England vs Italy is one of the most storied fixtures in international football, rich in history and incident, ranging from ‘the Battle of Highbury’ in 1934 when England beat the world champions, to arguably England’s greatest performance, the Stanley Matthews, Stan Mortensen, Tommy Lawton, Wilf Mannion and Tom Finney inspired 4-0 victory over the still world champion Italians in 1948.
More recently the two have met in countless World Cup qualifiers and Euro knockout matches, most notably the ‘firework up the fundament’ debacle of the 2020 final at Wembley when many fans shamed the nation and England lost on penalties.
Overall, England have won only nine of 31 matches, losing 13, one of their worst records in international football.
Their latest match is England’s sixth in Euro 2024 qualifying group C, which they lead by six points with three matches to play, having beaten Italy, then under the management of Roberto Mancini, 2-1 in Naples in the opening group game. England have won three and drawn one of their subsequent qualifiers, Italy have one draw and two victories plus Saturday’s game in hand against Malta at Bari on Saturday night which should enable them to close the gap to three points before kick-off.
Jordan Henderson, meanwhile, has been backed by his England team-mates for his character and leadership after fans targeted him with jeers at Wembley during Friday night’s win over Australia following his move to Saudi Arabia last summer. Read more here.
The match is on Tuesday, October 17 and kicks off at 7.45pm (BST).
Gareth Southgate’s side host Italy at Wembley, the national stadium.
The match will be broadcast exclusively in the UK on Channel 4. Radio 5 Live will provide radio coverage and you can also follow the match here on our Telegraph Sport live blog.
You can’t. It is sold out on all official outlets.
England have no specialist left-backs after Luke Shaw and Ben Chilwell were ruled out by injury and Bukayo Saka has pulled out of the England friendly against Australia on Friday night and this match against Italy after pulling his hamstring. Gareth Southgate has not called up a replacement.
Goalkeepers Sam Johnstone (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)
Defenders Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Lewis Dunk (Brighton & Hove Albion), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Fikayo Tomori (AC Milan), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle United), Kyle Walker (Manchester City)
Midfielders Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Jordan Henderson (Al-Ettifaq), Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City), Declan Rice (Arsenal)
Forwards Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United) Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), James Maddison (Tottenham Hotspur), Eddie Nketiah (Arsenal), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).
Italy have a new manager following Mancini’s decision to resign in order to take up a multi-million pound offer to coach the Saudi Arabia national team. ‘Mancio’, the Euro 2020-winner, has replaced by Luciano Spalletti who led Napoli to the Serie A title last May and this will be his third competitive match in charge of the Azzurri, having presided over the draw with Macedonia and victory over Ukraine in September.
The 64-year-old signed a three-year contract and named the following squad, shorn by injury of Leeds United’s Wilfried Gnonto. Spurs’ impressive left-back, Destiny Udogie, has earned his first call-up:
Goalkeepers Gianluigi Donnarumma (captain, Paris Saint-Germain), Alex Meret (Napoli), Ivan Provedel (Lazio), Guglielmo Vicario (Tottenham).
Defenders Francesco Acerbi (Inter), Alessandro Bastoni (Inter), Cristiano Biraghi (Fiorentina), Matteo Darmian (Inter), Giovanni Di Lorenzo (Napoli), Federico Dimarco (Inter), Federico Gatti (Juventus), Gianluca Mancini (Roma), Giorgio Scalvini (Atalanta), Destiny Udogie (Tottenham).
Midfielders Nicolo Barella (Inter), Giacomo Bonaventura (Fiorentina), Bryan Cristante (Roma), Davide Frattesi (Inter), Manuel Locatelli (Juventus), Sandro Tonali (Newcastle).
Forwards Domenico Berardi (Sassuolo), Federico Chiesa (Juventus), Moise Kean (Juventus), Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli), Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta), Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio), Nicolo Zaniolo (Aston Villa), Riccardo Orsolini (Bologna), Stephan El Shaarawy (Roma).
Henderson, 33, has been criticised for moving to a country where homosexuality is illegal despite being a vocal ally for LGBTQ+ rights during his time as Liverpool captain. In his first match back on home soil he was named captain for the friendly win against Australia but was booed when he was substituted just after the hour mark.
Southgate insisted he could not understand the reaction and Trippier, who took the armband on Friday night, says Henderson is committed to England and is an important part of the squad heading into next summer’s European Championship finals.
Henderson, who has denied being paid the equivalent of £700,000 per week with Al-Ettifaq, has stated his move was for footballing reasons.
“How many caps? It is nearly 80 caps that he’s represented England. For me, I see him on a daily basis, he is an unbelievable character, he’s a leader, what he does for the team, playing or not playing,” said Trippier.
“I didn’t even recognise the reception because I’m focused on my job for the team, to cross the line and win. But for me Hendo is a great leader, an unbelievable person to have in dressing room and I think 80 caps speaks for itself.
“On and off the pitch he’s a winner, the way he demands in training, the way he demands in games, in the dressing room before the game, he makes sure everyone trains properly, he sets standards and even myself at 33, when I look at it, I follow it. That’s what you need. Hendo has everything, he is a great captain. I need to say much about Hendo’s leadership.”