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England manager Gareth Southgate said the match with Australia renews "one of the great sporting rivalries" and England "will be in trouble" if they do not take the Socceroos seriously.

England are playing only their second friendly since March 2022.

Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah and Chelsea defender Levi Colwill could make their England debuts.

The Euro 2020 runners-up will also be looking ahead to next week, when they can seal their place at next summer's championship in Germany.

Southgate's team have a six-point lead in Group C over Italy, Ukraine and North Macedonia, and their match with holders Italy on Tuesday could decide top spot.

"Our mindset has got to be spot on. Equally, we've still got a bit of work to do to qualify for a European Championship.

"We have good players and we need to give people opportunities to show what they can do."

Read the full preview.

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The final word from West Ham forward Michail Antonio on the Footballer's Football podcast about James Ward-Prowse's omission from the England squad: "The most difficult time for me as a footballer was when I was doing well and playing well and was dropped.

"I felt powerless and couldn't understand it. James Ward-Prowse has been unbelievable for us and the stats back that up. It shows the quality he has and how he has been playing in the games.

"I am not saying this just because he is my team-mate. There are other players who are playing well and should possibly get the call-up as well."

More from West Ham forward Michail Antonio on the Footballer's Football podcast about James Ward-Prowse's omission from the England squad: "He [Southgate] said that [players would be picked on form] when he first went in and I think within three squads, that went out the window.

"It's one of those things where, I understand that a lot of the time the managers like to pick the players that they trust. I do understand that, but it's England.

"He has built his own Premier League squad. But why I don't like it is that when you are playing your best, when you are doing well, you should be rewarded. And being rewarded, that is England.

"If you have the stats that you should be in the squad, you should be in the squad."

Listen to the full podcast.

West Ham forward Michail Antonio speaking on the Footballer's Football podcast about James Ward-Prowse's omission from the England squad: "I am upset with Southgate. He might be a new player at West Ham but he's taking the mick!

"James Ward-Prowse. How on Earth is he not getting a call-up? It's embarrassing. It's embarrassing. The stats that he has. He has been playing week in, week out for years. He keeps on bringing in people who are not even playing.

"I respect that the players who are going are quality players but if you're not playing, you shouldn't be going to international football."

Listen to the full podcast.

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England midfielder Jack Grealish hopes he can add a trophy with his national side to his already illustrious CV.

Last season Grealish won the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League with Manchester City.

"I don't mean this to sound weird but it is difficult in a way because you have such a high of winning the treble and then you do think 'what would ever top that?'" he said.

"Obviously doing something at international level definitely would."

Read the full match preview.

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England

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England midfielder Jack Grealish speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live about his recent injury: "It was actually only a dead leg, but easily the worst dead leg I’ve ever had in my life. It has taken four weeks in the end to recover from it. I need to try and find my fitness. I couldn’t even do a bike session.

"I’m more or less doing a mini pre-season now and just trying to play and get my confidence back."

On winning the treble last season: "I’ve never been like that before. Where you just feel so high. At times you think ‘how are we ever going to top this?’ Winning the treble, it’s only been done once and not for 25 years. You do sit there sometimes and think ‘What do we do now?’

"But I suppose that’s just motivation for ourselves, you look at all these brilliant players over the years that’s why they’re the best because the consistently motivate themselves."

England

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England manager Gareth Southgate speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live about his squad selection ahead of the game against Australia: "We do need to see players. We need to give players opportunities. We’ve still got a little bit to do to qualify, but we’re trying to prepare for a European Championship next summer and we’ve only got a maximum of six games before we name a squad so we’re not going to overplay anybody.

"Equally we want to keep the squad engaged and involved and give people the chance to add to their caps, add to their experiences – and a full house at Wembley against an old sporting adversary is a good test for a lot of the players.

"One of the things we’ve always tried to do with England is take the pressure out playing, bring the enjoyment to it, but there is reality of wearing the shirt you’ve got to produce under pressure. You don’t get 10 opportunities to do that when you’re coming into the side. Every player that is picked knows that - you’ve got to make it count, you’ve got to leave an impression on the manager.

"So I can’t alleviate all of that pressure for them because they’ve got to live with it, and frankly if we want to be European champions we’ve all got to cope with that anyway."

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England manager Gareth Southgate discussing the fitness of his squad with BBC Radio 5 Live: "Everybody is fit. We’ve had players with quite heavy schedules but because we’ve got a little bit longer preparation this week, we’ve been able to recover a few players and everybody is available for the game, which is great."

On Bukayo Saka: "He reported. We get all the players to report. Leading into the [Arsenal] game with Manchester City there was limited information and I understand that because it’s a huge game for both clubs and they want to keep the availability of their players fairly quiet. We got more detail after the game, basically.

"Unfortunately Bukayo is not with us. But it was nice to see him on Monday and gave me an opportunity to have some time with him and a good chat because I won’t see him again now for a few weeks."

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England

England manager Gareth Southgate speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live about the moment's silence before the Australia match: "Firstly, my thoughts and sympathies to everybody who has family that have lost lives in these attacks. It is of course, I have grown up in my lifetime and its one of the most complex, overall situation in the world. Everybody grappling with how best to deal with that from your organisation (BBC) to ours.

"I think what people at the FA has tried to do is consult with the appropriate bodies. Try to come up with what they feel is the best way of approaching it.

"I wasn’t involved in all those discussions. I wasn’t before Ukraine either. But I have to trust the people (at the FA) that they have done the right due diligence. There will always be criticism on a decision like that. The FA will have to accept it but they won’t have taken the decision lightly.

"We have to show some consistency. If I was from a community that didn’t feel supported, I would understand that feeling. That maybe raises questions down the line in future as to how football or sport generally shows respect and where it stands on those things.

"But as I said, from a personal point of view my thoughts are with all those innocent people whose lives have been lost and families have been affected in quite horrifying circumstances."

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The Football Association has "tried to make the best decision with good intentions" over tributes to those who have died in Israel and Gaza, according to England manager Gareth Southgate.

Players will wear black armbands during Friday's match between England and Australia and a period of silence will be held in order to respect "the innocent victims of the devastating events in Israel and Palestine".

The FA has chosen not to light up the Wembley arch with the colours of the Israeli flag.

Secretary of state for culture, media and sport Lucy Frazer has called that decision "disappointing".

More than 1,200 people have been killed in Israel in a series of attacks launched by Palestinian militant group Hamas last week.

Israel then launched air strikes on Gaza and has restricted access to food, water, fuel and medicine in the territory.

More than 1,300 people have been killed in Gaza in those strikes, with 338,000 people displaced.

That brings us on nicely to tonight's England friendly against Australia at Wembley.

All the build-up coming up.

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England Under 21s thrashed Serbia 9-1 in Euro 2025 qualifying in their first home game since winning the European Championships in the summer.

Hull City's Jaden Philogene scored twice on his debut, while Liverpool's Harvey Elliot and Chelsea's Noni Madueke also weighed in with two goals each as the Three Lions made it two wins from two in their group.

Lee Carsley's side are making light work of having only seven members of the squad who lifted the trophy in Georgia now available, as the next generation show there is plenty of promise for the future.

There were also goals from Manchester City's Liam Delap and Norwich's Jonathan Rowe, as well as an own goal from Luka Subotic after Aljosa Vasic's strike had handed Serbia an early lead.

Carsley's men next head to Slovakia to play Ukraine on Monday.

Read Alex Howell's full report here.

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Newcastle's Sandro Tonali and Aston Villa's Nicolo Zaniolo have left Italy's training camp after being told they are involved in an investigation by Italian prosecutors.

The Italian football federation (FIGC) said the players were not in the right "condition" to participate in Italy's two upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers.

The FIGC has not specified what the investigation concerns, but Italian news agency ANSA reports it relates to an illegal betting probe.

The news comes a day after FIGC prosecutors announced an investigation into 22-year-old Juventus midfielder Nicolo Fagioli, who is alleged to have used a variety of identities to place bets on illegal websites.

Ex-Milan midfielder Tonali, 23, and former Roma player Zaniolo, 24, were informed of the probe on Thursday by prosecutors from Turin at Italy's Coverciano training centre.

Italy host Malta on Saturday before travelling to face England on Wednesday in Group C.

Read more on this story here.

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The group stage of the 2023 African Cup of Nations was drawn on Thursday, with holders Senegal being placed in the same group as five-time winners Cameroon.

Hosts Ivory Coast will meet Nigeria, whose star striker Victor Osimhen was the top scorer in qualifying with 10 goals.

Mohamed Salah's Egypt will play Ghana in the group stage.

Full draw

Group A: Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau

Group B: Egypt, Ghana, Cape Verde, Mozambique

Group C: Senegal, Cameroon, Guinea, The Gambia

Group D: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Angola

Group E: Tunisia, Mali, South Africa, Namibia

Group F: Morocco, DR Congo, Zambia, Tanzania

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Argentina earned their third win from three games in 2026 World Cup qualifying with a 1-0 victory over Paraguay thanks to a brilliant goal from former Manchester City defender Nicolas Otamendi.

The 35-year-old scored his fifth goal in 106 international appearances just three minutes into the match in Buenos Aires, via an acrobatic back-post volley from a corner.

Lionel Messi, who has been struggling with a muscle problem in recent weeks, came on as a 53rd-minute substitute for the 2022 World Cup winners and struck the post with a free-kick late on.

Uruguay, who host Brazil in Montevideo in their next fixture on 17 October, earned a 2-2 draw away to Colombia thanks to a late Darwin Nunez penalty.

Read more on the Conmebol World Cup qualifiers here.

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Away from Europe, a number of World Cup qualifiers took place in South America on Thursday.

Eduard Bello scored an overhead kick as Venezuela earned a 1-1 draw in Brazil.

Defender Gabriel Magalhaes headed Brazil ahead from Neymar's corner shortly after half-time, before Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr had a goal disallowed for offside.

Bello made them pay when he netted spectacularly with five minutes to go.

Brazil fall to second in South American qualifying after three games, behind Argentina who have a 100% record.

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Results elsewhere on Thursday had a significance for Wales' chances of qualifying for Euro 2024.

Croatia's 1-0 defeat at home to Turkey means Wales realistically need to beat Croatia at Cardiff City Stadium on Thursday and then see off Armenia and Turkey next month to book their place at next summer's European Championships in Germany.

Rob Page's side are fourth in Group D, but at least a glimmer of hope remains.

Read more here about why the Wales manager will be hoping Euro 2020 history repeats itself.

Fraser: Does the ball actually go forward (essential for an offside decision) when McTominay strikes it. Looks like it's hit away from goal at point of contact and bends back.

Claudius: If it was offside then why did the ref have to go to the monitor? Somethings not adding up there..

Joe: Scotland shouldn't be too disheartened by last night! The qualifying campaign shows the progress that any Scot fan would have taken at onset of the tournament! Plenty of opportunities to still qualify!