PARIS: With a parting gift for Luciano Spalletti, Italy beat Moldova 2-0 on Monday for their first points in the beleaguered national team’s attempt to reach the World Cup for the first time since 2014.

There was also a significant victory in World Cup qualifying for Belgium, with Kevin De Bruyne demonstrating his enduring class by scoring in the 88th minute to snatch a 4-3 win against Wales after his team squandered a 3-0 lead after 27 minutes.

Elsewhere, Manchester City star Erling Haaland’s goal lifted Norway past Estonia, Luka Modric was among the scorers in Croatia’s 5-1 rout of the Czech Republic, and the Faroe Islands left it late to down Gibraltar 2-1.

Spalletti was informed ahead of the game in Reggio Emilia that he would be losing his job as Italy coach in the wake of the team’s 3-0 loss in Norway last week, which marked a dreadful way to begin their qualifying campaign for the 2026 World Cup.

Goals by Giacomo Raspadori and Andrea Cambiaso in each half meant Spalletti at least departed with a victory. Yet the Azzurri remained in a perilous position in Group ‘I’, with Norway beating Estonia 1-0 — thanks to Haaland’s 62nd-minute goal — to make it four wins from four halfway through qualifying.

Italy stayed nine points behind Norway — albeit having played two fewer matches — and might have missed a good chance to rack up some goals to boost their goal difference.

“We certainly are not leaving my successor a sense of enthusiasm, despite the positive response from the fans,” said Spalletti, who was in charge for less than two years. “The coach has to make the difference, the players have to make the difference, and unfortunately I did not make the difference.”

Only the top team from each of the 12 groups qualifies automatically for next year’s expanded 48-team tournament in North America. The runners-up go into the playoffs — the stage where Italy were eliminated by Sweden and North Macedonia to miss out on the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, respectively, in a humiliation for one of Europe’s traditional powers.

Italy found the breakthrough five minutes before the break at a far from full Stadio Citta del Tricolore when a headed clearance fell to Raspadori in the box who struck first time into the bottom corner.

They doubled their lead five minutes into the second half when substitute Riccardo Orso­lini sent a low cross into the area which Davide Frattesi knocked on to Cambiaso who fired past keeper Cristian Avram.

“We are the first to know it wasn’t a great game, we wanted to give the coach a better send-off,” Cambiaso said of the Moldova game. “We are professionals, unfortunately these things happen in sport. Spalletti is a great coach, has such passion for the sport, and every time a coach is fired, it hurts the players. We feel really sad.”

Over in Brussels, Belgium was heading for a second straight draw to open World Cup qualifying until De Bruyne struck late at King Baudouin Stadium to consign rejuvenated Wales to a first defeat under Craig Bellamy in his 10 matches in charge.

Four days after being held by North Macedonia 1-1, Belgium sped ahead 3-0 inside the first half hour. Record goal-scorer Romelu Lukaku got things going with a 15th minute penalty, followed by goals in the 19th minute for captain Youri Tielemans and Jeremy Doku — a dazzling solo effort — in the 27th minute.

Wales pulled a goal back from a Harry Wilson spot-kick on the stroke of halftime and then turned the game around with second half strikes from Sorba Thomas and Brennan Johnson.

But De Bruyne rode to his nation’s rescue, as he has so often in a stellar career, by steering in Tielemans’ perfect cross in the 88th minute.

It left Wales sitting second in Group ‘J’, one point behind North Macedonia, 1-0 winners over Kaz­a­khstan, and three in front of Bel­g­ium, who have two games in hand.

This was Wales manager Craig Bellamy’s first defeat in his first 10 matches in charge.

“Getting back as close as we did is probably why it’s as painful as it is,” Wales captain Ben Davies told the BBC. “We knew we could do a lot better. You could see in the second half, we managed to nick a goal before half-time and it gave us something to hang on to and we pushed them close. We have plenty more games we just have to focus on ourselves and hopefully results go our way.”

Croatia’s victory over the Czechs saw them trim the gap to their opponents to three points in Group ‘L’.

Croatia have played only two games — winning both — whereas the Czechs have played four and won three of them.

In the group’s other game, Gibraltar were heading for their first ever point in qualifying for the World Cup or European Cham­p­ionship but conceded in the 86th minute to lose at the Faroes.

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2025