Hungary, Iceland, North Macedonia and Georgia were the first four teams to qualify for the Euro 2020 finals on Thursday after beating their rivals to win a chance to reach next year’s tournament. Four more matches – Norway against Serbia, Bosnia against Northern Ireland, Slovakia against Ireland and Scotland against Israel – went into extra time, with the winners also qualifying for the play-off finals on November 12.
Goals from Willy Urban, Zolt Kalmar and Nemanja Nikolic gave Hungary a 3-1 victory in Bulgaria, while Iceland overcame hosts Romania 2-1 with a double Gilfi Sigurdsson. Hungary hosts Iceland in the final match.
North Macedonia defeated Balkan neighbors Kosovo 2-1 in a bid to qualify for their first major tournament as an independent nation, while Georgia defeated Belarus 1-0 thanks to an early penalty kick from Tornik Okriashvili. Georgia will receive North Macedonia in the final match.
Norway tied 1-1 with Serbia at the end of normal time as Northern Ireland was outside Bosnia, while the score was 0-0 in Scotland against Israel and Slovakia against Ireland before extra time. Euro 2020, which was originally scheduled from June 12 to July 12, has been postponed for 12 months due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, and is now scheduled to take place from June 11 to July 11 next year.
