Croatia became the third European side behind England and France to book their place at the FIFA World Cup 26™ with a comeback victory over the Faroe Islands. The Netherlands could have done the same tonight, but were held in Poland. Germany downed Luxembourg and Slovakia netted a last-gasp winner over Northern Ireland to join them on 12 points ahead of their meeting on Monday. Elsewhere, already-eliminated pair Malta and Montenegro both secured victories.
Group A
Germany: Woltemade (49, 69)
Nick Woltemade bagged a brace to power Germany past pesky Luxembourg. The hosts enjoyed a bright start and looked the more threatening of the two, while the German attack sputtered in the final third. But it was a different Germany side after the restart and they broke the deadlock thanks to an excellent Leroy Sane touch and cross to Woltemade, who made no mistake. The Newcastle man then notched his second by latching on to a Ridle Bote Baku pass and beating Luxembourg goalkeeper Anthony Moris to cement the points.
Slovakia goal: Bobcek (90+1)
A stoppage-time winner from Tomas Bobcek sparked wild celebrations in Kosice. Slovakia had two goals ruled out in the second half, but eventually clinched the winning goal when a corner was missed by Northern Ireland goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell, allowing Bobcek to smash into an unguarded net. A disappointing night was capped with Dan Ballard receiving his marching orders for a second booking at the death.
Group G
Malta goal: Grech (81)
Already-eliminated Malta claimed just their third World Cup qualifying victory since 1993 to extinguish Finland’s faint hopes of making the finals. The Finns pushed with Adam Markhiev, Leo Walta and Oliver Antman all seeing efforts saved by the excellent Henry Bonello. Malta then dealt a late sucker punch, with Ilyas Chouaref cutting back for Jake Grech to fire in from the top of the box.
Poland goal: Kaminski (43)
Netherlands goal: Depay (47)
Ronald Koeman’s side secured a draw in Warsaw that has all but qualified them for the World Cup. With one round to play, the Netherlands are three points above Poland and boast a vastly superior goal difference. Jan Urban’s team broke the deadlock when Robert Lewandowski swivelled stylishly and caressed a sumptuous pass into the path of Jakub Kaminski, who slid it home. Memphis Depay bundled in the equaliser, and two superb saves by Bart Verbruggen from Lewandowksi proved enough for the Oranje.
Group L
Croatia goals: Gvardiol (23), Musa (57), Vlasic (70)
Faroe Islands: David Turi (16)
Croatia rallied from an early deficit to down Faroe Islands and punch their World Cup ticket. The home fans in Rijeka sat in stunned silence as the visitors took a shock lead when Geza David Turi fired a shot that ricocheted into the net. Croatia wasted little time in answering, though, as Josko Gvardiol levelled with a left-footed finish. The Faroes hung tough into the second half but finally gave way when Petar Musa did well to control a ball with his chest and netted with a one-touch finish. Croatia then padded the lead through Nikola Vlasic’s flying volley to begin the qualification festivities.
Gibraltar goal: Jessop (20)
Montenegro goals: Adzic (33), Krstovic pen (42)
Mirko Vucinic’s men battled from behind to edge an encounter of eliminated teams. Liam Jessop fired Gibraltar into a shock lead with their first home goal of this campaign, only for Vasilijie Adzic to restore parity from a free-kick. Nikola Krstovic got the winner from the spot after Marko Jankovic had been felled.
How qualifying works
The first round will follow a familiar format, with 12 groups of four or five teams, and the section winners securing World Cup slots. The continent’s four remaining berths will then be settled in a 16-team UEFA play-off competition involving the 12 group runners-up and four best-ranked UEFA Nations League section winners.
