Published 13:49 IST, October 16th 2019
Euro 2020 Qualifiers Weekly Round-up: Spain, Italy qualify
We look at the weekly round-up of the Euro 2020 qualifiers as Spain, Ukraine and Poland join Italy and Belgium for the tournament next year.
The October international break concluded with yet another exciting week of the Euro 2020 qualifiers. It saw Ukraine, Spain and Poland book their seats for the tournament next year along with Belgium and Italy. We take a look at the games that were played and discuss the current scenario in every group
Groups A-D
The England vs Bulgaria match in Sofia stole the headlines this week, although not for footballing reasons as racism once again took a front seat. Even as England were comfortable 6-0 winners in the end, the game was stopped twice. In the same group, Kosovo beat Montenegro 2-0 at home to boost their qualification chances. England, Czech Republic and Kosovo with 15,12, 11 points respectively, remain in contention for qualification. Ukraine and Serbia beat Portugal and Lithuania respectively in the Group B. Second-placed Portugal lie 8 points behind Ukraine (19 points) and one ahead of Serbia with two games to go.
Group C had a single fixture this week as Germany beat Estonia by a three-goal margin to keep pace with the Netherlands. Both the football powerhouse are tied at 15 points each with Northern Ireland at 12 points, catching up with them. Group D had two fixtures this week as Switzerland beat the Republic of Ireland to boost their qualification chances as they sit one point behind Ireland and Denmark at 11 points. The other game saw Georgia beat Gilbraltar 3-2 to also remain in contention for qualification.
Groups E-J
Group E also had just one fixture as Wales drew with first-placed Croatia to keep their hopes for qualification alive. Both sides along with Hungary and Slovakia are very much in contention. Group F saw Spain finish with a 1-1 draw against Sweden and confirm their Euro 2020 spot as Rodrigo scored right at the death to snatch a point. Romania drew with Norway as well in the other game. Any one of Romania, Norway and Sweden, can make it to the main event.
Group G had three fixtures with Slovenia losing to Austria, Poland beating North Macedonia and Israel beating Latvia. Poland’s qualification leaves just one spot for the four teams still vying for the second place. Group H also concluded three of its fixtures this week with Albania and Iceland winning while world champions France drew their match against Turkey recently but beat Moldova and Andorra respectively. Turkey and France sit at the top with 19 points while Iceland and Albania are at 15 and 12 points respectively.
Another group with three fixtures was Group J while Group I had no fixtures during the week. Greece beat Bosnia while Italy beat Liechtenstein by a whopping five-goal margin. Also, Finland beat Armenia to boost their chances for qualifying in the Euro 2020 championships for the first time ever in history.
Also read | 'Very Disappointed' Sunil Chhetri Says 'India's Performance Was No Match To Atmosphere At Stadium'
Updated 16:27 IST, October 16th 2019