England's manager Gareth Southgate (R) watches as England's midfielder Ashley Young (2L), England's defender Danny Rose (C) and England's midfielder Jesse Lingard (3R) share a joke at an England national football team training session at Tottenham Hotspur FC Training Ground in Enfield, north London, on November 13, 2017 ahead of their international friendly match against Brazil on November 14. (AFP)
England will play friendlies against the Netherlands and Italy next year ahead of the World Cup finals in Russia, the English Football Association announced on Tuesday.
Gareth Southgate's team will travel to Amsterdam to face the Dutch side at the Johan Cruyff Arena on March 23 before hosting Italy at Wembley on March 27.
England announced the fixtures just hours after Italy's failure to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1958, following a 1-0 aggregate defeat by Sweden in their European playoff on Monday.
The Netherlands, World Cup runners-up in South Africa in 2010 and third in Brazil in 2014, missed a World Cup spot after finishing third behind France and Sweden in their qualifying group.
England held world champions Germany to a goalless draw in a friendly at Wembley last week and face Brazil at the same venue later on Tuesday.
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