Roundup of the sixth round of UEFA Euro 2024 Qualifying, which saw tems continue their battles to secure qualification.
Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and Wales were the only home nations in action with mixed results, as the qualification pictures within each group began to emerge heading into the final four matchweeks of Qualifying across October and November.
Now, here is a full roundup of the state of play in each group following the latest round of qualifying matches.
Group A
Ferran Torres scored twice as second-placed Spain thrashed Cyrpus 6-0 in Granada, with Gavi, Mikel Merino, Joselu and Alejandro Baena also on the scoresheet.
First half goals from Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard saw Norway beat Georgia 2-1 in Oslo, which meant that Scotland were denied a chance to secure their qualification for the main tournament in this round of fixtures.
Group B
Wout Weghorst struck a 56th minute winner as second-placed Netherlands fought back to beat Republic of Ireland 2-1 in Dublin, after Adam Idah’s fourth minute penalty for the Irish was cancelled out by Cody Gakpo’s penalty.
Greece remain third after hammering Gibraltar 5-0 in Athens, during which Konstantinos Mavropanos and Georgios Masouras both scored twice for the Greeks after Dimitrios had opening the scoring in the ninth minute.
Group C
Davide Frattesi’s first-half brace proved enough for Italy to beat Ukraine 2-1 in Milan to go second, despite Andriy Yarmolenko netting a 41st minute consolatory goal for the visitors.
First half goals from Elif Elmas and Jovan Manev saw North Macedonia win 2-0 away to Malta but sit fourth on goal difference behind Italy and Ukraine on seven points apiece.
Group D
Andrej Kramaric’s 14th minute winner saw Croatia snatch a 1-0 win away to Armenia, which saw them move top of Group D on goal difference from Turkey.
Fourth-placed Wales kept their qualification hopes alive with a 2-0 win away to Latvia in Riga, as Aaron Ramsey scored from the penalty spot before David Brooks scored his first international goal since his return from battling Hodgkin Lymphoma.
Group E
Goals from Jasir Asani and Mirlind Daku saw Albania beat Poland 2-0 to go top of Qualifying Group E.
Vadim Rata’s 53rd minute winner proved enough for Moldova to win away against the Faroe Islands, which in-turn moved them above Poland into third position in the group.
Group F
Romelu Lukaku’s brace ensured that Belgium remained top of Group F with a 5-0 home win over Estonia, with Jan Vertonghen, Leandro Trossard and Charles De Ketelaere also on the scoresheet.
Marko Arnautovic’s brace saw Austria sit second on goal difference after they edged out Sweden 3-1 in a second half thriller in Solna, with Michael Gregoritsch’s injury-time effort sealing the win after Emil Holm pulled a goal back in the 90th minute for the Swedes.
Group G
Aleksandr Mitrovic’s hat-trick saw second-placed Serbia move level on points with Group G leaders, Hungary, after the Serbians beat Lithuania 3-1 away in Paunas.
Stevan Jovetic struck an injury-time winner as Montenegro edged out Bulgaria 2-1 in Podgorica, after Stefan Savic’s opening goal had been cancelled out by Preslav Borukov’s equaliser.
Group H
Slovenia moved top of Qualifying Group H with a ruthless 4-0 away win over San Marino, in which first-half goals from Zan Vipotnik and Jan Makar put them ahead before Sandi Lovric and Zan Karnicnik wrapped up victory in the second half.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s 86th minute winner against Finland saw Denmark go second on goal difference, ahead of the Finnish who now sit just one point behind in third position.
Kazakhstan also sit one point off the top two after Maksim Samorodov’s first-half effort proved enough to beat Northern Ireland.
Group I
Second half goals from Cedric Itten, Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri saw Switzerland stay top of Group I with a 3-0 win over Andorra in Sion.
Late goals from Nicolae Stanciu and Valentin Mihaila saw Romania beat Kosovo to stay second in the group, with the game having been suspended for 50 minutes due to provacative chants from a minority of Romanian fans.
Israel remain third after Gabi Kanichowsky’s 93rd minute winner proved enough to beat Belarus in Tek Aviv.
Group J
Goncalo Inacio, Goncalo Ramos and Diogo Jota all scored braces as Group J leaders, Portugal hammered Luxembourg 9-0 in Faro/Louie, with Ricardo Horta, Bruno Fernandes and Joao Felix also on the scoresheet.
Slovakia remain second following a 3-0 win over eliminated Liechtenstein, as David Hancko, Ondrej Duda and Robert Mak all scored in the opening six minutes to wrap up their victory early.
Alfred Finnbogason struck a 91st minute winner for Iceland in a closely-fought contest against Bosnia & Herzegovina.
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