Italy achieved its first victory in the World Cup qualifiers. In Luciano Spalletti's last match as national coach, the "Azzurri" defeated Moldova 2:0 in Reggio Emilia.

Spalletti revealed at a press conference that ended prematurely over the weekend that he had been sacked after the 0:3 away defeat to Norway. He led the Italians for the last time against Moldova and the hosts could have found themselves in an unpleasant situation when Ion Nicolaescu headed home in the 9th minute, but the goal was correctly disallowed for offside by the striker. At the end of the first half, Giacomo Raspadori calmed Italy with an opening goal, and shortly after the start of the second half, Andrea Cambiasso put an end to the dispute with a second goal.

Thus, the Italians collected three points from two matches in Group I, three behind second-placed Israel, who have a game in hand. Norway is the leader with a total asset of 12 points after four matches played. The Scandinavians beat Estonia by a narrow 1-0 away win. The Estonians have three points, while Moldova are bottom with no points. The Italians host Estonia in their next World Cup qualifier in September, when they will have a new coach.

In another qualifier, but from Group J, Belgium squandered a three-goal lead against Wales, but eventually broke the Dragons' resistance after a 4:3 home win. Romelu Lukaku from the penalty spot, Youri Tielemans and Jeremy Doku gave the Red Devils a comfortable lead, before Harry Wilson from the penalty spot, Sorba Thomas and Brennan Johnson restored parity. Kevin De Bruyne brought the valuable three points for the Belgians in the 88th minute.

All results:

Group I

Estonia - Norway 0:1

Italy - Moldova 2:0

Group J

Kazakhstan - North Macedonia 0:1

Belgium - Wales 4:3

Group L

Croatia - Czech Republic 5:1

Faroe Islands - Gibraltar 2:1. | BGNES