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Spain secures a spot in the European Cup and gifts Scotland a ticket as well

Spain booked their spot in the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship alongside Scotland with a 1-0 victory against Norway on Sunday in the eighth round of Group One matches. Meanwhile, Turkey secured one of the spots in Group Four with a massive 4-0 win against Latvia.

Spain entered the match against Norway in Oslo needing a win to secure their qualification after their previous victory with a score of 2-0 against the group leaders, Scotland. The latter, absent in this round, required “La Roja” to win or draw to ensure their qualification.

With their fifth victory under the leadership of coach Luis de la Fuente, Spain caught up with Scotland at the top with 15 points from 6 matches each. They now lead Norway, who played their seventh match in the group, by a 5-point margin, allowing both Spain and Scotland to secure the group’s spots in the finals.

The champions and runners-up of each of the ten groups qualify for the finals set to take place next summer in Germany, which qualifies as the host. The remaining three spots will be determined through the UEFA Nations League playoffs. Georgia will participate in those playoffs after topping their group in the third tier of the continental tournament for the 2022-2023 season.

Spain, Scotland, and Turkey joined the likes of France (Group Two), Portugal (Group Ten), and Belgium (Group Six) in securing their spots, in addition to Germany, the hosting country.

Spain, who topped the group ahead of Scotland on goal difference due to their head-to-head matches ending with a 2-0 victory for each team at home, owed their victory to Gavi, who scored the game’s only goal early in the second half after a long discussion between the main referee and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR). The goal was scored inside the penalty area after two unsuccessful attempts by teammates Torres and substitute Mikel Oyarzabal. The ball passed alongside the offside Alvaro Morata and into the goal (49).

Spain well deserved the win, keeping Norway’s star player Erling Haaland, who was almost absent, totally under control throughout the match.

In the same group, Georgia secured another victory against their guest, Cyprus, after a 4-0 win. The goals were scored by Otar Kiteishvili (46), Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (58), and the substitutes Levan Shengelia (82) and Georges Mikautadze (5+90 from a penalty).

Georgia had previously defeated Cyprus 2-1 in the latter’s home stadium during the second round, marking their first and last victory in the group before adding another on Sunday. This win elevated their tally to 7 points, securing the fourth position before the last-placed, Cyprus, which had lost all seven matches.

Turkey secures its spot in the second half –

Turkey secured one of the group’s spots by defeating their guest, Latvia, with a 4-0 score, while Wales revived their hopes with a 2-1 victory against their guest, Croatia.

Turkey increased their total score to 16 points from 7 matches, leading by six points over Wales and Croatia, who stand second and third respectively after 6 matches.

This is Turkey’s second consecutive win in their second match under the leadership of their new Italian coach, Vincenzo Montella, who started his journey three days ago with a significant 1-0 away win against Croatia.

Due to disappointing results, the Turkish Football Federation dismissed the German coach Stefan Kuntz, appointing Montella, who is familiar with Turkish football, having previously managed Adana Demirspor from September 2021 until last summer.

The Turkish national team waited for the second half to score their four goals through Leicester City’s loanee striker Yunus Akgün (58), substitute Genk Tosun (83 and 90+2), and Muhammed Kerem Aktürkoğlu (87).

At Cardiff City Stadium, Harry Wilson was the star of the match, scoring two goals for Wales in the 47th minute with an assist from David Robert, surpassing the defense and chipping the ball over the goalkeeper, and in the 60th minute, scoring a header from a pass by substitute Daniel James.

Croatia then narrowed the gap with a goal by Mario Pašalić (75).

Poland’s task gets complicated –

The Czech Republic revived its hopes in Group Five with a hard-fought victory against the modest Faroe Islands team, winning 1-0.

The Czech Republic were playing their match in Pilsen after a tough loss in the previous round against Albania with a 0-3 score. However, they managed to secure their third win on Sunday, thanks to a penalty kick executed by Tomáš Souček in the 76th minute, lifting their score to 11 points in the second position, just one point behind their next rival, Poland. Poland is now facing a challenging task as they drew at home against Moldova, with a goal from substitute Karol Świderski (53) against a goal from Ion Nicolaescu (25).

Albania leads the group with 13 points and could have qualified on Sunday if the Czech Republic hadn’t won, especially after the Poland-Moldova match ended in a draw. However, the qualification was postponed due to the victory of Jaroslav Silhavý’s team against the Faroe Islands.

Poland earned their tenth point without the services of star Robert Lewandowski due to injury. They played seven matches compared to six for the Czech Republic (11 points), Moldova (9 points), and Albania (13). Their task of securing one of the group’s two slots has become very tough, with one match remaining against their guests, the Czech Republic, on November 17. The latter will play a vital final game against their guests, Moldova, on November 20.

Romania claimed the top spot in Group Nine from Switzerland, who drew with their guest Belarus 3-3, by winning against Andorra with a 4-0 score, raising their tally to 16 points from 4 wins and as many draws, one point ahead of the “Nati” team, which kept their unbeaten record.

The game of Israel’s, who holds the third spot (11 points), against Host Kosovo was postponed.

In Bucharest, Romania dominated against the poor Andorra, scoring four goals in a rotation by Nicolae Stanciu (23), Ianis Hagi (28), Razvan Marin (44 from a penalty kick), and Florinel Coman (50).

In the other match, Switzerland took the lead thanks to Xherdan Shaqiri in the 28th minute before Belarus stunned their host with three goals in the second half, scored by Max Ebong (61), Denis Polyakov (69), and substitute Dmitry Antilevski (84).

However, Switzerland levelled the score within a minute with goals from Manuel Akanji (89) and substitute Zaki Amadou (90).

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