Have you caught your breath yet? European qualifying brought drama from the first whistle until the last, as 12 nations booked their FIFA World Cup 26™ spot, and a further 16 headed for the European play-offs.
Here, FIFA recounts seven memorable moments from the European preliminaries.
Strelec stunner sinks Germany
Slovakia opened their campaign in eye-catching fashion, as they downed the four-time World Cup winners in Bratislava. David Hancko got the party started, as he completed a one-two with David Strelec in between a 60-yard run and slammed past Oliver Baumann. The provider then turned scorer, as Strelec latched on to a knockdown, tied a back-peddling Antonio Rudiger in knots, before curling in a sumptuous goal to give the Sokoli a famous win.
Depay’s double Dutch delight
Through trials and tribulations at club level, Memphis Depay has always provided for the Netherlands and broke Robin van Persie’s 12-year reign as the nation’s top scorer during qualifying. A brace versus Malta in June saw him draw level on 50 strikes, before another double against Lithuania three months later sent him soaring past the flying Dutchman to clinch the record outright.
Tonali settles nine-goal thriller
Italy and Israel produced one of the finest qualifiers of all time in September. Moise Kean hit a brace to twice help the Azzurri level, before Mateo Politano gave them the lead for the first time on the cusp of the hour. Giacomo Raspadori looked to have sealed the points in the 81st minute, but an unfortunate Alessandro Bastoni own goal paved the way for Dor Peretz to head a dramatic 89th-minute equaliser. Italy, remarkably, went again, with Sandro Tonali bagging an improbable stoppage-time winner to see a European qualifier finish 5-4 for the very first time.
Ronaldo romps Ruiz’s record
Since 2016, Guatemalan Carlos Ruiz had been the king of World Cup qualifying goals. El Pescadito scored 39 from 47 preliminaries, but by the time Portugal begun their campaign in September, a record-hungry Ronaldo was already on his tail.
Cristiano entered the fray on 36 strikes, and duly honed in with two against Armenia. He levelled Ruiz with a penalty in victory over Hungary, before powering past him with a brace in the reverse fixture to consecrate himself as World Cup qualifying’s all-time goalscoring god.
Troy Story 3
After hitting a dazzling Dublin double to sink Portugal, Troy Parrott took his one-man show a step further by recording a heroic hat-trick in Budapest to take Republic of Ireland into the UEFA Play-offs at the expense of their hosts.
After going a goal down just three minutes in, Parrott stepped up and rifled home a leveller from the spot, only to watch on as Barnabas Varga fired the hosts back ahead. With time running out, the AZ striker dinked the Irish level, before poking in the most iconic of 96th-minute winners in front of a dumbstruck Puskas Arena crowd.
Norway’s San Siro sealer
Erling Haaland was arguably the standout figure during this campaign. The Norwegian goal-machine plundered a joint-record 16 goals, while becoming the first European player in almost 50 years to net in all of his side’s qualifiers. He capped his qualification quest by netting a brace in a memorable 4-1 win over Italy at San Siro which saw Norway complete a perfect campaign for the first time, as they emphatically booked a World Cup return after 28 years away.
Tartan Army party like it’s 1998
At 63 minutes of their penultimate qualifier against Greece, Scotland were 3-0 down as group leaders Denmark led Belarus, leaving their dream of a first World Cup since France 1998 in tatters. Remarkably, though, the Belarusians levelled almost exactly as that third Greek effort hit the net, and took a shock lead two minutes later. The Scots would eventually lose 3-2 but a draw in Copenhagen set up a winner-takes-all clash.
Scott McTominay sent Hampden into delirium three minutes in win with a stunning overhead kick, only for Rasmus Hojlund to level before the hour. A red card for Rasmus Kristensen and a Lawrence Shankland goal looked to have sealed Scotland’s return, but Patrick Dorgu levelled with nine to play. Steve Clarke’s side pushed and eventually got their reward as Kieran Tierney sent a wicked first-time effort home in the 93rd minute, before Kenny McLean sent a hothouse Hampden into raptures with a jaw-dropping half-way line goal.
