Spain on Sunday clinched their place at Euro 2024 after a 1-0 win away to Norway, also sending Scotland through from Group A, as Turkey joined the growing ranks of qualifiers.
Barcelona midfielder Gavi scored the only goal early in the second half in Oslo, bouncing a shot into the corner to help Spain qualify for next year’s finals in Germany with two games to spare.
“We are very happy because the team has grown a lot and has a great future,” Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said. “We have worked to get to this moment.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
They moved top of Group A on goal-difference, but the result ensured Scotland punched their ticket to the tournament as well.
“When we qualified via the playoffs last time, we set ourselves a target of doing it automatically next time — so that’s the first mission accomplished,” Scotland captain Andy Robertson said.
Norway have not qualified for a major competition since Euro 2000, but a team featuring Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard still has hope of advancing to the playoffs.
Georgia thrashed Cyprus 4-0 in the other game in the group.
Turkey capped off a momentous week, in which they were announced as cohosts of Euro 2032 with Italy, by turning on the style in the closing minutes to beat Latvia 4-0 and book their place at the finals.
Yunus Akgun broke the deadlock just before the hour and former Everton forward Cenk Tosun grabbed two late goals either side of a Kerem Akturkoglu strike to complete the victory for the Group D leaders.
“I am very happy that we confirmed [qualification] tonight with this win,” Turkey coach Vincenzo Montella told UEFA.com. “I am perhaps the happiest coach in the world right now. That’s why I’ll enjoy it first, and then we’ll continue our preparations immediately.”
Turkey sit six points clear of Wales, who leapfrogged Croatia into second place as Harry Wilson got both goals in a 2-1 victory over last year’s World Cup semi-finalists in Cardiff.
Wilson outran the Croatia defense to loft in the opening goal shortly after halftime and then glanced in a Dan James cross for the second.
Mario Pasalic reduced the deficit, but Wales now have control of their own destiny heading into the concluding rounds of qualifying games next month.
Croatia find themselves at risk of missing a major tournament for the first time since the 2010 FIFA World Cup after back-to-back defeats.
Switzerland needed two late goals at home to Belarus to rescue a 3-3 draw, but surrendered first place in Group I to Romania.
Xherdan Shaqiri curled Switzerland ahead in St Gallen before Belarus, beaten 5-0 by the same opponents in March, leveled through Max Ebong.
Denis Polyakov nodded Belarus in front at a corner and the visitors looked on course for a shock win when Dmitri Antilevski struck a third in the 84th minute.
Manuel Akanji tapped in from a Shaqiri free-kick to spark the last-ditch comeback for the hosts as substitute Zeki Amdouni saved Switzerland’s blushes, scrambling in a 90th-minute equalizer.
Romania eased to a 4-0 victory over Andorra to move a point clear, but Switzerland have a game in hand after Thursday last week’s trip to Tel Aviv was postponed due to the war between Israel and Hamas.
Sunday’s match between Kosovo and Israel was also called off because of the conflict.
In Plzen, Tomas Soucek’s 76th-minute penalty earned the Czech Republic a narrow 1-0 win over the Faroe Islands, bumping his team up to second in Group E behind Albania.
Poland struggled in the absence of injured striker Robert Lewandowski and had to come from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw against Moldova in Warsaw.
Poland are third in the group, but have played a game more than the top two.
Seven of the 24 slots have now been filled. Germany qualified automatically as hosts while France, Portugal and Belgium all wrapped up their places on Friday.
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
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
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
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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