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SKOPJE, Republic of North Macedonia — Gareth Southgate insists England’s lacklustre finish to the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign will mean nothing when they start their bid to win the tournament in Germany.

Such are the expectations that Southgate is working under these days that qualifying with an unbeaten record from a potentially tricky group, including Italy and Ukraine, earned him few plaudits.

Being held to a 1-1 draw by North Macedonia on Monday meant England failed to beat a side as low as 66th in the FIFA rankings for the first time since 2016, when they drew with Slovenia.

But with a runners-up finish at the last European Championship in 2021, as well as World Cup semifinal and quarter-final appearances in the Southgate era, England’s status as one of the Euro favourites is well earned after six victories from their eight qualifiers.

And Southgate is confident England’s drab end to the qualifying campaign will prove nothing more than an irrelevant blip.

“The really big results were in March against Italy and Ukraine. It meant coming here was a completely different test,” he said.

“I thought that given we had already qualified and everything had been achieved the mentality of the players was excellent.

“The quality on the ball was good on a difficult pitch. Just that final pass or finish was difficult to find. But I thought there were lots of positive performances.”

One area of concern for Southgate could be his team’s struggle to pierce the massed ranks of North Macedonia and Malta’s defences over the last four days.

Southgate was without influential Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham due to injury for both qualifiers, while England’s record scorer Harry Kane was left on the bench for the first 58 minutes against North Macedonia.

Only when Kane came on did England snatch their equaliser, an own goal from Jani Atanasov as he tried to stop the Bayern Munich striker turning in Phil Foden’s corner.

Southgate will have noted his side took 65 minutes to manage their first shot in the 2-0 win against Malta at Wembley on Friday.

And although England had 75 per cent of the possession against North Macedonia, they mustered only two shots on target, making it just the third time in the last 26 Euro qualifiers that they failed to take maximum points.

In truth, England’s lethargic displays over the last two games owed much to the dead rubber status of the matches and their scheduling amid a hectic programme of Premier League and Champions League fixtures.

But Southgate will still want improved performances in the friendlies against Brazil and Belgium in March.

By then, he will know the teams England will face in the group stage, with the point in Skopje ensuring they will be in the pot containing the top seeds.

“The next exciting bit is the draw at the beginning of December and we will see what the path looks like,” Southgate said.

Plotting how many of England’s emerging young talents to take to Germany will keep Southgate busy over the winter.

He was impressed with the way Manchester City’s teenage left-back Rico Lewis handled his debut.

Lewis’s composed display was all the more commendable after he was harshly adjudged to have fouled Bojan Miovski, conceding the penalty that brought North Macedonia’s goal when Enis Bardhi converted the rebound from his saved spot-kick.

“Rico was excellent. His composure with the ball and the way he responded to that setback, he’s a super footballer,” he said.

Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi also caught Southgate’s eye.

“He has been excellent in every game and showed great composure, taking what I’ve seen from him at his club to international football. That’s not straightforward,” he said.

The jury remains out on Southgate’s experiment with playing Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield.

But, befitting his ambition of taking fourth-placed England to the top of FIFA’s world rankings, the manager is looking ahead with optimism.

“There are a lot of players to keep a track on. Trent again did an excellent job,” he said.

“Rico, Cole Palmer, there’s plenty for me to think about.”

AMMAN — Jordan hosts Saudi Arabia on Tuesday in its second qualifier for the 23rd World Cup 2026 which also serve as qualifiers for the 2027 Asian Cup,

Jordan was held 1-1 with Tajikistan last week in the first match of Group G qualifiers, while Saudi beat Pakistan 4-0 to lead the group as 36 Asian teams are playing in 9 groups with the top two teams from each group advancing to Round 3.

As Jordan preps up for the 7:00pm match at Amman International Stadium, the national team is facing an uphill battle of getting off to a good start in the qualifiers with the hope of advancing Jordan to the 2026 World Cup with Asia allotted 8 slots in the next edition in additional to a zonal qualifier after expanding the number to include 48 nations.

However, under new Moroccan coach Hussein Amouta, Jordan is yet to score a win in five matches played so far. Jordan so far lost 6-0 to Norway and 2-1 to Azerbaijan, 3-1 to Iran and tied Iraq 2-2 before losing on penalties in a friendly tourney leading Amouta to drop 9 players from the last  lineup and recall six new players.

In official match records with Group G teams, Jordan, now ranked 86th, had upset now 108th ranked Tajikistan twice in the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup. While Jordan has beaten now 53rd ranked Saudi three times.

Goalie Yazeed Abu Laila underlined the lineup was getting more coherent and adapting to new coach’s strategy and style who has announced his eventual aim would be “to have a younger competitive group who can serve the national team for upcoming years”. 

Jordan also hopes for an advanced spot in the upcoming Asian Cup 2023 slated for Qatar in January 12, 2024, where they will play in Group E alongside Bahrain, Malaysia and South Korea.

BERLIN — Luciano Spalletti and his Italian team pledged to continue a high-risk approach in Monday’s high-stakes clash with Ukraine in Leverkusen, despite the danger of missing yet another major tournament if they lose.

Italy beat North Macedonia 5-2 on Friday to overtake Ukraine to move to second in the group. Italy needs only a draw to secure automatic qualification for Euro 2024.

“We are more positive under Spalletti,” said Federico Chiesa who scored twice. “We take a few more risks in defence.”

“We want to play against Ukraine with this mentality.”

The Euro 2020 champions have failed to qualify for the past two World Cups and a loss to Ukraine would see the war-torn Eastern European nation qualify for the Euros, leaving Italy facing a play-off tournament in 2024 to have a shot at defending their title.

While keeping a clean sheet would book the Azzurri a ticket to Germany for next year’s tournament, Spalletti’s attack-minded side have pledged not to sit back and defend like Italian teams of the past.

‘Beauty of attacking football’ 

Despite a flattering scoreline against North Macedonia, the two-time European Champions left the door open for its bogey team.

Leading 3-0 at half-time, Italy conceded two second-half goals to Jani Atanasov, allowing North Macedonia back into the match.

The attack-minded approach is typical of Spalletti, who masterminded a fearsome offensive machine at Napoli last season as they won the Scudetto for the first time since the days of Diego Maradona.

Winger Chiesa was dangerous throughout and scored a first-half brace. He was not concerned about his side’s defensive performance.

“The important thing is that we won” said Chiesa.

“We are more positive under Spalletti, and that means we take a few more risks in defence. We showed that we wanted to dominate the play and we deserved to win.”

Chiesa praised Spalletti’s attacking approach saying conceding goals was “part of the beauty of attacking football”.

Chiesa promised more of the same on Monday.

“We want to play against Ukraine with this mentality and win in Leverkusen.

“We must not miss this goal.”

‘A great Italy’ 

Italy’s second-half wobble was also of little concern to Spalletti after Friday’s match.

“It was a great Italy, both in terms of character and the quality of the game.

“I expected us to suffer, to freeze up and try to hang on. Instead we got back to charging up the pitch, putting moves together and scoring goals. Along with the two that we did score, there were several other big opportunities.”

Spalletti called the match against Ukraine a “final”.

“Whoever has the better of the match will go to the Euros,” he said.

Ukraine’s journey through the qualifiers has been nothing short of remarkable, considering the team has had to take home games on the road due to the ongoing conflict.

Despite playing almost 2,000 kilometres from Kyiv, Ukraine are likely to enjoy a home atmosphere in Leverkusen.

The German Federal Office for Migration estimates that more than one million refugees have fled Ukraine for Germany since February 2022.

Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk have played their home Champions League fixtures in Hamburg this season, attracting large crowds to the city’s Volkspark Stadium.

Ukraine has lost just one of seven fixtures dating back to March, although that defeat did come at the hands of Italy who beat Serhiy Rebrov’s men 2-1 in Milan.

LOS ANGELES — Star rookie Victor Wembanyama put on a show, but his San Antonio Spurs slumped to a seventh straight defeat on Friday, with the Sacramento Kings knocking them out of the NBA’s new in-season tournament with a 129-120 triumph.

De’Aaron Fox matched his career high with 43 points, adding eight rebounds and seven assists for the Kings, who weathered a series of San Antonio scoring spurts to seal the win.

After scoring just eight points in a 36-point loss to Oklahoma City on Tuesday, Wembanyama scored 27 points and pulled down nine rebounds.

Wembanyama impressed with an array of shots that included an alley-oop dunk on which his head threatened to hit the backboard.

Zach Collins scored 28 for the Spurs, who roared to an 18-point lead in the first quarter but couldn’t keep pace in a fourth quarter that saw Fox deliver 14 points as Wembanyama was held to six.

A game of multiple momentum shifts saw the Spurs close within 112-111 midway through the fourth, but the Kings responded with a 7-0 scoring run and held on.

Now 3-9, the Spurs fell to 0-3 in group play in the league’s new Cup-style tournament — out of the running for a quarter-final berth.

In other tournament games on Friday — which also count in the regular-season standings — Zion Williamson scored 26 points and the New Orleans Pelicans withstood a Nikola Jokic triple-double in a 115-110 victory over the NBA champion Denver Nuggets.

Brandon Ingram added 21 points for New Orleans. He and Williamson each made a pair of buckets in an 8-0 scoring run that saw the Pelicans pull away after Denver closed within one point with 4:01 to play.

Jokic scored 26 points, pulled down 16 rebounds and matched his career high with 18 assists.

The Nuggets, still without injured Jamal Murray, never led. But they battled back from a 20-point third-quarter deficit to give themselves a chance in the final period.

Down by three with less than a minute remaining, the Nuggets came up empty on three straight three-point attempts on the same possession and the Pelicans escaped with the win.

In Toronto, Boston guard Derrick White drained a go-ahead three-pointer with 27.5 seconds left as the Celtics held off the hard-charging Raptors 108-105.

Jaylen Brown scored 23 points, Jayson Tatum added 17 and Kristaps Porzingis chipped in 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Celtics, who are 2-0 in tournament play and improved to 10-2 in the regular season standings — still leading the Eastern Conference by one game from the Philadelphia 76ers, who beat the Atlanta Hawks 126-116.

Pascal Siakam and Dennis Schroder scored 23 points apiece for the Raptors. Scottie Barnes had a chance to tie it with 11.4 seconds left but couldn’t get his three-pointer to drop.

In Atlanta, 76ers star Joel Embiid — questionable to start because of a sore hip — scored 32 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Tobias Harris added a season-high 29 points and 10 rebounds and Tyrese Maxey finished with 19 points for Philadelphia, who ended a two-game losing streak.

Bridges returns 

In Charlotte, Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard scored 27 points to lead seven Bucks players in double figures in a 130-99 victory over the Hornets.

Malik Beasley added 20 points and Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo returned from a one-game injury absence to score 16 points with eight rebounds and nine assists in Milwaukee’s third-straight victory.

The Bucks connected on 22 of 45 three-pointers to withstand a 37-point night from Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball.

Miles Bridges came off the bench for Charlotte and scored 17 points in his first NBA game since April 2022.

Bridges missed all of last season and was suspended 10 games to start this season after pleading no contest in a felony domestic violence incident last year.

The Bucks out-scored the Hornets 38-18 in the fourth quarter, and Lillard said it was important to keep the pressure on. Both teams are 2-0 in tournament play, and scoring margins could come into play in deciding who advances to the knockout stages of the new tournament.

“We had to keep our foot on the gas tonight,” he said. “I think that’s good for our mentality.”

TURIN, Italy — Daniil Medvedev booked his place in the last four of the ATP Finals on Wednesday after beating Alexander Zverev 7-6 (9/7), 6-4, while Carlos Alcaraz cruised past troubled Andrey Rublev to get his campaign up and running.

World No.3 Medvedev had to win in straight sets to claim a spot in the semifinals with a match to spare and he saw off the big-hitting German Zverev in Turin in a stodgy encounter.

Medvedev has a long-running rivalry with Zverev, the pair not getting on off-court, and he has now prevailed in five of their six matches this season.

One of those wins came on his way to his surprise triumph at the clay-court Italian Open back in the Spring, one of five titles won by Medvedev this season.

The 2020 champion looks in fine form despite Wednesday’s match being his 82nd this year and will cause serious trouble to whoever he faces in the next round.

Zverev, a two-time winner at the season-ending tournament, would have qualified from the Red Group with a win of either sort thanks to Alcaraz beating Rublev 7-5, 6-2 earlier in the day.

The 26-year-old hit more aces and winners than Medvedev but still ended up on the wrong side of the result after throwing away his service game to save the match.

Zverev can still make it through though and in his final match will face a dejected Rublev, who is yet to win a set at the Pala Alpitour.

Alcaraz back on form 

World No.2 Alcaraz has had problems with his form and fitness over the past few months and was staring at possible early elimination after losing his first match with Zverev.

But he looked in much better condition on Wednesday and comfortably claimed his first ever win in the season-ending tournament, snapping a three-match losing streak to boot.

“I’m really happy to show this level and realise that my level is still there, giving myself a chance in this tournament,” Alcaraz told reporters.

“After this win, everything has changed in my mind.”

The 20-year-old easily dealt with Russian Rublev who once again failed to make his mark in a big match with one of tennis’ leading lights, who again lost control of his emotions after giving away a service game at the start of the second set.

Being one set and a break down was too much for the 26-year-old who repeatedly smashed his racket into his left knee, drawing blood, and soon after gave into his anger and promptly collapsed.

Afterwards Rublev brushed off the assault on his own limb as “nothing” but admitted that he is struggling to deal with what has been a hard end to the season.

On Thursday Jannik Sinner will try to become the first Italian to reach the semi-finals when he takes on Holger Rune in the tight Green Group.

Straight victories over now-retired Stefanos Tsitsipas and Novak Djokovic might not be enough to secure a spot in the next round.

And Sinner faces Rune who only had to play three games against injured Tsitsipas.

Sinner, meanwhile, prevailed on Tuesday in a three-hour thriller with Djokovic, who plays Tsitsipas’ replacement Hubert Hurkacz with his last four spot also still in the balance.

AMMAN — Jordan’s national football team is set to meet Tajikistan on Thursday as it starts qualifiers for the 23rd World Cup 2026 which also serve as qualifiers for the 2027 Asian Cup,

The squad plays its first Group G qualifier in the Tajik capital Dushanbe at at 4:00 pm Jordan local time before facing Saudi Arabia on November 21 in Amman, and Pakistan later on. 36 Asian teams will be playing in 9 groups with the top two teams from each group advancing to Round 3.

Although there is a lot of apprehension by observers and commentators over the national team’s readiness, it was reported the squad was upbeat and hoping to come home with a win. Jordan , now ranked 86th, beat 108th ranked Tajikistan twice in the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup.

Under Jordan’s new Moroccan coach Hussein Amouta, the team has failed to score any wins, and lost four matches doing down 6-0 to Norway and 2-1 to Azerbaijan, before  hosting a four-nation tourney where they lost 3-1 to Iran and tied Iraq 2-2 before losing on penalties.

In last minute preparations, Amouta who acknowledged gaps in Jordan’s defence, dropped 9 players from the last  lineup and recalled six new players with the aims of advancing Jordan to the 2026 World Cup. 

“We know the weight of responsibility on our shoulders and will work tirelessly to achieve our aim of reaching the World Cup,” Jordan’s Yazan Nuei’mat who plays in Qatari League told the press.  

Teammate goalie Yazeed Abu Laila added the lineup was now more coherent and adapted to new coach’s strategy and style and aimed to come back home with a win. Coach Amouta noted, “The eventual aim would be to have a younger competitive group who can serve the national team for upcoming years.” 

Jordan also hopes for an advanced spot in the upcoming Asian Cup 2023 slated for Qatar in January 12, 2024, where they will play in Group E alongside Bahrain, Malaysia and South Korea.

TURIN — Carlos Alcaraz kept alive his hopes of reaching the last four of the ATP Finals with Wednesday’s 7-5, 6-2 win over an emotionally fraught Andrey Rublev.

World No.2 Alcaraz has struggled with form and fitness over the past few months and was staring at possible early elimination after losing his first Red Group match with Alexander Zverev.

But the 20-year-old comfortably dealt with Russian Rublev who once again failed to make his mark in a big match with one of tennis’ leading lights, a problem which has dogged his career.

Fifth seed Rublev, the reigning Monte Carlo Masters champion, was on the verge of tears after losing his opener with Daniil Medvedev and lost control again after giving away a service game at the start of the second set.

Being one set and a break down was too much for the 26-year-old who started smashing his racket into his own knee, drawing blood as he sat down.

Troubled Rublev was still bleeding down his leg after the change of court and, just as against Medvedev, gave into his anger and promptly collapsed.

After throwing away his serve to love in game seven to give Alcaraz the chance to serve for the match Rublev sat with his towel over his head, clearly trying to hold back the tears before Alcaraz sealed a straight-sets victory.

Alcaraz will now face Medvedev in his final match with his Russian opponent having a chance to reach the semifinals ahead of his clash with Zverev.

World No.3 Medvedev can book an early place in the next round if he wins in straight sets, while Alcaraz’s victory means seventh seed Zverev will be through with a win of any sort.

LOS ANGELES — The resurgent Houston Rockets powered to a sixth straight NBA victory on Sunday, withstanding a 36-point triple-double from Denver’s Nikola Jokic in a 107-104 win over the Nuggets.

Fred VanVleet scored 26 points and Turkish center Alperen Sengun added 23 for the Rockets, who improved to 6-3 in the young campaign after amassing just 22 victories last season.

Jokic’s fourth triple-double of the season included 21 rebounds and 11 assists and Denver led 76-74 going into the final period, which featured three lead changes.

Jokic drained a three-pointer with 19.5 seconds left to cut the Rockets’ lead to 103-102, but VanVleet made a pair of free throws and Jae’Sean Tate came up with a steal as Denver attempted to inbound the ball and Houston held on.

Elsewhere Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey exploded for a career-high 50 points in a 137-126 victory over the Indiana Pacers.

Dallas star Kyrie Irving made seven of 10 three-pointers on the way to 35 points in the Mavericks’ dominant 136-124 victory over New Orleans while Miami’s Duncan Robinson and Bam Adebayo combined for 50 points as the Heat rallied to beat the San Antonio Spurs 118-113.

In Philadelphia, Maxey keyed a victory for a Sixers team rattled by the road accident that left forward Kelly Oubre nursing a broken rib and other injuries after he was hit by a vehicle while walking near his home on Saturday.

Oubre was treated in hospital and released, but was on the minds of his teammates.

“This had nothing to do with me, this is all Kelly Oubre, man,” Maxey — whose previous career high was 44 points — said after hitting 20 of 32 shots from the field, including seven of 11 from three-point range.

The 23-year-old added seven rebounds and five assists and reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid added a double-double of 37 points and 13 rebounds as the Sixers notched their eighth straight win.

Irving got hot early in New Orleans, scoring 22 points in the first half to help the Mavs to a 67-54 lead.

Luka Doncic connected on 11 of 18 shots from the field, including four of nine from three-point range, on the way to 30 points. Fifteen of those came in the Mavs’ 42-point third quarter and Dallas led by as many as 29 points in the fourth.

In San Antonio, Robinson scored 26 points and Adebayo added 24 with 11 rebounds and the Heat shook off a slow start to subdue sensational San Antonio rookie Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs.

Miami, still missing injured Tyler Herro and without Kyle Lowry, trailed by as many as 19 in the second quarter, but they turned the tide to notch a fifth straight victory.

Jimmy Butler, back after missing Saturday’s game for personal reasons, scored 19 points and former Spur Josh Richardson converted two crucial shots in the last two minutes before capping the scoring with a pair of free-throws.

Grizzlies beat Clippers 

Keldon Johnson scored 20 points for San Antonio. Wembanyama added 18 with 11 rebounds but also had seven of the Spurs’ 17 turnovers.

In Los Angeles, Desmond Bane scored 27 points to help the Memphis Grizzlies claw out their second win of the season, a 105-101 victory over the Clippers.

The Grizzlies have struggled with star Ja Morant’s 25-game suspension due to stretch into December. But they were able to hold off a Clippers team still trying to figure out the best use of new acquisition James Harden.

The Clippers have now lost five straight, including four since the former league MVP arrived in a trade from Philadelphia.

“I saw some intriguing things but we’ve just got to be better,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said, adding that the team’s offense lacked energy.

“We can’t just walk around offensively,” he said.

There were home defeats for both the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors.

Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams scored 25 points and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 21 for the Thunder in a 111-99 victory over Kevin Durant and the Suns.

In San Francisco, Anthony Edwards scored 33 points to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 116-110 victory over the Warriors, who had 38 points from Stephen Curry but lost for the second straight night on their home floor.