UEFA EURO 2024 qualifying: Saturday preview

The European Qualifiers for UEFA EURO 2024 resumed on Friday, with a big test for Belgium and a goal-hungry Erling Haaland among the highlights on Saturday.

Matchday 3 fixtures and results

Friday 16 June 2023

Group B: Gibraltar 0-3 France, Greece 2-1 Republic of Ireland
Group C: Malta 0-4 England, North Macedonia 2-3 Ukraine
Group D: Latvia 2-3 Türkiye, Wales 2-4 Armenia
Group H: Denmark 1-0 Northern Ireland, Finland 2-0 Slovenia, San Marino 0-3 Kazakhstan
Group I: Andorra 1-2 Switzerland, Belarus 1-2 Israel, Kosovo 0-0 Romania

Saturday 17 June 2023

Group A: Norway vs Scotland (18:00), Cyprus vs Georgia
Group E: Albania vs Moldova, Faroe Islands vs Czechia
Group F: Azerbaijan vs Estonia (18:00), Belgium vs Austria
Group G: Lithuania vs Bulgaria (15:00), Montenegro vs Hungary (18:00)
Group J: Luxembourg vs Liechtenstein (15:00), Iceland vs Slovakia, Portugal vs Bosnia and Herzegovina

All kick-off times 20:45 CET unless stated

Red Devils sharpen their horns for Austria

The two unbeaten sides in Group F meet, with Belgium on a roll under new coach Domenico Tedesco. Having kicked off with a 3-0 win in Sweden (in which Romelu Lukaku scored a hat-trick), the Italian-born coach then secured a 3-2 friendly win in Germany, the country where he grew up. A big Brussels welcome is planned for his first home game. "In Sweden and in Germany, I really felt the support of our fans," he said. "I have been told that the atmosphere in Brussels is even better."

Ralf Rangnick's Austria beat Azerbaijan and Estonia in their opening fixtures but may need to go up a gear to trouble a buoyant Belgium. "It's a very important game for us, a difficult opponent," said midfielder Xaver Schlager. "We're looking forward to the task. You train for games like this; you want to be ready for them."

Did you know? Austria won their first nine international games against Belgium but have not beaten the Red Devils in five games (D3 L2) since a 4-2 friendly success in 1959.

What else to look out for

• Cristiano Ronaldo comes into this international window on 198 appearances for Portugal (and 122 goals); if he features against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Saturday, he will be in a position to win his 200th Portugal cap against Iceland on Matchday 4.
• Having completed a domestic treble with Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League final, Erling Haaland will return to international duty with Norway looking to end an unusual five-game wait for a goal. Visitors Scotland top Group A, with Norway having just one point after two games.