England's team advances to top tier in UEFA Nations League

England concluded their interim manager Lee Carsley's era on a high note after moving up to the top tier in the UEFA Nations League for football.

England secured a resounding 5-0 victory over Ireland on Sunday, in the final match of Group 2 in the second tier of the continental competition, which also saw Greece defeat Finland 2-0.

England's points tally rose to 15 at the top of the group, securing their qualification for the top tier in the next edition of the tournament directly, edging out Greece on goal difference, who had the same points, and will now have to compete in the play-offs to reach the top tier in the championship.

On the other hand, Ireland's total points stopped at 6 in third place, while Finland remained at the bottom of the table with no points, resulting in their relegation to the third tier in the next season of the competition.

At the historic Wembley Stadium in London, Harry Kane opened the scoring for England in the 53rd minute from a penalty, leading to Liam Scales of the Ireland team receiving a red card for his second yellow.

Taking advantage of Ireland's collapse after Scales' dismissal, the English team added goals through Antony Gordon and Conor Gallagher in the 56th and 58th minutes respectively.

Jared Bowen scored the fourth goal in the 76th minute, and Taylor Harwood-Bellis concluded England's goal fest with the fifth goal in the 79th minute.

The match marked Lee Carsley's final appearance as interim coach of the England team, taking over from Gareth Southgate, who stepped down as head coach after England's loss in the final of the UEFA European Championship (Euro 2024) hosted by Germany this summer.

German coach Thomas Tuchel is set to officially take over as England's coach in March.

This victory marks England's eighth win in their history against the Republic of Ireland, who have only secured two wins, with 9 matches ending in draws.

This is also England's third victory over Ireland, who have not defeated the English team since their 1-0 win in the 1988 UEFA European Championship finals."