Let’s go to Germany! Former world champions Spain, Scotland with its singing fans and Turkey will enrich the European Football Championship next summer. The Spaniards won 1-0 (0-0) in Norway on Sunday evening and got their ticket – at the same time they paved the way for the Scots, who celebrated on the couch at home. At the same time, Turkey celebrated the decisive 4-0 (0-0) against Latvia.
France, Belgium and Portugal had previously qualified for the 24-a-side tournament. The German national team is automatically there as hosts, so 17 places are still up for grabs.
The Scots missed their match point on Thursday. A point would have been enough against Spain in Seville, but a controversial VAR operation after Scott McTominay’s supposed opening goal resulted in a 2-0 defeat. The Spaniards took advantage of the opportunity that presented itself and Gavi (49th) scored.
Switzerland disappointed against Belarus
The party could also start in Konya. However, the Turks watched anxiously for an hour at Cardiff, where Wales would not have been allowed to win against Croatia in the event of a Turkish draw. Yunus Akgün’s goal (58th) moved the decision about the European Championship ticket back to Konya, later Cenk Tosun (84th, 90th + 2) and Kerem Aktürkoglu (88th) scored. Wales defeated Croatia 2-1 (0-0) and are back in business in Group D.
The new record national player Granit Xhaka surprisingly made a mistake with Switzerland. Only two late goals secured the “Nati” at least a 3:3 (1:0) against the clear outsiders Belarus – Romania moved past Andorra in Group I with a 4:0 (3:0) and is now at the top.
The Swiss captain Xhaka (31), a Bundesliga professional at Bayer Leverkusen, was honored with flowers and lots of applause before kick-off. He made his 118th international appearance – drawing level with Heinz Hermann, who had held the sole “Nati” record for almost 36 years.
Published/Updated: Christian Kamp, Foxborough Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 13 Daniel Theweleit Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 2
As third in this group, Israel still has European Championship prospects, but will not play any international matches for the time being following the Hamas terrorist attack.
Poland played on the day of the landmark parliamentary elections and, without Robert Lewandowski, couldn’t get past a 1-1 (0-1) draw against Moldova. In Group E this currently only means third place behind the surprise team of Albania and the Czech Republic, which defeated the Faroe Islands 1-0 (0-0).
