FIFA World Cup-European World Cup qualifying round-up


The World Cup qualifiers continue on the European continent despite the restriction from the United Kingdom based on the COVID-19 ruling.

Nevertheless, it was still an exciting period for some of the best sides to display their wares against some of their National team contemporaries.

England and Italy were in action as players like Harry Kane and Moise Kean got mentioned on account of their positive showing for their respective countries.

Belgium was in action though Lukaku was missing from the side while Wales endured a fairytale encounter at home against Estonia.

On the whole, it was a mouthwatering round of games to witness on the European scene.

Following the action in the Europe (World Cup qualifiers), Goalballive.com evaluates how the respective team in Europe fared in the World Cup qualifiers on Wednesday.

WORLD CUP -UEFA QUALIFICATION:1ST ROUND: GROUP B

                                                GREECE 2-1 SWEDEN

Greece beat Sweden  2-1 at home thanks to second-half goals from Anastasios Bakasetas and Evangelos Pavlidis. Their pair of goals came in the 62nd and 78th minute.

While Sweden pulled a  goal back through Robin Quaison in the 80th minute to ensure a frenetic finish to the contest.

                                                KOSOVO 0-2 SPAIN

Spain continued from their impressive 4-0 win over Georgia last time to record a 0-2 away win at Kosovo.

Goals from first-time starter for Spain Pablo Formals and Manchester City forward Ferran Torres in the 32nd and 90th minute secured the win for Spain on the road.

WORLDCUP -UEFA QUALIFICATION:1ST ROUND: GROUP C

                                                ITALY 5-0 LITHUANIA

Italy's second-string side was up to the task as they extended their unbeaten run of games to 37 matches when they played host to less fancied Lithuania side on Wednesday night.

Roberto Mancini's Italy side defeated the minnows 5-0 thanks to a brace from young striker Moise Kean in the 11th and 29th minutes of the game.

While Further goals from Edgaras Utkus(an own goal), Giacomo Raspadori and Giovanni Di Lorenzo in the 14th,24th and 54th minute completed the scoring thus making it 5-0 for Italy in the contest.

                                    NORTHERN IRELAND 0-0 SWITZERLAND

The Northern Ireland side played out a stalemate with the Swiss side after the 90 minutes duration.

The Swiss side missed a golden chance to take a 0-1 lead in the game as Haris Seferovic missed a penalty in the 33rd minute for Switzerland.

After much running around and also with the chance created in the match both sides shared the spoils with one point apiece in the game.

WORLD CUP -UEFA QUALIFICATION:1ST ROUND: GROUP E

                                                BELARUS 0-1 BELGIUM

A second-string Belgium side defeated Belarus at home. The visiting Belgian side scored the only goal of the match in the 33rd minute thanks to Denis Praet's simple finish inside the box.

That was all it took to secure the win for the visitors who had Michy Batshuayi leading the lines for them in the absence of Chelsea new recruit Romelu Lukaku.

                                                WALES 0-0 ESTONIA

The Welsh side endured a goalless 90 minutes affair with Estonia at home as the visitors held firm to secure the point.

Welsh World Cup hope has may have been dealt a blow despite parading the duo of Daniel James and Real Madrid's Gareth Bale in their teams' attacking set-up.

WORLD CUP- UEFA QUALIFICATION:1ST ROUND: GROUP I

                                                Albania 5-0 San Marino

The Modest Albania side joined the list of the teams that have defeated San Marino as they thrashed them 5-0 in the encounter.

Rey Manaj opened the scoring in the 32nd minute. But second-half goals from Qazim Laci, Armando Borja, Elseid Hysaj, Myrto Uzuni in the 58th,61st,68th and 80th minute respectively secured the win for the Albanian side.

                                                HUNGARY 2-1 ANDORRA

A penalty from Adam Szalai in the 9th minute opened the scoring for Hungary before Endre Botka scored 9 minutes later to make it 2-0.

However, Andorra got a goal or their own in the 82nd minute to ensure a frenetic finish to the contest.

It finished 2-1 in favour of the Hungarians who claimed the win over the hopeful Andorra side.

POLAND 1-1ENGALND

Poland versus England game was one of the star matches of the week in the European World Cup qualifiers as the two teams squared up at the National Stadium, Warsaw(Poland).

But it was England who took the lead through Captain fantastic Harry Kane whose long-range shot unsettled the home side.

But Poland was not done yet with their own aspirations in the game. Good works from Robert Lewandowski from the left side of the area picked out Damian Szymanski who equalized with a header for Poland in the dying moments of the game.

It was Szymanski's first international goal for Poland and what a goal it was as it sent the home supporters who were in attendance into ecstasy.

WORLD CUP-UEFA QUALIFICATION:1ST ROUND: GROUP J

                                    ARMENIA 1-1 Liechtenstein

A 45th-minute penalty from former Arsenal forward Henrikh Mkhitaryan gave the Armenia side a 1-0 lead.

But the Armenians' joy was cut short as Noah Frick equalized for the visitors in the 80th minute of the match. In the end, it finished 1-1 between both sides.

                                                ICELAND 0 -4 GERMANY

Germany continued their dominance in Group J of the European qualifiers with another impressive outing against Iceland.

First-half goals from Serge Gnabry and Chelsea central defender Antonio Ruediger gave the Germans a two-goal advantage in the 4th and 24th minute.

All the same, the forward pair of Leroy Sane and Timo Werner added further goals in the 56th and 89th minutes to make it a resounding 4-0 victory for Germany though Iceland hit the post with a brilliant effort outside the area in the first half of the match.

                                                NORTH MACEDONIA 0-0 ROMANIA

The Romanian side has to settle for a draw away from home with North Macedonia despite their impressive 0-2 away win at Iceland last time.

The North Macedonian side proved tougher than Iceland as they forced Romania to a goalless (0-0) in their backyard.

This article was most recently revised and updated 3 years ago