OneFootball
Joel Sanderson-Murray·24 March 2021
OneFootball
Joel Sanderson-Murray·24 March 2021
Euro 2020 may not have been played yet but itâs time to start thinking about the next international tournament.
The European qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup started tonight, and hereâs what went down.
Scorers: Griezmann 19âČ; Sydorchuk 57âČ.
The reigning World champions France were held by Andriy Shevchenkoâs Ukraine as they begun the defence of their crown in Paris.
Antoine Griezmann levelled with David Trezeguet in Franceâs all-time top goalscorers list with his 34th strike for his country to fire them ahead after 19 minutes.
It was a goal testament to the 30-year-oldâs quality as well as he received the ball at the corner of the area before curling into the top corner with a delightful left-footed finish.
There was a hint of fortune about Ukraineâs equaliser though as Serhiy Sydorchukâs effort took a huge deflection off Presnel Kimpembe before rolling into the net.
Kimpembe thought had redeemed himself when he reacted first to a French corner late on but his header went straight down the throat of Heorhiy Bushchan.
Scorers: De Bruyne 22â, Hazard 28â, Lukaku (Pen) 73â; Wilson 10âČ.
Belgium came from behind to get their qualifying campaign off to a perfect start after beating Wales 3-1 in Leuven.
Wales had taken a shock lead with a sublime goal courtesy of a beautiful team move which led to Gareth Bale setting up Harry Wilson for a first-time finish.
But Belgium werenât behind for long and Kevin De Bruyne stepped up to equalise with a textbook driven effort from 25 yards out which rifled into the bottom corner.
Thorgan Hazard then headed Roberto Martinezâs men in front after getting on to the receiving end of Thomas Meunierâs cross.
Romelu Lukaku, the countryâs all-time top goalscorer, added his 58th and the third on the night from the penalty spot.
Scorers: Medvedev (OG) 37âČ.
Portugal may be one of the favourites to win the European Championships this summer but they struggled to get past Azerbaijan, who are ranked 72nd in the world.
It was a calamity from Azerbaijan captain Maksim Medvedev which decided the game when he turned JoĂŁo Canceloâs cross into his own net despite being under no pressure.
But despite boasting the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes in the side, Fernando Santosâ failed to edge themselves into a more comfortable lead on the night.
Scorers: Lovric 15âČ.
2018 runners-up Croatia were shocked in their qualifying opener as Slovenia earned a remarkable shock victory over Zlatko DaliÄâs side.
Sandi Lovric gave the hosts a shock lead when he took advantage of some sloppy defending to fire the ball into the bottom corner.
Ivan PeriĆĄiÄ thought he had equalised with a low effort in the second half but it was well saved by the hostsâ goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
Itâs a fourth straight defeat for the Croats who were in dreadful form in the Nations League before Christmas and now have work to do to catch up in qualifying for the Qatar World Cup.
Scorers: Yilmaz 15âČ, (PEN) 34âČ, 81âČ, ĂalhanoÄlu 46âČ; Klaassen 75âČ, De Jong 76âČ.
Netherlands suffered a shock 4-2 defeat at the hands of Turkey thanks to a hat-trick from Burak Yilmaz as Frank de Boerâs stuttering start as head coach reached a new low.
The hosts took the lead after 15 minutes when a counter-attack led to Yilmazâs outside-of-the-boot effort deflecting past Tim Krul, before the striker powered a penalty home for his second.
Matthijs de Ligtâs header looked as if it had crossed the line before being cleared by Okay YokuĆlu but no goal was given with no goal-line technology or VAR on hand to aid referee Michael Oliver.
Hakan ĂalhanoÄlu seemingly put the game beyond doubt with an effort 25 yards out but the visitors regrouped through goals from Davy Klaassen and Luuk de Jong.
Yilmaz curled home a beautiful free-kick to seal the victory for Turkey before Memphis Depayâs last-minute penalty was saved meaning the Dutch have won just two of their seven games under De Boer since his arrival in September 2020.
Group A
Portugal 1-0 Azerbaijan
Serbia 3-2 Republic of Ireland
Group D
France 1-1 Ukraine
Finland 2-2 Bosnia-Herzegovina
Group E
Belgium 3-1 Wales
Estonia 2-6 Czech Republic
Group G
Turkey 4-2 Netherlands
Gibraltar 0-3 Norway
Latvia 1-2 Montenegro
Group H
Cyprus 0-0 Slovakia
Malta 1-3 Russia
Slovenia 1-0 Croatia