It's difficult to win away in international football and that is something this team still has to develop, but I take a lot of encouragement from the performances in Cologne and Slovakia where we were challenged and were missing key players in those games. We still gave a really good account of ourselves and were in the game in Germany for 70, 75 minutes.
Scotland beat 10-man Denmark 4-2 in Group C, with Scott McTominay scoring a superb bicycle kick goal three minutes into the match. Scotland scored a pair of stellar goals in second-half added time -- after Denmark had a player sent off -- to seal the win at Hampden Park. A 1-1 home draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina was enough for Austria in Group H, while Belgium routed Liechtenstein 7-0. Switzerland qualified after a 1-1 draw at Kosovo.
With a 2026 World Cup spot hanging in the balance for Scotland in their qualifying match against Denmark, the Napoli midfielder delivered a jaw-dropping highlight for the ages. The Danes failed to clear their lines, winger Ben Gannon Doak floated in a cross, and McTominay flung himself into the air. His right-footed overhead kick made perfect contact with the ball, sending it past Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and straight into the corner.
"The most important thing is what happens tomorrow," he said. "The accumulation of successive qualifications is a very good thing because it is our duty as a France team. It helps to have this experience, but it's never the same story. I don't have that in mind, I don't think about it. We have this match, at the Parc des Princes, against Ukraine. We are in 2025 and our goal is to qualify again. I'm here, I'm having fun."
In a post on Instagram, Kluivert described his time in charge as an unforgettable journey. He added: Even though I'm deeply disappointed and sorry for the fact that we didn't make it to the World Cup, I'll always be proud of what we built together. The defeats against Saudi Arabia and Iraq were bitter lessons, but also reminders of how high our shared dreams are. As head coach, I take full responsibility.
Italy kept alive their faint hopes of qualifying automatically for the 2026 World Cup as they beat Israel 3-0 despite an underwhelming display in Udine. In front of a paltry crowd of around 9,000 in Udinese's 25,000-capacity Stadio Friuli, Gennaro Gattuso's team found the victory they needed but not a performance to inspire confidence ahead their meeting with group leaders Norway in November. Mateo Retegui scored a brace, the first a penalty in added time at the end of the first half before finally settling his team's nerves with a lovely curling finish in the 74th minute.
Qatar qualified for football's 2026 World Cup on Tuesday with a 2-1 win over the United Arab Emirates thanks to second-half headers from Boualem Khoukhi and Pedro Miguel. It marks the first time that Qatar, which lost all three group-stage games when it hosted the 2022 tournament, has advanced through qualification. The victory put Qatar atop Group A in the fourth round of Asian qualification, ahead of the second-place United Arab Emirates (UAE), which now moves on to the fifth round and playoffs.
Although Thomas Tuchel was disappointed not to see his England side build on a three-goal lead against Wales on Thursday, he was impressed with the performance of goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. The Everton shot-stopper wrote his name into the history books after his clean sheet against Wales at Wembley Stadium, becoming the first England goalkeeper to go eight consecutive games without conceding a goal for the Three Lions.
Haaland doubled Norway's lead with a right-footed finish after Anan Khalaili's own goal had given the hosts the lead. Another own goal, this time from Idan Nachmias, made it 3-0 as Peretz's clearance rebounded off the defender and into the net. Haaland then made history with a pair of headers to complete his hat-trick, the Manchester City striker reaching 51 goals in 46 appearances for his country.
Salah's Egypt are the leaders in Group A of the CAF qualifying process for next summer's World Cup in the US, Canada, and Mexico. They have won six of their eight games so far and drawn the other two, putting them on 20 points with a handy five-point lead over second-placed Burkina Faso. Victory against Djibouti will mathematically guarantee their ticket to the World Cup.
The Czech Republic is one of the major footballing nations in Europe and tend to do well in qualifiers. They have not qualified for the FIFA World Cup finals since 2006, but they have played in the UEFA European Championships since 1996. The Czech Republic reached the quarter-finals of UEFA Euro 2020 and the semi-finals at UEFA Euro 2004. Ivan Hasek's side have done well in UEFA Group L so far.
Over the next eight days six Asian nations will battle for two 2026 World Cup places and it feels as if Saudi Arabia and Qatar are already a little closer to North America. The two countries have been handed home advantage for the games in the two mini-groups by the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) with the winners of each qualifying.
When you play for the Socceroos, it's an international, it's a cap that you can get. And if you ask any of these young boys that could debut now whether it matters to them if it's a friendly or not, I'm sure they say no. So we have to take this game very seriously. We're excited that we're playing New Zealand. We know how big that rivalry is in all our codes, so this should be no different. And also, congratulations to them. They've made the World Cup. So we're playing a World Cup opponent.
