England sovereign in EM qualifier
Kuntz celebrates turbulent last-minute Turkish victory
06/16/2023, 11:47 p.m
Equalization in the 94th minute, winning goal in the 95th minute: The Turkish national team managed to win at the last minute in the European Championship qualifier. England and runners-up France have less trouble, while Ukraine win after a respectable win against Germany.
Coach Stefan Kuntz has taken the lead with the Turkish national football team in the race for a ticket for the 2024 European Championship in his home country – but not nearly as confidently as runners-up France and England. The Kuntz team beat Latvia 3-2 (1-0) in the last minute in Riga and took first place in Group D.
Debutant Abdülkerim Bardakci (22nd) surprisingly scored the 1-0 for the Turks, who initially had problems. The supposed 2-0 by Ferdi Kadioglu (39th) was withdrawn after video evidence of a foul. Eduards Emsis (51st) equalised, but Cengiz Ünder (61st) scored to make it 2-1. In the turbulent final phase, Irfan Kahveci (90’+5′) secured the Kuntz team’s second win after Kristers Tobers (90’+4′) equalized again.
However, Croatia, third in the World Cup, who meets Spain on Sunday (8.45 p.m. / RTL and in the live ticker on ntv.de) in the final of the Nations League, has played one game less and is only two points behind. Wales is third after 2: 4 (1: 2) against Armenia.
Kane extends Three Lions’ goal record
France won the world number 201. Gibraltar 3-0 (2-0) and leads Group B with nine points just as confidently as the English after their 4-0 (3-0) win over Malta in Group C. Olivier Giroud brought France on in the third minute Lead, World Cup top scorer Kylian Mbappé increased with a penalty just before the break (45 + 3), and Aymen Mouelhi (78) also scored his own goal. Second is ex-European champions Greece after beating Ireland 2-1 (1-1).
An own goal by Fernando Apap (9th) paved the way for the Three Lions early on. Trent Alexander-Arnold (28th), record scorer Harry Kane with his 56th international goal (31st, penalty kick) and Callum Wilson (83rd, penalty kick) ensured the befitting victory. The first points in Group C went to Ukraine, who won 3-2 (0-2) in North Macedonia four days after beating the German national team 3-3 in Bremen.
The Swiss are also leaders in Group I with the maximum yield after the difficult 2: 1 (2: 0) in Andorra. The Swiss quickly led 2-0 with goals from Remo Freuler (7th) and Zeki Amdouni (33rd). Marcio Vieira (67th) shortened. Romania are two points behind after being 0-0 in Kosovo. Belarus is still waiting for the first point after beating Israel 1-2 (1-0) in Budapest.
In Group H, Kazakhstan is surprisingly top of the table after 3-0 (1-0) in San Marino – ahead of their pursuers Denmark, Finland and Slovenia, who are tied on points.