European qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 26™ continued on Thursday. Slovakia claimed the result of the round by defeating Germany 2-0, with Northern Ireland also victorious in Group A. Spain and Türkiye netted three each in Group E to see off Bulgaria and Georgia, respectively. A pair of draws punctuated Group G, as Lithuania levelled late against Malta while Poland frustrated the Netherlands. Meanwhile, Wales rose to the top of Group J after defeating Kazakhstan, with Belgium also victorious.
Group A
Luxembourg goal: Aiman Dardari (30)
Northern Ireland goal: Jamie Reid (7), Shea Charles (46), Justin Devenny (69)
Northern Ireland started well and were awarded a penalty when Seid Korac handled inside the area under pressure from Jamie Reid. Isaac Price took the resulting penalty, and while it was saved by Anthony Moris, Reid was there to tap home. That bright start quickly evaporated, though, as Aiman Dardari stormed through the Northern Irish defence and calmly slotted in on the half-hour mark.
Half-time came at a good time for the visitors and just 22 seconds after the restart Shea Charles raced on to slack clearance and side-footed in his first international goal with the help of a deflection. Luxembourg’s task became even harder when Korac was sent off for a second yellow on the 66th minute. Three minutes later, Justin Devenny joined the first-goal club, powering home after Luxembourg failed to clear a free-kick.
Slovakia goals: David Hancko (42), David Strelec (55)
Slovakia produced arguably the biggest shock of these qualifiers so far, as Francesco Calzona’s men sunk four-time world champions Germany in Bratislava. Three minutes before the break, centre-back David Hancko won possession inside his own half and galloped forward, before playing a one-two with David Strelec and side-footing home.
Strelec turned from creator to scorer ten minutes into the second half. Racing on to a Norbert Gyomber flick-on, he squared up Antonio Rudiger, tied the Real Madrid star in knots and curled home an unstoppable second goal.
Group E
Spain goals: Mikel Oyarzabal (5), Marc Cucurella (30), Mikel Merino (38)
Spain made a superb start to their campaign in Sofia. Martin Zubimendi set up Mikel Oyarzabal for the opener, before Marc Cucurella doubled the lead after Bulgaria had failed to deal with Lamine Yamal’s cross. Mikel Merino then headed home Yamal’s corner to make it three. La Roja, with the 18-year-old winger electrifying, continued to lay siege to their hosts’ goal in the second half, but couldn’t add to their tally. The performance and result will nevertheless serve as a boost ahead of their showdown in Türkiye on Sunday.
Georgia goals: Zuriko Davitashvili (63), Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (90+8)
Türkiye goals: Murt Muldur (3), Kerem Akturkoglu (41, 52)
Türkiye kicked off World Cup qualifying with victory over Georgia in an incident-packed game in Tbilisi. Vincenzo Montella’s side raced out of the blocks and took an early lead when Murt Mulder headed in from Arda Guler’s corner. They made it 2-0 shortly before half-time, with Kerem Akturkoglu slotting home after Georgia failed to clear a free-kick. Akturkoglu further extended the away side’s advantage after the break, but Georgia pulled one back through Zuriko Davitashvili. Türkiye were then reduced to 10 players when substitute Baris Alper Yilmaz was sent off on 71 minutes. A Khvicha Kvaratskhelia goal deep into stoppage-time gave Georgia hope, but Montella’s men held out.
Group G
Lithuania goal: Gvidas Gineitis (90+6 pen)
Malta goal: Alexander Satariano (83)
Two late goals saw Lithuania and Malta share the spoils in Kaunas. After a fairly pedestrian first 80 minutes, the game sparked into life as Ilyas Chouaref and Adam Overend combined well to set up Alexander Satariano to tap home for Malta. Their task of holding on was made far more difficult in the first minute of stoppage time, though, as Jake Azzopardi was sent off following a VAR review. Lithuania threw everything at the Malta goal and were eventually rewarded with a penalty, which Gvidas Gineitis slotted home in the 96th minute. The hosts would also finish with ten players, as Edgaras Utkus was sent off for a second yellow. Both sides remain winless, with Lithuania in fifth and Malta a point and a place further back.
Netherlands goal: Denzel Dumfries (28)
Poland goal: Matty Cash (80)
Jan Urban got off to a positive start as Poland coach, with Matty Cash scoring a brilliant long-range effort to snatch a draw against a dominant Netherlands team. Urban was brought in to revive Poland’s qualifying campaign and was immediately able to convince veteran striker Robert Lewandowski to come back into the fold. With this hard-fought draw, his team are now second in the table and level on points with the Netherlands on seven.
The Dutch took early control of the game in Rotterdam and broke the deadlock in some style in the 28th minute when Denzel Dumfries met a Memphis Depay corner with a powerful leaping back-post header. Ronald Koeman’s men looked to be heading for victory but Cash, the Aston Villa full-back, hit a stunning effort into the top corner to earn Poland a point.
Group J
Wales goal: Kieffer Moore (24)
After falling to a first defeat of his tenure against Belgium, Craig Bellamy watched on as his side took a hard-fought three points away from Kazakhstan. The visitors hit the front in the 24th minute, with Wrexham’s Kieffer Moore scrambling home on his 50th Wales appearance. Kazakhstan didn’t take that hit lying down, though, and nearly equalised when Galymzhan Kenzhebek’s curling shot fell the wrong side of the post.
The 22-year-old came even closer to levelling in the second half. Picking up a slack Neco Williams clearance, the wide man took one touch and fired towards goal, only for Karl Darlow to tip his dipping effort on to the bar. His woodwork was struck again in the final seconds, as Serikzhan Muzhikov lofted a free-kick off the top of the bar and away. Wales held on from there to return to the summit of Group J, while Kazakhstan remain second from bottom with just one win to their name.
Belgium goals: Maxim De Cuyper (29), Youri Tielemans (46, 70 pen), Arthur Theate (60) Kevin De Bruyne (62), Malick Fofana (90+1)
These two sides met for the first time in Vaduz, with Belgium running out comfortable winners. Rudi Garcia’s men, who are 196 places higher on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, dominated the first half and eventually broke the deadlock in the 29th minute, as Maxim De Cuyper powered home a terrific header.
They doubled their lead just 24 seconds into the second period, as Youri Tielemans lashed home a stunning volley. Tielemans tucked home a penalty after further goals from Arthur Theate and Kevin De Bruyne, with Malick Fofana rounding off a good evening’s work for the Red Devils in stoppage time. The result keeps Belgium in third and just three points off Wales who have played two games more, while Lichtenstein remain in search of their first point.
What they said…
“It’s unbelievable. It was a good start but it was a tough first half. In the second half we dug in, scored early on and finished off strong.”
Shea Charles, Northern Ireland goalscorer
“Unfortunately, the entire team failed to deliver. The first five or six minutes of the second half were a bit brighter, but the rest was very dark. Internally, we have plenty to discuss. Starting with emotions, the opponent had the upper hand from the first to the last minute. If we can’t match that intensity, we can close the book right here. By now, it should be clear to everyone that our goal is to qualify for the World Cup. At the moment, we are miles away from that.”
Julian Nagelsmann, Germany coach
“We had a good first half, very good, to have settled it. But in the second half we had set out to continue improving and growing, but we got caught up in our opponents’ rhythm a little. That prevented the match from being more exciting. The important thing is that everyone is healthy and that we got the three points”
Luis de la Fuente, Spain coach
“It was hard work, really hard work. We knew beforehand, Kazakhstan is a very hard place to come, it has been for British national teams and club sides in recent years. You could see why today. It wasn’t as clean as we would have liked, we had to dig in.”
Craig Bellamy, Wales coach
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.
