MILAN, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Italy produced a dominant performance to beat France 3-1 in the Nations League on Thursday, while Harry Kane celebrated his record 126th cap for England with a match-winning penalty as England beat Croatia 2-1 to qualify for the last eight.
MichaelOlise gave France the lead in Milan, but a double from Francesco Pio Esposito and one from Davide Frattesi secured a deserved win for the Italians.
Kane, who surpassed Peter Shilton's tally of 125 appearances, stepped up in the 64th minute to put England ahead at Wembley Stadium after the hosts had conceded a sloppy equaliser five minutes earlier.
Italy, France and Belgium will battle it out next Tuesday for two quarter-final spots, with RobertoMancini's side level at the top of League A Group 1 with France on 10 points.
Plenty of soul-searching followed Italy's failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup but Mancini's side showed they are more than capable of competing with the best.
Flooding the midfield, Italy's smart and cohesive work proved too much for their opponents.
MichaelOlise gave France an early lead after anerror fromGianluigi Donnarumma, but excellent work from Nicolo Cambiaghi set up Francesco Pio Esposito for the equaliser in the 26th minute.
Bradley Barcola thudded the post before halftime, but Italy were far more comfortable than Zinedine Zidane's side, who were without Real Madrid duo Kylian Mbappe and Aurelien Tchouamenithrough injury.
For a second time Cambiaghi flew past Malo Gusto to win a penalty, but Sebastiano Esposito could not convert on the hour mark. Three minutes later DavideFrattesi burst onto a FedericoDimarco cross to give the Italians the lead.
When Antonio Vergara won a second Italy penalty, Pio Esposito made no mistake from the spot in the 75th minute.
The Italian side braced themselves for a late onslaught, but to the delight of the home crowd, found they were able to fend off France's attacks with ease.
Belgium lie one point behind Italy and France after a 2-1 win over Turkey, who fell to a fifth straight defeat and will be relegated to League B.
Morgan Rogers opened the scoring for England in the 24th minute, while Petar Sucic equalised for Croatia in the 59th minute as ThomasTuchel's side struggled to push on.
Parity lasted all of five minutes after Jarrell Quansah was fouled in the Croatian box, handing England captain Kane the chance to mark his milestone with a 92nd international goal. The freshly crowned Ballon d'Or winner barely broke stride on his way to celebrate.
World champions Spain won 2-0 away against Czechia to keep themselves top of Group 3 in League A, three points ahead of England before they meet on Sunday. Both sides are already qualified for the knockout stages.
Alex Baena scored a penalty in the 39th minute after Lukas Ambros handled the ball in his box. Czechia put Spain under pressure as the second half progressed, and hit the woodwork through AdamHlozek.
The Czech fightback was curtailed by Ladislav Krejci's 72nd-minute red card for a last-man challenge, and in stoppage time Marc Pubill added a second.
In League C, Albania and Belarus both sealed 2-0 wins over Finland and San Marino respectively. Armenia and Cyprus drew 1-1, which combined with Montenegro's 2-1 victory over Latvia, means the Balkan side have secured topspot in their group.
(Reporting by Ruairidh Barlow, editing by Ed Osmond and Pritha Sarkar)
