🌍 WCQ: France and Belgium qualify; big win for Wales; Dutch let lead slip | OneFootball

European qualification for the 2022 World Cup continued on Saturday.

Here’s what went down.

Mbappé hits four as France score EIGHT

Scorers: Mbappé 6′, 12′, 32′, 87′, Benzema 55′, 59′, Rabiot 75′, Griezmann (p) 84′

France booked their spot at Qatar 2022 in style with an emphatic victory over Kazakhstan.

Kylian Mbappé gave France an early lead in Paris when he finished from Theo Hernandez’s cut-back, before the doubling his tally a few minutes later, with Kingsley Coman getting the assist.

Mbappé then completed his hat-trick after just 32 minutes with a powerful header from Coman’s cross.

Karim Benzema got in on the act to make it 4-0 in the second half, before quickly netting his second goal to make it 5-0 a few minutes later.

Adrien Rabiot then increased France’s lead to 6-0 with 15 minutes remaining, before Antoine Griezmann made it seven from the penalty spot after he had been brought down by Vladislav Vasiljev.

And the reigning world champions weren’t done there, with Mbappé adding his fourth of the night to make it 8-0 late on.

Dutch let 2-0 lead slip against Montenegro

Scorers: Memphis (P) 25′, 54′; Vukotić 82′, Vujnović 86′

The Netherlands will have to wait to qualify for the World Cup after blowing a two-goal lead in Podgorica.

Memphis Depay gave the Netherlands the lead from the penalty spot after Davy Klaassen had been brought down in the box by Marko Janković.

The Barcelona forward then got his and his side’s second goal when he cleverly flicked home at the near post from Donyell Malen’s cross early in the second half.

The hosts then pulled one back with a few minutes left, with Ilija Vukotić rounding goalkeeper Justin Bijlow to score.

And Montenegro then completed their dramatic late comeback, with Nikola Vujnović heading in for 2-2.

Belgium qualify with comfortable victory

Scorers: Benteke 11′, Carrasco 53′, Thorgan Hazard 74′; Sorga 70′

Belgium punched their ticket to Qatar with victory over Estonia in Brussels.

The Red Devils took the lead when a low cross in from Yannick Carrasco was fumbled by Estonia’s goalkeeper, and Christian Benteke was on hand to tap in the rebound.

The second goal came in the 53rd minute, and Carrasco was the scorer this time, with a beautiful left-footed strike into the top corner.

Erik Sorga then pulled one back with 20 minutes to go, but their comeback hopes were short-lived with Thorgan Hazard soon restoring Belgium’s two-goal advantage.

Wales keep World Cup dream alive with memorable win

Scorers: Ramsey 2′, (p) 50′, Williams 20′, Davies 77′, Roberts 89′; Kontsevoy 87′

Wales are sitting pretty in a play-off spot with one qualifier remaining after sticking five past Belarus.

The hosts made a dream start in Cardiff when Aaron Ramsey gave them the lead after just two minutes when he swept home the rebound after Ben Davies’s effort from a corner.

Neco Williams then made it 2-0 when he finished at the near post after Gareth Bale’s clever flick.

Into the second half and Wales went 3-0 up when Ruslan Yudenkov handled in the box, and Ramsey dispatched the resulting penalty.

Ben Davies then added to the lead with his first ever Wales goal on his 68th cap.

Artem Kontsevoy then pulled a goal back for Belarus in the dying minutes, but Wales quickly made it 5-1 through Connor Roberts.

Other results

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