European Qualification: Portugal without play-offs; Spain, Serbia and Croatia qualified | European qualification
Spain, Serbia and Croatia secured, with goals close to the end, victories that allowed them to seal direct qualification for the 2022 World Cup. Sweden, Portugal and Russia were their victims and will have to dispute the play-offs. as well as surprising Northern Macedonia.
UEFA.com summarizes the action from the opening matches of Matchday 10.
Who is qualified?
Belgium
Croatia
Denmark
France
Germany
Serbia
Spain
Sunday results
A group: Luxembourg 0-3 Republic of Ireland, Portugal 1-2 Serbia
Group B: Greece 1-1 Kosovo, Spain 1-0 Sweden
Group H: Croatia 1-0 Russia, Malta 0-6 Slovakia, Slovenia 2-1 Cyprus
Group J: Armenia 1-4 Germany, Liechtenstein 0-2 Romania, Northern Macedonia 3-1 Iceland
Mitrović sinks Portugal on the brink of the end and qualifies for Serbia
Aleksandar Mitrović’s 90th-minute header guaranteed Serbia the first place in Group A and the consequent direct qualification for the final stage of the World Cup, in a game in which a draw was enough for Portugal to confirm the top spot.
The Portuguese team – which had never lost to Serbia – even seemed to be heading towards a peaceful night when Renato Sanches opened the scoring after just two minutes. But the visitors took charge, dominated the first half and, after Dušan Vlahović sent a ball to the post, Dušan Tadić justifiably restored parity in the 33rd minute with a shot that still deflected Danilo.
The winning goal then came in dramatic form when Mitrović gave the best follow-up to Tadić’s wide cross into the far post, relegating to the play-off a Portuguese team that, for the first time since October 2013, has not won a home game in World Cup qualifying.
Spain confirmed morata
Substitute Álvaro Morata Comer’s late goal over Spain beat Sweden to confirm first place in the group, sending the Nordics into the play-offs. Spain dominated possession but it was the visitors who had the best chances, with Emil Forsberg twice shooting wide.
A draw was enough for Spain, who have reached all the national team finals since 1978, and at one point Sweden was inspired by 40-year-old Zlatan Ibrahimović, who started as a substitute. As a result, it was another substitute to decide, in the case of Morata, who in his 50th cap placed in Seville ecstasy with a rebound from Dani Olmo’s shot at the crossbar.
Russia betrayed by own goal
Croatia overtook Russia to win Group H to secure a place in next year’s tournament thanks to Fedor Kudryashov’s own goal towards the end. The visitors needed just a point to confirm the first place and seemed to offer to guarantee it after a solid defensive display that did not allow the Croatians to create spears of great danger in Matvei Safonov’s goal. However, at a time when Zlatko Dalić’s men appeared to be watching the play-offs, the unfortunate Kudryashov deflected Borna Sosa’s cross from the left into his own net to the delight of the home fans.
Qualified for the “play-off”
northern Macedonia
Portugal
Russia
Scotland
Sweden
Other highlights
- Northern Macedonia, Romania and Armenia were still battling for place in the Group J play-offs, but it was the first time they had come out on top in the race thanks to a categorical victory over Iceland. Eljif Elmas was the hosts’ hero, scoring twice after Ezgjan Alioski’s opening goal was disallowed by Jón Dagur Thorsteinsson after the break.
- Romania may have missed the play-offs, but they made history when substitute Enes Sali became the youngest player ever to appear in an official European-team game at 15 years and 264 days.
- Group J winners Germany took their 18th straight win in World Cup knockouts, with İlkay Gündoğan scoring twice in a comfortable victory in Armenia.
monday games
Group C: Northern Ireland – Italy, Switzerland – Bulgaria
Group F: Austria – Republic of Moldova, Israel – Faroe Islands, Scotland – Denmark
Group I: Albania – Andorra, Poland – Hungary, San Marino – England
tuesday games
Group D: Bosnia and Herzegovina – Ukraine, Finland – France
Group E: Czech Republic – Estonia, Wales-Belgium
Group G: Gibraltar – Latvia, Montenegro – Turkey, Netherlands – Norway