European Championship qualification
Spain celebrated a 3-0 home win in Group A against Norway at the start of their European Championship qualifiers on Saturday evening. Man of the match was team debutant Joselu. The 32-year-old put together a brace as a “joker” (84th, 85th) and thus secured victory late in the game. Because Norway, who started without their star striker Erling Haaland, also put the home side under pressure.
For the new Spanish team boss Luis de la Fuente it was a tailor-made debut. Dani Olmo put the hosts ahead in the 13th minute. He overcame his Leipzig club colleague Örjan Nyland in the Norwegian goal, where Haaland from Manchester City had left the team quarters prematurely due to groin problems.
Spain goalkeeper Kepa prevented the 1-1 with a save after the hour, while Norway’s Alexander Sörloth, who plays for Real Sociedad, was also unable to take advantage of an opportunity to equalize. Joselu finally made the decision with his late double strike. The Espanyol striker came on less than three minutes before his debut goal.
Scotland had already won their first game in Group A against Cyprus 3-0 (1-0) in the afternoon. The scorers at Glasgow’s Hampden Park were John McGinn (21′) and Scott McTominay (87′, 90’+3′).
Convincing victory for Switzerland
Switzerland started Group I with a convincing 5-0 win over Belarus. In the ghost game in Serbian Novi Sad, Renato Steffen scored a hat trick (4th, 17th, 29th) for the Swiss in the first half hour. Salzburg’s Noah Okafor came on for the “Nati” after an hour and prepared the 4-0 through Granit Xhaka (62nd). Shortly thereafter, Zeki Amdouni (65th) scored the final score. Switzerland took the lead in Group I, while Israel and Kosovo drew 1-1 in the parallel game.
Despite participating in the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, UEFA decided not to exclude Belarus from participating in the European Championship. However, the Eastern Europeans are not allowed to play their games in their own country. No spectators were allowed in Novi Sad.
Croatia conceded a late equalizer
In Group D, Croatia conceded a late 1-1 draw against Wales. Croatia started well in Split, Andrej Kramaric (28th) converted the superiority into a goal. Luka Modric pulled the strings in midfield again for the Croatians. Even an increase in the Welsh after the break initially brought nothing to the British.
Croatia’s Ivan Perisic missed the decision, his shot hitting the crossbar. After a long throw, the Welsh debutant Nathan Broadhead pushed the ball over the line in the 93rd minute.
Turkey turns match after own goal
First leaders of Group D are Turkey, who beat Armenia 2-1 in Yerevan. However, the guests had to run after a deficit. In the tenth minute, Ozan Kabak scored an own goal. After Orkun Kökcü equalized in the first half (35′), Kerem Aktürkoglu (64′) scored to make it 2-1.
