Denmark celebrates / Image: GEPA pictures
Denmark remains unstoppable and in a sovereign manner on the direct path to participation in the World Cup in 2022. The EM semi-finalist also won his fourth qualification for the tournament in Qatar with a 2-0 (2-0) against Scotland. In the group with Austria, the Danes have cemented first place through their success against the former first pursuer. Israel, the Austrians' upcoming opponent in Haifa on Saturday, won 4-0 (2-0) in the Faroe Islands.
Portugal scored a 2-1 win against Ireland after a long 0-1 deficit. Cristiano Ronaldo failed after a quarter of an hour from the penalty point, but shot his team to victory with goals in the 89th and 96th minutes. Thanks to his international goals 110 and 111, the 36-year-old finally overtook Iranian Ali Daei (109). The two had shared the record so far. World champions France only parted from Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-1.
The Danes made short work of it in Copenhagen. Right-back Daniel Wass (14th) hit his head after a wide cross, before left-back Joakim Maehle (15th) added just a minute later. On both occasions, Scotland's defenses were unsettled. The eleventh place in the world rankings could have added more after half an hour through Yussuf Poulsen, but Craig Gordon in the goal of the guests prevented worse. The 38-year-old Hearts keeper took care of the case instead of David Marshall.
With the Danes, Salzburg's Rasmus Kristensen sat on the bench. Both teams struggled with a few failures before the game. The home side apparently made this much less to create. The Scots did not have a single ball contact in the opponent's penalty area in the entire first half of the game. For Denmark it is now on Saturday away against the Faroe Islands for victory number five.
You can rely on Israel's scorer
Israel's selection with team boss Willi Ruttensteiner could rely on his record scorer in Torshavn. The Faroese began briskly, but a counter-attack by the Israelis, who entered the 3-5-2 system, found its way straight into the goal. Eran Zahavi started a solo run and hit from the edge of the penalty area with his left exactly into the Kreuzeck (12th). For the 34-year-old PSV Eindhoven striker, it was the 335th goal of his professional career. He exceeded Alon Mizrahi's national record.
But that wasn't enough for Zahavi. The Faroe kicker made a serious mistake in the defense shortly before the break, which went unpunished. Zahavi completed the following action with a long shot from around 20 meters again worth seeing (44th). Munas Dabbur, whose nomination was also criticized after a controversial Instagram post, made things clear. The attacker scored 3-0 after a corner kick (52nd), before Zahavi added again in stoppage time.
Ronaldo scores for Portugal
Portugal only managed the three-point after their star's late goals. The evening started badly for Cristiano Ronaldo. Ireland's 19-year-old goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu initiated a penalty with a bad pass, but then parried the striker's penalty (15th). Diogo Jota then hit the bar for the Portuguese before John Egan (45th) even gave the Irish the lead after a corner. The strong team didn’t miss this because Portugal missed good chances – before Ronaldo headed twice. For Portugal it was victory number three in the fourth group game.
France had to be satisfied with one point. Edin Dzeko (36th) managed the surprising lead for the Bosnians. The striker was also present when he equalized (40th) when he headed Antoine Griezmann in the back after a corner kick. Bosnia's goalkeeper was only able to clear the deflected ball behind the line. The second half started badly for the French: Julen Kounde slipped into Sead Kolasinac's legs and saw the red card after studying VAR (51st). The French even had to tremble shortly before the end when the substitute ex-Salzburg player Smail Prevljak had a chance. They still stay in first place in the group.
The Netherlands also had to be content with a 1-1 draw in Norway in the first game after the comeback of bond coach Louis van Gaal. Erling Haaland put the Scandinavians in the lead (20th) and hit the bar in the second half with one chance to make it 2-1. Davy Klaassen (37th) scored the equalizer for “Oranje” before the break. Turkey missed it with a 2-2 win against Montenegro to extend their lead in Group G.
