All games live on DAZN
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When the ball rolls in Lisbon and Budapest from 3 p.m. on Sunday, there will be a lot at stake in Group F for three of the four nations. Thanks to their better goal difference, Portugal (10 points) will most likely need a draw against Armenia (3) to defend first place. Then the parallel game between Hungary (8) and Ireland (7) would be about 2nd place – both games exist live on DAZN.
On matchday 4, Portugal led 2-1 against Hungary in the 91st minute and almost had their World Cup ticket in their hands before Dominik Szoboszlai made it 2-2. This was followed by a 2-0 defeat in Ireland, in which Cristiano Ronaldo lost his nerve and had to leave the field with a red card for an elbow strike. On the 6th and final matchday, the Ronaldo-less Portuguese could even risk falling to 2nd place if everything continues to go against them and the associated detention in the World Cup playoffs. This happened before the 2022 World Cup, when they prevailed against Turkey and North Macedonia.
Ronaldo will likely be watching from the stands with one eye on the action in Budapest, where a draw is enough for the Hungarians to finish second and the Irish need a win to reach the playoffs. In the European World Cup playoffs, the twelve group runners-up from the qualification and four group winners from the Nations League play for the four remaining UEFA World Cup starting places.
Final between Ukraine and Iceland for the World Cup playoffs
Ukraine and Iceland are also hoping for one. In Group D, France (13 points) secured group victory and pushed Iceland (7) past the Ukrainians (7) thanks to their better goal difference. The war-torn nation plays its crucial home game on Sunday from 6 p.m. in Warsaw’s Miejski Stadium and needs a win for second place – a draw is enough for the Icelanders to qualify for the playoffs. There is the decisive game in Group D for participation in the World Cup playoffs live on DAZN.
The Squadra Azzurra have secured their place in the hated playoffs – but hardly anyone in Italy is happy about that, because after the draw they went into Group I as the clear favorites. They didn’t notice much of that in Norway (21 points). The Scandinavians won seven games from seven games and also overwhelmed Italy (18) 3-0.
Erling Haaland shone with 14 goals and is crucial to the fact that his nation, with a goal difference of +29, can only be prevented from participating in the World Cup for the first time by a 9-0 defeat in Italy. Since the goal difference and the number of goals scored are more important than the direct comparison in the qualifying groups, the Norwegians are virtually guaranteed their World Cup ticket. Few will remember Italy’s only previous 9-0 win against the USA at the 1948 Olympic Games.
From 8:45 p.m. rolling in the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium in Milan – live on DAZN – the ball and the fear of the playoffs are likely to play a role. In 2017 and 2021, the four-time world champion failed in detention, first to Sweden and then to North Macedonia.