Malta vs England

Ta’Qali National Stadium forms the backdrop for a lopsided 2024 European Championship qualifying fixture between Malta and England.

Malta’s hopes of reaching a maiden major international tournament are practically dead in the water after the opening two Group C rounds, with Michele Marcolini’s side losing to Italy and North Macedonia by an aggregate score of 4-1. Nailed to the bottom of the group, the hosts can draw some confidence from beating Luxembourg in a friendly last time out and the fact they’ve been victorious in six of their 13 most recent internationals (D1, L6). However, their underwhelming form in European Championship qualifying matches has seen them lose 11 times in a row over the past four years, not to mention they’ve claimed just one win in 41 outings since 2006 (D5, L35). Furthermore, they’ve lost all four previous competitive meetings with England by an aggregate score of 12-0.

On the other hand, England’s effort to qualify for the fourth consecutive Euro finals has been off to a flying start, with Gareth Southgate’s men overcoming Italy 2-1 on day one before easing past Ukraine 2-0 in the previous round. Having finished top of their Euro qualifying group in the last three campaigns, the ‘Three Lions’ are confident about architecting a similar scenario in this cycle, especially considering they’ve only lost once in 26 qualifiers in that time (W22, D3). Manager Southgate has gone from strength to strength since replacing Sam Allardyce at the helm in 2016, racking up 24 wins in 29 qualifying games for major international tournaments (D4, L1). On the downside, before ousting Italy on their most recent travel, England had won none of their three previous competitive away matches (D1, L2).