Croatia beat Armenia 1-0 (1-0) on the last group matchday on Tuesday (11/21/23) and maintained second place in Group D ahead of Wales. The Welsh drew 1-1 in front of their home crowd against Turkey, who had already qualified, and have to go through the playoffs.
For Croatia, Ante Budimir (43′) took the lead in the first half after a cross from former Stuttgart player Borna Sosa. Coach Zlatko Dalić’s team subsequently failed to decide the game early. So the spectators in the Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb had to tremble until the end.
Wales initially creates excitement in the long-distance duel
The Welsh put Croatia under early pressure in the long-distance duel and took the lead through Neco Williams (7th). If Croatia won and Croatia lost or drew, Wales would have moved into second place due to the direct comparison won.
However, this scenario dissolved happily in the 70th minute. Yusuf Yazici (70th) equalized in Cardiff for the already qualified Turks and thus finally sent Wales into the playoffs. Wales had also only played 1-1 in Armenia three days earlier, giving Croatia a decisive advantage.
Netherlands accurately
The Dutch, who had already qualified in advance, won an easy 6-0 (3-0) win against outsiders Gibraltar in the Algarve. France had also already secured their European Championship ticket and completed their European Championship qualification with a 2-2 (1-0) win in Greece.
Ex-Frankfurt player Randal Kolo Muani (42nd) and Youssouf Fofana (74th) scored the goals for the French. Anastasios Bakasetas (56th) and Fotis Ioannidis (61st) scored for Greece. However, the Greeks had no chance of getting a direct ticket to the European Championship before, but they can still try the playoffs. There they will first face Kazakhstan in the semi-finals next March. The final opponents would be Georgia or Luxembourg.
The game between Romania and Switzerland, who had drawn their ticket to Germany in Group I early, ended 1-0 (0-0) in Bucharest. Denis Alibec scored the goal of the day (50th). Bayern substitute goalkeeper Daniel Peretz made his second senior international appearance in Israel’s 2-0 (1-0) win in Andorra. Belarus won 1-0 (1-0) in Kosovo.
Playoff participants have been determined
The six playoff semi-finals with a total of twelve teams that qualified via the four divisions of the Nations League will be played on March 21, 2024. The playoff finals will take place on March 26th. The playoff participants are: Georgia, Luxembourg, Finland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Israel, Greece, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Poland, Iceland and Wales.