A packed opening three rounds of FIFA World Cup Qualifying amongst UEFA nations across eight days came to a close, as we round up the action from the third round of action.
England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales were all in action with a strong collection of results, whilst Group J saw the biggest shock yet in World Cup Qualifying as Germany tasted an unfancied surprise home loss.
Republic of Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland and Estonia all sat out this round of fixtures due to Groups A-E only containing five teams.
Group A
Portugal went top of Group A on goal difference after Diogo Jota netted his third goal in two games in a comeback 3-1 win away at Luxembourg, after Gerson Rodrigues put the hosts in front.
Aleksandr Mitrovic netted his fifth goal in three matches as Serbia won away in Azerbaijan, despite Emin Mahmudov’s 59th minute penalty equaliser for Milli.
Group B
Spain moved top of Group B above Sweden after recording a 3-1 home win over Kosovo as Gerard wrapped up victory with a 75th minute winner, after Besar Halimi had offered the visitors hope of a shock comeback just five minutes earlier.
Greece stay third after Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s 78th minute goal rescued Georgia a point, just two minutes after Otar Kakabadze’s own goal had put the Greeks ahead two minutes earlier.
Group C
Second half goals from Stefano Sensi and Ciro Immobile gave table-topping Italy an away win in rock-bottom Lithuania.
Northern Ireland sit third after holding Bulgaria to a goalless draw in Belfast.
Group D
Antoine Griezmann’s 60th minute header gave France a narrow away win in Bosnia & Herzegovina, as the French now top the group by four points.
Ukraine dropped points on their biggest rivals after Roman Yaremchuk’s 20th minute opener was cancelled out by Serikzhan Muzhikov as Kazakhstan fought back for a shock 1-1 draw.
Group E
Dan James’ late header from Gareth Bale sealed victory for Wales over Czech Republic to put them third, despite Connor Roberts and Patrik Schick being red carded for both teams in separate second half incidents.
Hans Vanaken netted twice as Belgium thrashed Belarus 8-0 in Leuven to put the hosts top of this group, with Leandro Trossard also scoring a brace as he plus Michy Batshuayi, Christian Benteke and Dennis Praet were also amongst goalscorers from English clubs.
Group F
Andreas Skov Olsen netted a brace as Denmark thrashed Austria 4-0 with Joakim Maehle plus Tottenham’s Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg also getting on the scoreboard.
John McGinn’s double helped Scotland thrash Faroe Islands 4-0 to go second, with Che Adams and Ryan Fraser also adding one goal each.
Catalin Carp gave Moldova a 29th minute lead against Israel but the hosts failed to hold on, as their visitors ran riot in a comeback 4-1 away victory.
Group G
Late goals from Robert Uldrikis and Davis Ikaunieks helped Latvia recover from 3-1 down to snatch a draw in a six goal thriller away to group leaders, Turkey.
Memphis Depay netted a brace which saw the Netherlands go second following a ruthless seven goal riotous victory in Gibraltar.
Alexander Soloth’s 35th minute strike proved enough to clinch victory for Norway away in Montenegro.
Group H
Second half goals from Ivan Perisic, Luka Modric and Josip Brekalo saw Croatia thrash Malta in Rijeka, sending the 2018 World Cup runners-up top of Group H.
Robert Mak struck a 74th minute winner as Slovakia defeated Russia after Milan Skriniar’s opener for the hosts was cancelled out by Mario Fernandes.
Ioannis Pittas’ 42nd minute close-range strike saw Cyprus stun Slovenia in Nicosia to go fourth in the group.
Group I
Harry Maguire’s late smasher from John Stones’ knockdown clinched a 2-1 home victory as England defeated Poland to stay top of Group I, after Harry Kane’s penalty opener was cancelled out by Jakub Moder’s strike from a mugged interception of Stones.
Nemanja Nikolics assisted twice as Hungary thrashed Andorra to go second in the group, to place them two points off England heading into September’s round of World Cup Qualifying.
Albania improved to third as Myrto Uzuni scored and assisted in a two goal away win in San Marino.
Group J
Tigran Barseghyan’s 89th minute penalty sent Armenia top in a 3-2 home win over Romania, despite Alexandru Cicaldau’s brace for the visitors.
Germany suffered a shock home defeat to North Macedonia as Eljif Elmas snatched a 85th minute winner, after Ilkay Gundogan’s penalty had cancelled out Goran Pandev’s opener midway through the second half to drop to third behind their visitors.
Mario Frick’s 79th minute goal proved consolatory as Liechtenstein fell to rock-bottom of Group J, after suffering a brutal 4-1 thrashing at home to Iceland.
Leave a Reply