in 2026, as the Azzurri prepare to "suffer" through this year's tournament after failing to qualify.

The European champions will be the most high-profile side to miss the tournament in Qatar after slipping to a humiliating play-off defeat to North Macedonia in March.

Italy were also absent from Russia in 2018 following a play-off loss to Sweden, meaning their exile from football's most storied competition will stretch to a minimum of 12 years.

The Azzurri also suffered group-stage exits in 2010 and 2014, meaning their most recent World Cup knockout tie remains 2006's final victory over France.

Mancini, however, is determined to end Italy's World Cup woes when the tournament heads to the United States, Mexico and Canada in four years' time, and believes their failure to reach Qatar was unjust. 

"Winning with the national team is the best thing there can be," he said at an event in Rome. 

"Giving Italians such joy is incredible, now we have to wait four years. We will aim to win the next World Cup in America.

"We are working, unfortunately we will suffer until December - the disappointment of not qualifying for the World Cup does not pass me. 

"It was totally unfair, but the defeats must be faced. We did not deserve to stay out of the World Cup, but unfortunately, that's how it went."

Asked why he chose to continue as Italy coach following their play-off embarrassment, the former Manchester City boss added: "Honestly, I don't know, at that moment I just wanted to turn the page because it went badly. 

"But winning the European Championship gives an incredible joy. Now we have to wait a few years and then we want to try for those emotions again."

Italy have since salvaged some pride by winning their Nations League group, finishing above Hungary, Germany and England to reach next year's finals.

And Mancini was keen to emphasise the difficulty of that achievement, adding: "It wasn't easy, the boys put everything in. 

"England are a danger to win the World Cup, they have an incredible squad and Hungary are a very physical team."

Italy will contest friendlies against Albania and Austria when elite club football pauses for the World Cup in November. 

Luke Shaw had no grievances about being dropped by Manchester United in August, even agreeing that Erik ten Hag needed to change something.

Shaw started United's first two Premier League games of the season, defeats to Brighton and Hove Albion and then Brentford.

The 4-0 loss to Brentford meant United finished a day bottom of the Premier League table for the first time in 30 years – 1992 was also the last time United had begun a league season with back-to-back defeats.

Shaw and Harry Maguire were the ones to pay the heaviest price. Neither has started any of the four league games since, all of which United won, while the left-back has not played a single minute in those games.

Despite a lack of action, both players featured for England during their two Nations League games in the past week and Shaw is hopeful of playing more regularly for United ahead of the World Cup, even if he accepts being dropped for Tyrell Malacia was not hugely surprising.

Asked by talkSPORT about playing more before Qatar 2022, Shaw said: "That's what everyone wants.

"I think Ten Hag, the boss, he knows my qualities, he knows what I'm capable of and we've had chats.

"It's understandable that – and I even agree – the start of the season wasn't good enough and he had to make changes. And I fully accept that, I accepted it.

"The only thing I can do is train hard and wait for my opportunities, whether that's in the cup games or the Premier League.

"Whatever I play in, I just have to be ready and play at the standard I should be at."

Shaw scored in England's 3-3 draw with Germany on Monday, a result that did little to ease the pressure on manager Gareth Southgate.

England's loss to Italy three days earlier confirmed their relegation from the top tier of the Nations League, but Shaw thinks the criticism of Southgate is unfair given what he has achieved in the job until now.

"You look at the results of the last two major tournaments and it's bizarre how people can attack him and say it's not good enough," Shaw added.

"At the moment we haven't won, we have to win a major tournament to be extremely successful, but we're heading in the right direction and he's guiding us in the right direction.

"From when he first came in, you've seen the difference in the England team to where we are now but of course the results recently haven't been good enough. We'll be ready in the World Cup."

England captain Harry Kane was "proud" of Harry Maguire for playing through injury towards the end of Monday's draw with Germany despite it being a nightmare match for the defender.

Centre-back Maguire has become a much-maligned figure at Manchester United, with his performances routinely called into question over the past 12 months or so.

That ultimately led to him being dropped by new manager Erik ten Hag in August after United lost their first two games of the new Premier League season – he has not started since in the top flight and the Red Devils have won four matches on the bounce.

England manager Gareth Southgate backed Maguire at the start of this international window, suggesting he would stake his reputation on the defender's selection before starting him in both Nations League games despite previous vows to pick players on form.

Serie A-winning Milan defender Fikayo Tomori was left out of the squad entirely on Monday while Maguire went on to endure a nightmare, with his individual errors contributing to England finding themselves 2-0 down.

England remarkably fought back to go 3-2 up with three goals in 12 minutes before Kai Havertz's second rescued a point for Germany, and while the focus was already on Maguire – who was later spotted limping through the mixed zone – Kane praised his character.

"Any individual mistake, you're going to be gutted. But we are a team, we will get behind each other," Kane said.

"They [Maguire and goalkeeper Nick Pope] will learn from [their errors] and they'll move on. They have been great for us every time they put the shirt on.

"H [Maguire] had a pretty decent injury there at the end, where he played another five, 10 minutes, on almost one leg.

"Great character from him [to keep playing], I'm really proud of him for that."

After the match, Maguire said sorry to supporters on Instagram following his errors.

The first was a poor pass out from the back that was intercepted by Jamal Musiala, whom he then clumsily fouled in the area. Ilkay Gundogan scored the penalty.

For the second goal, Maguire was robbed of possession – again, Musiala was his nemesis here – up the pitch and Germany sprung a rapid counter-attack that was rounded off by a gorgeous Havertz finish.

"Mistakes are part of the game, I apologise," Maguire wrote.

"Great fightback and spirit to get us back into the game by the lads. Take the positives and look forward to Qatar. The tough times will make us stronger."

Roberto Mancini was not entirely satisfied by Italy's Nations League win over Hungary, while Marco Rossi hailed Gianluigi Donnarumma as the "best goalkeeper in the world".

Goals from Giacomo Raspadori and Federico Dimarco saw the Azzurri leapfrog their hosts to top Group A3 and qualify for next year's finals, alongside Croatia and the Netherlands.

Yet the visitors were forced to weather a late onslaught from Hungary, kept in the game through Paris Saint-Germain keeper Donnarumma, who lived up to his reputation with a string of impressive saves.

That gradually eroded control over the match frustrated Mancini, who felt his side rested on their laurels too much across the closing stages of Monday's encounter.

"It was a difficult game," he told RAI Sport. "It was all perfect until the final 20 minutes.

"We really need to improve in our ability to control the game for 90 minutes, as we worked so hard to be 2-0 up, so suffering like that in the final 20 minutes just makes no sense.

"We should have kept pushing for a third goal. I lost my voice because I was shouting so much in the final 20 minutes."

Rossi, who played alongside Mancini in a brief stint with Sampdoria almost three decades ago and embraced warmly at full-time, was more philosophical on his side's defeat.

However, the Italian was fast to praise countryman Donnarumma, who after something of a mixed first year at PSG following his Euro 2020 heroics, looks back to his best this season.

"It would have been nice to perform a miracle tonight, but when you play against teams like Italy, you have to make zero mistakes and hope the other side get it wrong," Rossi said in his post-match press conference.

"Even when we did have the chances, we were kept out by the best goalkeeper in the world. It's no coincidence that PSG signed Donnarumma."

Rossi also hailed Hungary's supporters, praising their "great respect and civility" for their opponents in Budapest.

"I've been in football for many years," he added. "I've seen packed stadiums and fans on their feet, but never anything like the passion you can feel when Hungary play on home turf."

Goals from Giacomo Raspadori and Federico Dimarco steered Italy through to the Nations League finals at Hungary's expense, as the visitors claimed a 2-0 win in Budapest.

Heading into Monday's final fixture in Group A3, Hungary needed only a draw to complete a remarkable run through the competition to next year's four-team fight for the top prize.

But Roberto Mancini's European champions, still smarting from their failure to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, delivered a composed performance to break their opponents' hearts in a taut encounter.

Marco Rossi's side can nevertheless take pride in their achievements, following a campaign that saw them defeat England twice and Germany once to finish second in the end.

Amid raucous home support urging them on to make history, they had looked bullish from the off, with Dominik Szoboszlai offering an early threat for the hosts.

But Hungary were undone by their lacklustre awareness at the back, and when Wilfried Gnonto pressed Adam Nagy's soft back-pass off Peter Gulacsi, Raspadori was able to round the prone keeper for a simple finish.

Italy held a one-goal lead through to the interval, and it took just seven minutes for them to double it afterwards, with Dimarco getting across Loic Nego at the far post to crash Bryan Cristante's cross into the roof of the net.

Hungary pushed for a response late on, but none was forthcoming – and with the full-time whistle, it was the Azzurri who booked their spot alongside Croatia and the Netherlands for next year's finale.

Italy boss Roberto Mancini says he is "pleased" to see Hungary thriving under former team-mate Marco Rossi, as the pair face off for a winner-takes-all Nations League clash.

The two sides meet in their final match in Group A3 on Monday, with the Azzurri needing victory in order to leapfrog their hosts into next year's finals in Budapest.

In a group that also included 2014 World Cup winners Germany and Euro 2020 finalists England, Hungary had been written off as easy pickings for relegation from the A tier of the Nations League.

But wins over both nations has catapulted them to top spot, and Mancini said he is delighted to see former Sampdoria team-mate Rossi showcasing his skill, stating that he is under no illusion of the task at hand.

"Playing in Hungary is never easy, but I am pleased that they have done so well in the Nations League, especially as their coach is my former team-mate," he stated.

"I see it as 50-50, because they can also count on a draw to go through. The fact we are here challenging for first place with 90 minutes to go is already pleasing, so we'll give it our all."

Italy will be without Ciro Immobile for the trip despite the striker making the journey to the airport, only to be left behind when the squad flew to Hungary.

Reports that Lazio's president Claudio Loitio ordered him to remain behind owing to a slight thigh issue were not commented on by Mancini, though he admitted the forward was not worth the risk.

"We tried and Immobile did everything right in trying to stay with us, but this morning we decided it wasn’t worth the risk," he added.

"It was disappointing for him and for us. Ciro would happily have stayed, and he did during the first game, but it was too dangerous to risk it.

"He wasn't in awful shape, but hasn't trained with us for three days. We met up when arriving in Milan, but his absence had already been discussed."

Roma's Leonardo Spinazzola has revealed he chose to miss Italy's Nations League fixtures to conduct individual training this month, as he continues his recovery from a serious Achilles tendon injury.

Spinazzola enjoyed a breakthrough on the international stage during Italy's successful Euro 2020 campaign last year, impressing as an attacking left-back for Roberto Mancini's side.

However, he suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon during the Azzurri's quarter-final win over Belgium in July 2021, returning to feature in just three Serie A matches before the end of last season.

The 29-year-old has appeared in all seven of the Giallorossi's league games this campaign, but revealed his previous injury continues to have an impact after opting to skip Italy's Nations League matches against England and Hungary.

"Not to go to Coverciano was my request to Roberto Mancini, the coach understood and allowed me these 10 days to get back in shape and do specific work for the calf," he told the club's media channels.

"I think mine is one of the worst injuries for a player, especially given my characteristics. I still lack some support and speed."

Roma are four points adrift of early Serie A pace-setters Napoli and Atalanta, but the arrival of Paulo Dybala and influence of coach Jose Mourinho have seen them tipped as potential title challengers.

Spinazzola spoke highly of the former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss, adding: "We are with him, whatever he says, we do. If he told us to go to war, we would do it. 

"That's right, he has this gift. Then everything he says, for the most part, comes true.

"But he is very calm in training. I don't know how he was in the past, but he's really calm. Sometimes he just observes from above. 

"He likes to observe how you move, how you move your body, your body language, he observes a lot of these things."

Roma were beaten by Atalanta in their last league outing, and will face a huge test of their Serie A credentials when they travel to another of Mourinho's former clubs Inter on October 1.

Roberto Mancini praised Italy's new generation following a 1-0 victory over England in the Nations League.

Giacomo Raspadori's strike at San Siro condemned the Three Lions to relegation to League B, while Italy will face off against Hungary on Monday to decide who will advance to the Nations League finals.

Having failed to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar, Mancini has looked to younger players for the future as the likes of 22-year-old Raspadori have made an impression for the European champions and hailed the displays of his young guns.

"We rebooted in June and were always in the running in this Nations League group. Clearly, we need these games, these wins, so we can grow," he said.

"I expected a good performance and knew it would be difficult, because many of tonight's lads are inexperienced at this level, with not even 30 per cent of England's caps, but I think we won deservedly."

Mancini was then asked why Italy are seemingly more effective when under pressure than in games where they are clear favourites but disagreed that this was the case.

"I don't think we threw anything away, football has an element of luck to it. We won the Euros on penalties, we deserved to win it, then failed to qualify for the World Cup after two games we dominated and did not win against Switzerland," he explained.

"We made mistakes too, that is obvious. I don't know if today was our best performance of the Nations League, we did well against Hungary and Germany too."

As for England, Mancini remains confident that Gareth Southgate's side can be contenders at the World Cup in Qatar and played down the significance of relegation from the Nations League.

"It's always satisfying to beat England, but especially after the difficult time we've had recently, it takes a little pressure off and that is important," he added.

"In my opinion, England are one of the best teams in the world and will have a good chance at the tournament. I don't think they will care too much about the relegation."

England manager Gareth Southgate insisted there were "a lot of positives" in the Three Lions' 1-0 defeat to Italy on Friday.

Giacomo Raspadori struck the only goal of the game to condemn England to equal their worst winless streak since 2014, and also resulted in relegation to League B of the Nations League.

It marked another game without a goal for England, who are now 495 minutes without scoring from open play, and have just 90 minutes of football against Germany on Monday before the World Cup.

However, despite receiving boos from the travelling supporters at San Siro, Southgate remains positive and suggested England were the better team.

"It's difficult for me to be too critical of the performance. We had more possession, more shots, more shots on target," he said.

"For large parts of the game we played very well. We didn't deal with the decisive moment defensively. We had moments where we had the chance to be decisive in their final third, [but] our quality wasn't quite right.