Euro 2024 qualifiers, the results: Hungary passes, Kvaratskhelia show

Two Italians won the pass to Euro2024 on the same evening: Francesco Calzona and Marco Rossi, coaches of Slovakia and Hungary respectively, achieved the arithmetic qualification for the final phase of the tournament. Skriniar and his teammates beat Iceland 4-2 and took second place in group J. Hungary, however, only needed a last-gasp draw with Bulgaria. CR7’s Portugal (scoring like Cancelo) beat Liechtenstein 2-0 and remained with full points, while Kvara put on a show against Scotland: Georgia equalized thanks to a brace from the winger and continued to chase third place. Luxembourg tried, remaining in the running until tonight in the sprint against Slovakia: the 4-1 over Bosnia wasn’t enough. Azerbaijan is also ok (3-0 to Sweden). Spain did well (3-1 in Cyprus), as did Austria and Montenegro: both won 2-0 against Estonia and Lithuania.

group a

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The best Kvaratskhelia meets again against Scotland, in a decisive match for the fate of his national team. The Georgians host McGinn and his teammates at 6pm: for a while the home team dominates, relying on the genius of the Neapolitan and the flashes of Kakabadze and Shengelia on the flanks. The first provides the assist for the 1-0 to Kvara, who scores with a sliding touch into the net. The second fails to double the lead, so Scotland takes advantage. At the start of the second half, the usual McTominay enters the area with the ball at his feet and pierces Mamardashvili with a precise diagonal. 8′ pass and Kvicha takes center stage again, inventing an action… in Kvaratskhelia style: ball on the left, swerved towards the centre, dribbling between two men and shooting into the corner. Scotland, however, did not give up, and in the 92nd minute equalized with a header from substitute Shankland. The match between Spain and Cyprus was decidedly less contested: De La Fuente bets strongly on Real Sociedad’s block (Le Normand, Zubimendi, Merino and Oyarzabal starting) and in the 5th minute he is already ahead with a magic from Yamal, who dribbles past the goalkeeper and defender first to support online. At half-time the Spaniards were three goals ahead: Oyarzabal doubled the lead using an assist from Grimaldo, Joselu closed the score with a touch on a corner kick. The pace drops in the second half, with Cyprus lighting up towards the end: in the 75th minute Pileas scores the winning goal, setting the score at 1-3.

group f

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In group F, Gianni De Biasi’s Azerbaijan joins Sweden in third place in the standings, knocking out Kulusevski and his associates within 6 minutes. The hero of the day is captain Makhmudov, who opens and closes the Azerbaijani show with a brace. In the 3rd minute Lindelof stalls near the area, Dadashov steals the ball from him and puts his captain in front of the goalkeeper. In the 6th minute, Dadashov doubled the lead, taking advantage of a teammate’s low cross. From then on, Azerbaijan was impeccable, managing their advantage and containing their opponents’ counterattacks. In the 57th minute Mustafazada was sent off, but the home team didn’t give up. The icing on the cake comes again with Makhmudov, who in the 89th minute shoots and scores from midfield, catching Olsen unprepared. However, the match between Estonia (last with one point) and Austria (leaders with 19 points) ends 0-2: Laimer hits the mark in the 25th minute with a shot from close range, Lienhart doubles the lead in the 39th minute with a header on corner kick by Alaba. Arnautovic also appears again, on the pitch in the 46th minute: the Inter player scares his teammates by remaining on the ground after a tackle, but then gets up and plays until the 90th minute.

group g

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Marco Rossi’s Hungary risks big against Bulgaria, who have never managed to win in the qualifying matches. In the 10th minute Szoboszlai and co are in the lead: following a free kick taken by the Liverpool midfielder, Adam heads the ball and makes it 0-1. Delev equalized in the 24th minute with a nice shot under the crossbar, then the referee sent off Antov for a foul against Botka: the VAR intervention brought justice to the Bulgarians, because in the end the red was revoked and Botka received a yellow for simulation. In the second half, everything happens: Szoboszlai comes close to making it 2-1, first from a free kick and then one-on-one with the goalkeeper, then Bulgaria takes the lead led by captain Despodov: the former Cagliari player wins a penalty, then appears on the spot and clocks in 2-1. The 2-2 goal, which for Hungary is worth a ticket to Euro 2024, arrives in the 97th minute: the Bulgarian Petkov deflects the ball past his own goalkeeper, scoring a fundamental own goal for Szoboszlai and his teammates. In the other match, Montenegro moved within 2 of Serbia (second in the standings), giving Lithuania a goal in each half. In the 3rd minute Kuc puts the game on ice with a shot from the edge of the area, in the second half Jovetic doubles the lead with a diagonal left-footed shot.

group j

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With Portugal, already qualified, Slovakia goes to Germany. A victory was needed to close the matter, it ends 4-2 in Bratislava, where Slovakia suffers at the start against Iceland and then controls the match. Oskarsson scores scares the team led by Calzona with a header in the 17th minute, but Kucka (37 years old in February) responds with another header in the half hour. The Veronese Duda completed the comeback from the spot, while Haraslin was unleashed in the second half: starting from the left and kicking around the far post, the former Sassuolo player scored two similar goals, both wonderful. In the final, Gudjohnsen closes the gap, while Lobotka stops with a blow to his ankle: the injury doesn’t seem serious. Third place in the group, finally, arithmetically belongs to Luxembourg: a header from Olesen, a brace from Rodrigues and an own goal from Mujakic sealed the 4-1 against Krunic’s Bosnia, who only scored in the 93rd minute with Gojkovic. CR7 and his teammates, who have been winners of the group for some time, pass 2-0 in Liechtenstein and have their sights set on a record: by winning three points in Sunday’s match against Iceland they would close the group with full points. But the Portuguese took longer to beat goalkeeper Buchel, who exalted himself with saves. Ramos and Cancelo are unlucky, as is Ronaldo, who shoots on goal twice in the last minute. Upon returning to the pitch, the Al Nassr striker goes wild: first he hits a post, then hits the goalkeeper with a diagonal shot. Cancelo, in the 57th minute, sealed the safety goal by also dribbling past the goalkeeper.