Rookies help Italy win three points

Retegui opened the scoring for Italy in the 15th minute. The 1.86-meter-tall striker headed home from six yards, after Sandro Tonali's corner.

Retegui, who was born in Argentina but has a grandfather from Italy, scored the second in two matches for the Celestial Army. In the opening match of the qualifying round losing to England 1-2 on March 23, the 23-year-old striker also scored a goal.

Malta could not resist pressure from Italy. The defending Euro champions doubled the lead after 27 minutes. Emerson Palmieri's cross into the penalty area, the ball hit Tonali and a Maltese player before Matteo Pessina cushioned the edge of the box to score. This is the first player from Monza club to score for Italy.

Italy could have won more, considering the number of chances they missed. In the rest of the time, Retegui twice shot out. Gianluca Scamacca also missed two chances when he shot one into the hand of goalkeeper Henry Bonello and the other into the air.

The home team has only once endangered the Italian goal. However, Alexander Satariano's volley failed to beat goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma's reflex on the goal line.

The victory over the 167th FIFA team helped Italy get the first three points in the Euro 2024 qualifying round. The Celestial Army ranked second in Group C with three points, three points behind England.

Group C has North Macedonia and Ukraine. North Macedonia is the team that won Italy 1-0 in the semi-finals of the play-off round to qualify for the 2022 World Cup. The top two teams of the Euro 2024 qualifying group will win tickets to the final round in Germany next year.