Italy vs Wales LIVE: Euro 2020 result, final score and reaction tonight
Wales qualified for the last 16 while Italy topped Group A with a third win out of three
Italy topped Group A of Euro 2020 after a third straight win on Sunday, with a first-half goal from Matteo Pessina giving them a 1-0 victory over 10-man Wales, who also advance to the knockout stages of the competition.
The Italians had already guaranteed their progress, while Wales secured a berth too by finishing ahead of Switzerland on goal difference. The Swiss, who could still advance as one of the four best third-placed teams, beat Turkey 3-1 in Baku.
Roberto Mancini made eight changes to rest most of his first-choice starters, but Italy still dominated and missed several chances either side of Pessina's 42nd-minute goal, when he steered a low Marco Verratti free kick into the far corner.
Welsh centre back Ethan Ampadu was shown a straight red card in the 55th minute for stamping on Federico Bernadeschi's foot, and Wales then missed their best chance of an equaliser in the 74th when Gareth Bale volleyed over the bar from close range.
Italy will next face the runners-up of Group C, while Wales will take on the runners-up of Group B.
Wales face Italy in final Group A fixture
The Group stage of Euro 2020 begins to come to a close this week, with the final round of games taking place from today. As usual, the last games in each group take place at the same time as each other, which means Italy face Wales while Switzerland are playing Turkey.
Right here, the focus will be on Rob Page’s men against Roberto Mancini’s much-fancied Italians, while the Independent will also have a separate live blog running for the game between the third- and fourth-placed teams, so you won’t miss a thing from either game.
The equation is pretty simple for Wales: Win, and they top the group. Draw, and second is theirs and a last-16 spot is guaranteed.
It gets a little more tricky and might become a game of wait-and-see if they lose, but we’ll get into the permutations in more detail shortly - but the Dragons have shown the fighting spirit and ability to score in their previous two matches which might just mean they can sneak a point again here against the Azzurri and not need to worry about what other teams do.
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