Result Belgium 0 – 1 Italy, UEFA Nations League, Thursday 14 November 2024

By Anna Italia
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Italian Soccer Serie A

47% Ball Possession BELGIUM and 53% Ball Possession ITALY
  Belgium 0 – 1 Italy 
.                                                11′ Sandro Tonali

🏆👉  Mission accomplished! Italy emerged victorious in the Nations League Group A match against Belgium on Thursday, November 14, 2024, held at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels. Thanks to Sandro Tonali’s goal, Italy has secured their spot in the Quarterfinals. It was a solid performance from Italy, who controlled much of the game and came close to increasing their lead on several occasions. The decisive moment came in the 11th minute of the first half when Tonali simply tapped in a pass from Di Lorenzo right in front of the goal.

Italy showcased their effectiveness, leaving Belgium unable to secure the goals necessary to keep their top two aspirations alive for another matchday. Belgium faced challenges in creating space before the break but improved in the second half.  The top two teams Italy and France pass to the Quarterfinals.

The Italian National team is on a roll, staying undefeated and clinching three consecutive official away victories this season against France, Israel, and Belgium. This marks the first time they’ve achieved this feat since June to November 2019, when they won five matches during the EURO2020 qualifiers.

Here is the situation:

The first two teams will qualify for the quarterfinals. The team that finishes in third place will enter a play-off to avoid being relegated, facing off against one of the second-placed teams from League B, while the fourth-placed team will drop down to League B.

Source uefa.com

Italy struck first in the 11th minute when Sandro Tonali netted a goal from very close range with a right-footed shot. The Azzurri executed some brilliant play on the right side. Di Lorenzo was located in the box by Frattesi, but De Cuyper failed to make a crucial play. This allowed Di Lorenzo to cross low into the center for Tonali, who had the simple task of tapping it into the open goal.

🇧🇪 Belgium 0 – 1 Italy 🇮🇹 11th minute, ⚽️goal by Sandro Tonali for @Azzurri_En from very close range with a right footed shot to the center. https://t.co/mvsRWhlgED

— Anna Italia (@ItalianSerieA) November 14, 2024

Sandro Tonali gives us the lead 🇮🇹👌
pic.twitter.com/ISvisdkPfi

— Italy Focus 🇮🇹 (@theitalyfocus) November 14, 2024

460 – Sandro #Tonali has found the net, considering clubs and Italian National team, 460 days after his last goal scored on 12th August 2023, against Aston Villa, for Newcastle, in Premier League. Return.#BelgioItalia

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) November 14, 2024

Stats before the game

Italy has achieved a victory in 64% of their encounters with Belgium, winning 16 out of 25 matches. Among teams they have faced more than 15 times, only Portugal has a higher win rate against them at 67%. The Azzurri have also recorded five draws and suffered four losses against Belgium. Notably, Italy has never drawn in their seven away matches against Belgium, with a record of 4 wins and 3 losses; only against Portugal have they played more away games without a draw, totaling 11. The only time Italy lost in a non-friendly away match to Belgium was during the European Championship qualifiers on May 13, 1972, when they fell 1-2, with Luigi Riva scoring from a penalty.

Italy have conceded in each of their last eight games, after a run of three clean sheets in a row, and for the Azzurri this is their worst run since March-October 2018, while they have not had a worse run since the period between August 1948 and June 1950 (nine in that case).
Italy have won each of their last three UEFA Nations League away games, against Hungary, France and Israel, the same number of victories as in their previous seven away games in the competition (D2 L2).
Belgium have lost four of their last eight games (W2 D2), as many defeats as they suffered in their previous 28 games (W16 D8).
After a 10-game unbeaten run at home (8W, 2D), Belgium lost their most recent home game (1-2 against France) and have not suffered two consecutive defeats at home since November 2013, against Colombia and Japan.

Player Stats

Under Luciano Spalletti, Giovanni Di Lorenzo is the Italy outfield player who has played the most minutes (1215), while Davide Frattesi has scored the most goals (seven goals, three of which in his last four appearances) – overall, the latter has scored eight goals in his first 23 appearances for the national team and since the start of this century, no Italy midfielder has ever reached the nine-goal mark before playing at least 53 games for the national team (Barella did it in the 53rd, De Rossi in the 55th and Pirlo in the 69th).

Silvio Piola and Giuseppe Meazza (both three goals) are the two top scorers for the Azzurri against Belgium; five players follow with two goals, including Nicolò Barella, who could therefore become one of the Italian players with the most goals against his opponents of the day.

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Click the video to watch Belgium – Italy highlights on Thursday 14 November 2024

The King Baudouin Stadium ready for Belgium vs Italy

Credit via x.com/Azzurri_En

Belgium official starting lineup against Italy

Via x.com/

Italy official starting lineup against Belgium

Credit via x.com/Azzurri_En

🏆👉 First half is over. 🇧🇪 Belgium 0 – 1 Italy 🇮🇹

⚽️ Goals: 11′ Sandro Tonali (I)

🟨 Yellow Cards: 28′ Timothy Castagne (B), 45+2′ Alessandro Bastoni (I)

✅ Shots on goal: Belgium 0, Italy 2
✅ Corners: Belgium 0, Italy 0
✅ Saves: Belgium 1, Italy 0

✍️Ball Possession: 40%… https://t.co/ua9YNboHAB

— Anna Italia (@ItalianSerieA) November 14, 2024

Let's gooooooooooooo! 🔥#BELITA #NationsLeague #Azzurri #VivoAzzurropic.twitter.com/PCC9uOk1jo

— Italy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@Azzurri_En) November 14, 2024

🏆👉 Result 🇧🇪 Belgium 0 – 1 Italy 🇮🇹

⚽️ Goals: 11′ Sandro Tonali (I)

🟨 Yellow Cards: 28′ Timothy Castagne (B), 45+2′ Alessandro Bastoni (I), 67′ Amadou Onana (B), 77′ Ameen Al Dakhil (B), 91′ Moise Kean (I)

✅ Shots on goal: Belgium 3, Italy 4
✅ Corners: Belgium 7, Italy 2… https://t.co/LYUhlprf0U

— Anna Italia (@ItalianSerieA) November 14, 2024

#AnnaItalia #ItalianSerieA #ItalianSoccerSerieA #BELITA

 UEFA Nations League  
League phase – League A – Group A2

🇧🇪 Result Belgium 0 – 1 Italy 🇮🇹
Thursday 14 November 2024
Olimpico di Roma Stadium
Rome, Italy

20:45

Referee: Radu Petrescu ROU
Assistant Referee 1: Radu Ghinguleac ROU
Assistant Referee 2: Mircea Grigoriu ROU
Fourth Official: Marcel Bîrsan ROU
VAR: Cătălin Popa ROU
AVAR: Andrei Chivulete ROU
Referee Observer: Darko Čeferin SVN

⚽️ Goals: 11′ Sandro Tonali (I)

🟨 Booked:

✅ Official Lineups – Formations – Tabellino:

🇧🇪  Lineup BELGIUM (4-2-3-1): Casteels; Castagne, Debast, Faes, Theate; Engels, Onana; Trossard, Openda, De Cuyper; Lukaku.

Subs: Vandevoordt, Sels, Vermeeren, Lukebakio, Mbangula, Sardella, Mangala, Bakayoko, Al-Dakhil, Lokonga, Smets.

Head Coach: Domenico Tedesco.

🇮🇹 Lineup ITALY (3-5-1-1): Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Buongiorno, Bastoni; Cambiaso, Frattesi, Rovella, Tonali, Dimarco; Barella; Retegui.

Subs: Meret, Vicario, Savona, Locatelli, Gatti, Maldini, Raspadori, Kean, Okoli, Comuzzo, Udogie, Pisilli.

Head Coach: Luciano Spalletti.

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