Ukraine book finals spot, France made to wait
Monday, October 14, 2019
Article summary
Ukraine are the fifth side through to UEFA EURO 2020 and France looked set to make it six before Turkey struck.
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Article body
- Ukraine beat Portugal to qualify for finals
- Turkey score late to make France wait
- England hit six in Bulgaria
- Matches; Standings
- Permutations; play-offs as they stand
- Watch highlights
Group A
England blew Bulgaria away in Sofia with a ruthless first-half display that leaves them one point from UEFA EURO 2020. Marcus Rashford rifled in an early opener before Ross Barkley struck twice from Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane crosses. Sterling made it four before the break then grabbed his tenth in as many England games after half-time before Kane added further gloss.
Kosovo kept their hopes of securing automatic qualification alive in impressive style. The hosts were the stronger side throughout and went ahead through Amir Rrahmani's header before Vedat Muriqi added a second ten minutes before half-time. They could have scored more in the second half, Muriqi hitting the crossbar with a header and forcing good saves from Milan Mijatović.
Group B
Ukraine qualified for UEFA EURO 2020, guaranteeing Group B top spot through a sixth-minute Roman Yaremchuk tap-in and Andriy Yarmolenko’s cool finish 20 minutes later. Cristiano Ronaldo's second-half penalty – his 700th career goal – followed Taras Stepanenko's dismissal as Portugal's lead over third-placed Serbia was cut to a point.
Serbia survived a late scare to secure all three points in Vilnius. After a goalless first half, Aleksandar Mitrović capitalised on crosses from Adem Ljajić to score twice in quick succession and put the visitors on top. However, Lithuania pulled a goal back late on through Donatas Kazlauskas and came centimetres from an equaliser in the final moments. The victory means Serbia can still secure automatic qualification from Group B.
Group H
France and Turkey shared the spoils and remain level at the top of Group H on 19 points, four points ahead of third-placed Iceland. Turkey sat deep and France failed to find a way through in the opening period. Substitute Olivier Giroud headed France’s 72nd-minute opener four minutes after coming on, but Turkey quickly responded as Kaan Ayhan nodded in Hakan Çalhanoğlu’s terrific free-kick.
Kolbeinn Sigthórsson equalled Eidur Gudjohnsen's national record of 26 goals with a clinical finish as Iceland returned to winning ways after back-to-back defeats. The AIK forward doubled the advantage given to the hosts by Arnór Sigurdsson just before the break, and it could have been worse for the visitors but Josep Gómes brilliantly saved Gylfi Sigurdsson's penalty.
Albania did the bulk of the damage before half-time in Chisinau, Sokol Çikalleshi firing them in front before Keidi Bare capitalised on an error from home goalkeeper Alexei Koşelev and Lorenc Trashi drilled in a third from the angle. A clever flicked effort from Rei Manaj added late gloss to the win, although the visitors can no longer finish in the top two in Group H.