Italy gives winning sendoff for Spalletti in World Cup qualifying. De Bruyne saves Belgium

With a parting gift for Luciano Spalletti, Italy beat Moldova 2-0 on Monday for its 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.

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 its qualifying campaign for the 2026 World Cup.

Goals by Giacomo Raspadiro and Andrea Cambiaso 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 Erling 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 its 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 was 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.

"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.''

De Bruyne saves Belgium

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 through goals by Romelu Lukaku, Youri Tielemans and Jeremy Doku.

Wales mounted a stirring recovery to draw level by the 69th, only for De Bruyne to meet a deep cross with a left-footed volley inside the near post. The playmaker is preparing to leave Manchester City after 10 years, with Napoli a possible destination according to reports in Britain.

North Macedonia won at Kazakhstan 1-0 and led Group J on eight points — one above Wales and four above Belgium, which has two games in hand.

''I don't like the defeat and I don't feel, ‘Oh, unlucky Wales,'" Bellamy said. "We need to win these games. But after being 3-0 down, where it could've gone the other way, for them to believe in themselves, that will give us so much going forward.''

Modric scores in Croatia win

Croatia beat the Czech Republic 5-1, with 39-year-old Luka Modric among its scorers, and trimmed the gap to its opponent to three points in Group L.

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

In the group's other game, Gibraltar was heading for its first ever point in qualifying for the World Cup or European Championship but conceded in the 86th minute to lose at the Faroe Islands 2-1.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer