European Championship qualificationJan Vertonghen scored in his 150th international match for Belgium on Tuesday. The 36-year-old former Ajax player headed home in the fourth minute in the European Championship qualifier against Estonia. With this he started an easy evening for the Red Devils: 5-0.
Vertonghen played his first international match on June 2, 2007. Then national coach René Vandereycken immediately gave him a starting place as a midfielder in the 2-1 home match against Portugal, in the qualification for the 2008 European Championship in Switzerland and Austria. Vertonghen participated in the World Cups of 2014, 2018 and 2022 and the European Championships of 2016 and 2021. Vertonghen is a record international player with 150 international matches. Axel Witsel (130 games), Toby Alderweireld (127) and Eden Hazard (126) follow at a considerable distance.
After Vertonghen, Leonard Trossard, Romelu Lukaku (two goals) and Charles De Ketelaere completed the five Belgian goals. Belgium, where PSV striker Johan Bakayoko remained on the bench for the entire match, is almost certain of the European Championship in Germany next year. Especially because Austria won 1-3 when visiting Sweden thanks to two goals from Marko Arnautovic and one from Michael Gregoritsch. As a result, Belgium and Austria now both have thirteen points, followed by Sweden, where Emil Holm scored the goal of honor, with only six points. With three games to go, it will be a difficult story for the Swedish formation.
Also a big win for Spain
Spain has also achieved a major victory. In Granada, Cyprus was put aside 6-0 thanks to five different goalscorers. FC Barcelona partel Gavi opened the scoring after 18 minutes, after which Mikel Merino set the halftime score at 2-0, partly because Álvaro Morata saw a goal disallowed.
In the last twenty minutes, the Spaniards increased the score considerably with two goals from Ferran Torres, Joselu and Alex Baena. The latter scored 71 seconds after making his debut. That wasn’t a record. Pau Torres scored after just 59 seconds on his debut for Spain in 2019. This made it 6-0 for Spain, which now has nine points from four games. That is no less than six points less than Scotland, which currently has a perfect score with fifteen out of five.
Erling Haaland’s Norway still has to work hard to avoid missing the European Championships in Germany. A goal from the Manchester City striker and a goal from Martin Ødegaard resulted in a 2-1 win over Georgia, where Ajax striker Georges Mikautadaze played for 68 minutes, but the Norwegians are only third with seven points.
Italy records crucial victory
The Italy of the new national coach Luciano Spalletti has achieved a very important victory in Group C of the European Championship qualifying cycle. With a 2-1 win over Ukraine, the Italians, like Ukraine, now have seven points. A big thank you for this went to Davide Frattesi, midfielder of Internazionale. He scored both goals, after which Andriy Yarmolenko scored another goal just before half time. However, Italy did not let things go further than 2-1 and so the Italians have everything in their own hands again in Group C, in which England leads with thirteen points.
England records practice victory despite Harry Maguire’s own goal
The English football players won 3-1 against Scotland in a practice match. Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane scored for national coach Gareth Southgate’s team. Harry Maguire provided the Scottish production with an own goal. The match commemorated ‘150 years of rivalry’ between the football teams of England and Scotland, who first faced each other on November 30, 1872.
Switzerland is still undefeated in its European Championship qualifying group. The leader recorded a difficult 3-0 win over bottom Andorra. The Swiss fans in Sion had to be patient until the 49th minute, before Cédric Itten scored the opening goal. An effective shot from Granit Xhaka and a penalty from Xherdan Shaqiri created a wider margin in the final minutes. In the same group, Israel won the home match against Belarus 1-0. Gavriel Kanichowsky scored the only goal of the game in injury time. Switzerland is in the lead with 14 points from six games, followed by Israel, which has 3 points less.
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