Scott McTominay on Saturday scored an injury-time winner as Scotland came from behind to claim a crucial 3-2 victory over Israel in World Cup qualifying, while England thrashed Andorra 5-0 to stay on track to reach next year’s global showpiece.
The win takes Scotland four points clear of Israel in second place in Group F with three matches remaining, as they bid to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1998.
Group winners qualify automatically for next year’s finals in Qatar, with the runners-up heading into the playoffs.
Photo: Reuters
Scotland trailed twice in the first half at Hampden Park to goals from PSV Eindhoven forward Eran Zahavi and Mu’nas Dabbur.
John McGinn leveled once, but home striker Lyndon Dykes missed a penalty on the stroke of halftime. He made amends before the hour mark with an equalizer, awarded following a video review after the referee initially disallowed it for a high boot.
A point would have been a decent result for Steve Clarke’s men, but the hosts pushed for a winner which arrived in the 94th minute, as Manchester United midfielder McTominay bundled in at the back post.
England manager Gareth Southgate rested key players including Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling as his second string impressed in a 5-0 thumping of Andorra.
England remain four points clear at the top of Group I after second-placed Albania won 1-0 against Hungary in Budapest.
Elsewhere, Liverpool star Sadio Mane was among the goals as Senegal cruised to a 4-1 win over Namibia, and near-certain qualification for the final World Cup elimination round in Africa.
In Casablanca, Ayoub el Kaabi scored in each half as Morocco cantered to a 3-0 Group I win over Guinea-Bissau and, like Senegal, the north Africans can punch a ticket to the final round tomorrow.
Pacesetters South Africa remain one point ahead of Ghana in Group G, after both nations achieved 3-1 victories. South Africa overcame third-placed Ethiopia in Bahir Dar, while Ghana were too good for bottom side Zimbabwe in Cape Coast.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
“I don’t remember the moment, but ever since I was a kid, that’s the first thing I loved,” two-time NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas said of his lifelong romance with basketball. However, that journey unfolded against the limitations of his size in a game where height often dictates opportunity — a reality he confronted throughout his career. At 175cm, Thomas is less than 2cm taller than the average Taiwanese adult male, while NBA players during his career stood at about 200cm on average. Compared with the NBA’s average career length of less than five years, Thomas’ 13-season career stands out as
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Dakar and Rabat have longstanding ties, but relations have been strained since the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final, which Senegal won in mid-January before being stripped of the title, which was transferred to Morocco. Now, the AFCON trophy is something of a thorn in the two countries’ sides. On Rue Mohamed V, the street where Moroccan vendors are based in the Senegalese capital, a police van is parked. “The police have been on high alert since the Confederation of African Football [CAF] decided to award the title to Morocco, but there have been no incidents,” a local resident said.
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