In the World Cup qualifiers, Germany, Belgium and Spain scored big victories at home on Sunday night. Italy faltered for the second time in a row: the European champions went no further than 0-0 when visiting Switzerland, in part due to Jorginho’s missed penalty.
Belgium had no trouble at home with the Czech Republic, in the last European Leather Orange Championship. In his 100th international match, Romelu Lukaku signed early with a 1-0 goal, then netted goals from Eden Hazard and Alexis Sailemakers just before that. Our southern neighbors are now sovereign in Group E with thirteen out of five.
Germany played at home against Armenia and had convincingly made the difference before the break. Serge Gnabry (twice), Marco Reus and Timo Werner scored 4-0 at the end of the first half. In the second half, Group J leaders added two more goals: Jonas Hoffmann 5-0 and Karim Adeyemi 6-0. The Spaniards also won easily. Goals by Jose Gaya, Carlos Soler, Ferran Torres and Pablo Sarabia (pictured twice) sent Georgia away 5-0. Spain now ranks first with ten out of five, but Sweden (nine out of three) still does better.
Then Italy, which is no longer in a rosy cloud after winning the European Championship. Days ago it was 1-1 at home against Bulgaria, now it’s 0-0 in Basel. Jorginho (who also failed in the European Championship final during a penalty shootout) missed a kick on behalf of Southern Europe. With eleven out of five, Roberto Mancini’s team is still at the top.
For Greece national coach John van Te Schep (1-1 in Kosovo) there was a defeat, especially because the equalizer in the home country fell deep in injury time. Utrecht striker Anastasios Dovikas scored on behalf of the Greeks. Thanks to two goals from Robert Lewandowski, Poland had no problem in San Marino (1-6), while Romania beat Liechtenstein 2-0.
hat trick bell
Earlier in the evening, Gareth Bale was the gold medalist for Wales: in injury time, he gave his country the victory over Belarus. The captain won 2-3 in the match in Kazan, Russia, with a late goal, his third in the match. Wales is third in Group E with 6 points from three matches. Belgium leads with ten points from four matches. The Czech Republic has 7 points from four games.
England also won the fifth match in Group A. And national coach Gareth Southgate’s team beat weak Andorra 4-0. Three days ago, the finalist of the European Championship defeated Hungary 4-0. Against Andorra, Jesse Lingard (two), Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka scored. England leads the group with 15 points, followed by Albania with 9 points. The new No. 2 beat Hungary 1-0 in Elbasan with a goal from Armando Bruja. The match was led by referee Danny McKelley. He dealt four yellow cards, three of them for the home team.
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