European Qualifiers: Joselu lifts Spain, Wales deny Croatia

Substitute Joselu scored twice in the space of two minutes as Spain got the better of Norway, while Nathan Broadhead left it until deep in added time to score his first Wales goal and earn a draw in Croatia.

UEFA.com rounds up the Matchday 1 qualifying fixtures on the road to the UEFA EURO 2024 finals in Germany.

Saturday's fixtures

Group A: Scotland 3-0 Cyprus, Spain 3-0 Norway
Group D: Armenia 1-2 Türkiye, Croatia 1-1 Wales
Group I: Belarus 0-5 Switzerland, Andorra 0-2 Romania, Israel 1-1 Kosovo

All kick-off times 20:45 CET unless stated

Spain 3-0 Norway

Dani Olmo's unconventional strike and debutant Joselu's double helped Luis de la Fuente get off to winning start as Spain coach in Málaga. Facing away from goal, Olmo deftly flicked Alejandro Balde's cross-shot into the net after 13 minutes.

Norway pushed their hosts for most of the contest, with Fredrik Aursnes' volley and Marcus Holmgren Pedersen's deflected effort forcing Kepa Arrizabalaga into action. However, with the Espanyol forward Joselu guided a header past Ørjan Nyland under two minutes after coming as an 81st-minute substitute, and pounced from close range again just over 100 seconds later.

Key stat: Joselu became the first Spain player to score twice on his debut since Fernando Morientes on 25 March 1998.

Croatia 1-1 Wales

Nathan Broadhead's 93rd-minute equaliser on his senior international debut earned Wales a point with their sole attempt on target in Split. Andrej Kramarić's classy strike from distance had been part of a dominant first half for Croatia, who could have been further ahead by then but for Danny Ward saves from Kramarić and Luka Modrić.

Wales were revitalised after the break, spurning an excellent chance when the unmarked Daniel James misfired from close range following Harry Wilson's electric run and cross. Ivan Perišić's audacious first-time volley hit Ward's crossbar before Broadhead pounced in a crowded penalty area.

Key stat: Croatia have never lost a EURO qualifying match at home, drawing nine of their 36 games.

Scotland 3-0 Cyprus

Scotland began a EURO qualifying campaign with a victory for the first time since 2006 as they made it eight wins from eight meetings with Cyprus. The last four games between the sides had finished 2-1 but this time Steve Clarke's side kept a clean sheet, with John McGinn's 16th international goal – a tap-in from Andy Robertson's cross – giving them a half-time lead.

A late Scott McTominay double – a close-range half volley and a calm finish from another Robertson assist – rounded off a comfortable afternoon, with Cyprus defender Nicholas Ioannou sent off in the closing stages after being shown a second yellow card.

Key stat: Only six players have scored more than McGinn's 16 goals for Scotland. Denis Law and Kenny Dalglish share the national record with 30 apiece.

Elsewhere

• Winger Renato Steffen scored only the second hat-trick of his senior career as Switzerland beat Belarus 5-0. The 31-year-old hit a treble in Basel's 7-0 success at St. Gallen in April 2016, and scooped the match ball in Group I with goals in the 4th, 17th and 29th minutes.
• Türkiye made a positive start to their campaign despite an early Ozan Kabak own goal in Armenia. Orkun Kökçü levelled before the interval, and Kerem Aktürkoğlu struck what proved to be the winner for Stefan Kuntz's side in the second half.

Friday's fixtures

Group B: France 4-0 Netherlands, Gibraltar 0-3 Greece
Group E: Czechia 3-1 Poland, Moldova 1-1 Faroe Islands
Group F: Austria 4-1 Azerbaijan, Sweden 0-3 Belgium
Group G: Bulgaria 0-1 Montenegro, Serbia 2-0 Lithuania

France 4-0 Netherlands

Kylian Mbappé made a winning start to his captaincy of France as Les Bleus swept the Dutch aside. After setting up new vice-captain Antoine Griezmann's opener and watching Dayot Upamecano prod in a second from the Atleti forward's free-kick, Mbappé finished off a slick move to put his side 3-0 ahead within 21 minutes.

Two minutes from time, the Paris striker completed a scintillating run by firing past Jasper Cillessen to condemn Ronald Koeman to a forgettable first match of his second spell in charge of the Oranje, for whom Memphis Depay had a last-gasp penalty saved by Mike Maignan.

Key stat: France are unbeaten in ten visits from the Netherlands (W8), last losing the fixture at home in a friendly in 1936.

Czechia 3-1 Poland

Two goals in the first three minutes set Czechia on the way to a comfortable win. It was a nightmare start for new Poland boss Fernando Santos, whose new charges were behind after just 30 seconds when Vladimír Coufal's mammoth throw-in was headed in by Ladislav Krejčí. It got even better for the hosts when their debutants combined, David Jurásek sending in a fine cross from the left which Tomáš Čvančara fired in.

Čvančara was twice denied by Wojciech Szczęsny but despite the visitors dominating possession and passing stats, they were three down when Alex Král crossed for Jan Kuchta to score. Substitute Damian Szymański tapped in late on as the hosts failed to clear a corner but it was too little, too late for Santos and his players.

Key stat: All three Czechia goals were scored by Sparta Praha players – at the home of their rivals Slavia.

Sweden 0-3 Belgium

Romelu Lukaku's hat-trick helped Domenico Tedesco off to a winning start as Belgium coach in Solna. The Inter striker opened the scoring just after the half-hour mark, glancing Dodi Lukebakio's delicious delivery into the far corner. The pair linked up again soon after the restart, with Lukebakio's run and cut-back enabling Lukaku to prod in from close range.

Substitute Johan Bakayoko turned provider for Lukaku's third with seven minutes remaining, dribbling into the box from the right before threading a pass through for the unmarked striker, who claimed the match ball with a simple finish.

Key stat: Belgium have won their last 15 EURO qualifiers.

Elsewhere

• Montenegro's Nikola Krstović scored his maiden international goal to inflict a first defeat on Mladen Krstajić since he took over the reins as Bulgaria coach in July. It was only the third ever away win in a EURO qualifier for Montenegro and their first in the competition anywhere since September 2015.
• Austria made it three wins in a row for the first time since 2020, Marcel Sabitzer and Michael Gregoritsch setting them on their way against Azerbaijan with two goals in as many first-half minutes. Sabitzer scored again five minutes into the second half to claim his first international double.
• Dušan Tadić ended a run of nine Serbia games without a goal when he struck the opener in their victory against Lithuania. In contrast, Dušan Vlahović's effort was his eighth in ten outings for his country.

Thursday's results

Group C: Italy 1-2 England, North Macedonia 2-1 Malta
Group H: Kazakhstan 1-2 Slovenia, Denmark 3-1 Finland, San Marino 0-2 Northern Ireland
Group J: Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-0 Iceland, Portugal 4-0 Liechtenstein, Slovakia 0-0 Luxembourg

Click on the matches above to watch highlights

Italy 1-2 England

Harry Kane struck his 54th international goal to break the national goalscoring record as England held on for an ultimately nervy win in Naples. Declan Rice thumped in the opener early on after Kane's shot had been charged down. The Three Lions skipper then made history from the penalty spot just before the break after Giovanni Di Lorenzo's handball, sending Gianluigi Donnarumma the wrong way.

Mateo Retegui, winning his first Azzurri cap, made life difficult for the visitors with a crisp finish soon after the interval and Luke Shaw's dismissal for a second bookable offence with ten minutes to go made England's task harder still, but they held on for a first win against the Azzurri on Italian soil since 1961.

Key stat: Italy's defeat was their first in 41 EURO qualifiers, since losing to France in September 2006.

Portugal 4-0 Liechtenstein

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrated becoming the world's most-capped male international, marking his 197th appearance with a textbook second-half penalty and a thunderous free-kick. The influential João Cancelo lashed in a deflected strike from the edge of the box after eight minutes to give Portugal the lead on Roberto Martínez's debut as coach but Liechtenstein, and particularly keeper Benjamin Büchel, worked hard to keep their hosts at bay until the break.

Bernardo Silva then fired in a loose ball 70 seconds after the restart, and Ronaldo converted from the spot soon after for his 119th international goal. No120 quickly arrived via a free-kick from the edge of the box.

Key stat: Liechtenstein are the 47th national team Ronaldo has scored against.

Denmark 3-1 Finland

Rasmus Højlund marked his full international debut with a hat-trick as Kasper Hjulmand's side began their Group H campaign with victory in Copenhagen. The 20-year-old Atalanta forward steered Alexander Bah's delivery into the far corner to give the Danes a deserved lead midway through the first half.

Oliver Antman's third goal in four international appearances restored parity eight minutes into the second half, and Finland goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky produced a string of fine saves to keep the Eagle Owls on level terms. However, Højland nodded Jonas Wind's cut-back past Hradecky from point-blank range before completing his treble at the last.

Key stat: Højlund is the first player to score a hat-trick for Denmark in a EURO qualifier since Michael Laudrup hit three against Luxembourg in October 1983.

Elsewhere

• Maxim Samorodov scored the first goal of the European Qualifiers for EURO 2024, putting Kazakhstan ahead at home against Slovenia. However, Žan Vipotnik went on to hit the competition's first winner as the visitors prevailed 2-1.
• San Marino defender Roberto Di Maio made his senior international debut at the age of 40, but his wise head was not enough to spare his side a 2-0 home defeat against Northern Ireland, Dion Charles scoring twice.