Holders France bought their World Cup qualifying marketing campaign off to a disappointing begin with a 1-1 draw at house to Ukraine on Wednesday (March 24) whereas Turkey pulled off a powerful 4-2 win at house to the Netherlands, powered by a Burak Yilmaz hat-trick.
Croatia, 2018 runners-up, slumped to a shock 1-0 defeat away to Slovenia, whereas Belgium continued their exceptional run in qualifiers by coming from behind to beat Wales 3-1 at house. Ireland ended a seven-game drought by scoring twice away to Serbia however nonetheless bought crushed 3-2, whereas Czech Republic routed Estonia 6-2 within the greatest win of the evening and Portugal scraped previous minnows Azerbaijan 1-0 courtesy of an personal goal.
Antoine Griezmann put France in cost of their Group D sport in opposition to Ukraine to maneuver stage with David Trezeguet as his nation’s fourth all-time high scorer. Ukraine, who had been hammered 7-1 by France in a UEFA Nations League sport final October, levelled within the second half by a Presnel Kimpembe personal goal.
The guests held on for the draw regardless of having no pictures on course, though Kimpembe spurned an opportunity to seize a last-gasp winner and make amends for his error. The end result left Didier Deschamps’s aspect and Ukraine stage with Finland and Bosnia in Group D after they drew 2-2.
“Of course I can’t be satisfied. But let`s be honest after the break we did not exactly threaten them,” Deschamps stated.
Turkey haven’t certified for the World Cup since ending third on the 2002 version however bought off to a flying begin of their bid to make it to Qatar subsequent yr by beating the Netherlands in Group G because of a ruthless show from the 35-year-old Yilmaz.
Yilmaz opened the scoring within the 14th minute with a deflected shot, adopted by a penalty, whereas Hakan Calhanoglu grabbed Turkey`s third goal early within the second half earlier than objectives in fast succession from Davy Klaasen and Luuk de Jong gave the Netherlands hope of a comeback.
Yilmaz emphatically ended these hopes by finishing his treble from a free kick. “That was a beautiful night. I am so proud,” stated the striker, whereas Netherlands coach Frank de Boer described the defeat as ‘terrible’.
Belgium bought off to a poor begin when Harry Wilson gave Wales the lead within the tenth minute in Group E however Kevin de Bruyne and Thorgan Hazard shortly replied to place them in entrance earlier than a Romelu Lukaku penalty clinched a twentieth win in 21 qualifiers for Roberto Martinez`s aspect.
Hosts Qatar win pleasant
Qatar beat 10-man Luxembourg 1-0 in a pleasant in Hungary because of a goal from striker Mohammed Muntari within the 2022 hosts` first match in a set of video games after being included as a visitor group in Group A, though their matches won’t depend in direction of the qualification course of.
Serbia lead Group A after Aleksandar Mitrovic got here off the bench to attain twice and full a comeback win over Ireland, who grabbed a primary worldwide goal in 678 minutes when Alan Browne headed them in entrance, just for Dusan Vlahovic to equalise shortly earlier than halftime.
Elsewhere in Group A, Portugal wanted an personal goal to beat Azerbaijan of their ‘home’ sport, which was performed in Turin as a consequence of coronavirus restrictions. The shock of the evening got here in Ljubljana, although, the place Slovenia celebrated a 1-0 win over neighbours Croatia because of Sandi Lovric’s deflected goal.
Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic gave a blunt evaluation of his aspect’s defeat, remarking: “We put in a poor performance and deserved nothing more.”
