Strikers Olivier Giroud and Harry Kane on Friday extended their national team scoring records as France and England maintained perfect starts to UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying with third straight wins.
Switzerland also have a maximum nine points after a 2-1 success against Andorra.
Giroud took only three minutes to head home Kingsley Coman’s right-wing cross to make it 54 goals for Les Bleus in a 3-0 win against Gibraltar in Group B.
Photo: AP
Kane’s penalty in a 4-0 romp against Malta made it 56 goals for his table-topping nation in Group C.
FIFA World Cup runners-up France, who opened their campaign with wins against Ireland and the Netherlands, have yet to concede a goal.
Amid speculation regarding his Paris Saint-Germain future, Kylian Mbappe captained Les Bleus at the Estadio Algarve in Faro, Portugal.
Photo: AFP
Mbappe calmly slotted in a penalty in first-half stoppage-time for his 39th France goal. He is only two behind fellow great Michel Platini, who is fourth on France’s all-time scoring list.
However, coach Didier Deschamps was not satisfied and demanded more from his team.
“We could have, we should have scored more. We hit the post, the goalkeeper made some saves,” he said. “We can always do better when we play with more speed.”
Midfielder Giorgos Masouras scored the winner as second-placed Greece won at home against Ireland 2-1 in the other Group B match.
England took the lead at Ta’ Qali National Stadium through an early Malta own-goal, before Liverpool rightback Trent Alexander-Arnold — with a brilliant strike — and Kane netted in quick succession for coach Gareth Southgate’s team.
Callum Wilson’s late penalty completed the scoring.
Elsewhere in Group C, Ukraine rallied from 2-0 down to win 3-2 against North Macedonia, with forward Viktor Tsygankov grabbing a late winner for the visitors.
In Group D, Wales blew a chance to go top after losing at home to Armenia 4-2.
Instead, Turkey moved into first place with six points after a dramatic 3-2 win against Latvia.
Wales were level on four points with Croatia, but behind on goal-difference.
In Group H, Denmark moved top on goal-difference after beating Northern Ireland 1-0 at home thanks to Jonas Wind’s goal early in the second half.
Kazakhstan were second after their 3-0 victory against San Marino.
Forwards Joel Pohjanpalo and Oliver Antman scored as Finland beat previous leaders Slovenia 2-0 at home to move into third spot.
In Group I, Switzerland lead by two points from Romania, who drew against Kosovo 0-0, while third-placed Israel won against last-placed Belarus 2-1.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
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