At 2:45 a.m. Beijing time on June 17, in the third round of Group C of the Euro 2024 qualifiers, England challenged Malta away. In the first half, Saka made Apap's own goal, Alexander-Arnold extended the scoreline, Kane made a point and hit the penalty himself; In the second half, substitute Wilson scored the icing on the cake. In the end, England beat Malta 4-0 to win the European Preliminary Round for the third time.
In the first two rounds of the European qualifiers, England first beat defending champions Italy 2-1 away, followed by a 2-0 home win over Ukraine. Malta lost to North Macedonia and Italy and finished bottom of Group C.
In the 6th minute, Kane received a volley from a small angle on the left side of the penalty area and the goalkeeper fell to the ground to save the ball. In the 9th minute, the England midfielder sent a long pass over the top, and Saka on the right side of the front received the ball into the box cross, and Apap rushed to clear before Kane, but accidentally swung an own goal, and England led Malta 1-0.
In the 12th minute, Alexander-Arnold split the ball to the right in the middle of the field, and Sakade cut inside and fired a left-footed shot, the ball was deflected. In the 22nd minute, England won a free kick opportunity in front of the penalty area, Maddison shot straight at goal, and the ball was confiscated by the goalkeeper.
In the 28th minute, Maddison was cleared by the opponent in front of the box, and Alexander-Arnold, wearing the number 10 shirt, won a right-footed shot from the front, the ball went straight into the dead corner, the goalkeeper could not save, England led Malta 2-0.
In the 30th minute, England's long-range shot was saved by the Maltese goalkeeper, Kane cut in front of the ball, was tackled by defender Guijomiye before the supplementary shot, and the referee awarded England a penalty.
The penalty was taken by Kane himself, who volleyed a powerful right-footed shot to give England a 3-0 lead over Malta.
In the 36th minute, Kane headed straight up front and Saka tripped when he rushed into the box to receive the ball, and the referee did not award a penalty. In the 45th minute, Saka took a low left-footed shot from inside the right to the box before the Maltese goalkeeper fell to the ground to save the ball. At the end of the first half, England led by a wide margin.
In the 52nd minute, Maddison received the ball from the left side of the box and cut inwardly, and after passing the man, he poked with his right foot, and the ball was not powerful and was obtained by the goalkeeper. In the 69th minute, Ezer came off the bench to make his international debut.
In the 82nd minute, substitute Wilson crossed from the right side of the pitch and the ball hit the raised arm of the Maltese defender in the box, and the referee watched the VAR and awarded a penalty.
Kane had already gone off the pitch and the penalty was given to Wilson, who pushed right-footed into the right side of the goal and tricked the goalkeeper into scoring the ball to give England a 4-0 lead over Malta.
In the end, the match was over, and England beat Malta 4-0.