🇪🇺 Spain earn Scotland revenge; Haaland on fire; Albania and Turkey win | OneFootball

More European qualifiers took place on Thursday, with a handful of matches scheduled.

Here is what went down

Drama as Spain pile revenge on Scotland

Scorers: Morata 73′ Sancet 86′

Scotland needed just one point to book their spot at Euro 2024 but suffered their first defeat of the campaign against Spain.

It was a cagey first half as the hosts maintained 78% possession, yet Mikel Merino’s long-range strike hit the post before Álvaro Morata had a goal marginally ruled out for offside.

Scotland then suffered a major blow just before the break when captain Andy Robertson was forced off heavily nursing his shoulder.

Around the hour mark things became eventful. Scott McTominay thought he had given Scotland the lead against the run of play with their only shot on target.

His brilliant free kick from a tight angle, however, was ruled out after VAR judged Jack Hendry offside in the process.

Then in the blink of an eye, Morata made no mistake and his diving header handed the hosts the lead with his 34th for his country before a slip from Aaron Hickey saw Oihan Sancet bundle the ball home 10 minutes later.

Scotland sit top of Group A with 15 points and Spain are second with 12. It is revenge for La Roja after their loss in Glasgow remains their only defeat in 23 qualifiers.

Haaland back in the mix for Norway

Scorer: Sørloth 33′, Haaland 65′, 72′, Aursnes 81′

Erling Haaland returned to scoring form as Norway cruised past Cyprus to keep their Euro 2024 hopes alive.

While the Manchester City ace was slow to start, team-mate Alexander Sørloth broke the deadlock around the half-hour mark via a deflected shot.

He now has 17 goals for his country after 50 appearances, two more than his father Gøran.

Haaland eventually doubled the lead with a volley then made his night even better with a header seven minutes later. He now has 27 goals for Norway in 27 appearances and is only six off of the leading tally for his country.

Fredrik Aursnes added a late fourth for the visitors and they sit third in Group A, two behind Spain and five behind Scotland while Cyprus are last.

Turkey edge Croatia to claim top spot

Scorer: Yılmaz 30′

Croatia and Turkey went head-to-head with the visitors coming out on top thanks to one moment of magic.

Muhammed Kerem Aktürkoğlu cut out an attempted pass to Luka Modrić and kickstarted a counter-attack which led to Barış Alper Yılmaz chipping Dominik Livaković for the winning goal.

Despite Croatia’s star-studded squad featuring Mateo Kovačić, Joško Gvardiol and others they couldn’t find a way back into the game.

Turkey sit top of the group while Croatia are second three points back.

Albania cruise past 10-man Czech Republic

Scorer: Asani 9′, Seferi 51′, 73′. Red card: Chytil 39′

Albania continued their incredible run in qualifying and sit top of Group E as a result.

The hosts opened the scoring against the Czech Republic with their first shot on target when Jasir Asani drove in from the right wing, looked up and scored a low drive from well outside the box.

Things later went from bad to worse for the visitors as two quick yellows saw Mojmír Chytil sent off. The Czech Republic attacker appeared to nudge the ball over the line with his hand and was sent packing.

Albania doubled the lead immediately after the restart when a wide-open Taulant Seferi in the box slammed the ball home at the near post before adding a second to his name.

Czech Republic meanwhile couldn’t net any of their seven on target from 12 attempts and sit third.

Other results…

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