- In the European Championship qualification, France and the Netherlands achieved comfortable victories in Group B.
- In Group E, Poland saves itself late from embarrassment, while the Czech Republic and Albania share the points.
- The race for the European Championship tickets remains competitive in groups G and H.
Group B: Easy wins for the favorites
- France – Ireland 2-0
France remains flawless in its European Championship qualification. After the win against Ireland, the French have five wins after five games and have not conceded a goal. In the Parc de Princes in Paris, Aurélien Tchouaméni (19th) with a beautiful shot and Marcus Thuram (48th) made the difference in a game whose outcome seemed clear from the start. Ireland never found their way into the game and only dared to go on the offensive after being 2-0 down. The Swiss referee Urs Schnyder conducted the game confidently and without any major anomalies.
- Netherlands – Greece 3-0
The Netherlands also achieved an easy victory. The “Elftal” won 3-0 against Greece, which had six points after three games. Marten de Roon, Cody Gakpo and Wout Weghorst all scored the goals in the first half. After that, the Dutch, who moved up to second place in Group B thanks to their success, took it easy. Qualification for the European Championships remains possible for the Greeks, but it is becoming a bit more distant after their second defeat in a row.
Group E: Albania fights for a point
- Czech Republic – Albania 1:1
League leaders Czech Republic couldn’t get more than a 1-1 draw at home in the Fortuna Arena in Prague against second-placed Albania – despite more possession of the ball and a shots on goal ratio of 12:1. Vaclac Cerny gave the Czechs the lead after the break with a shot into the far corner (56′). However, this only lasted 10 minutes. Then the minute struck for ex-GC player Nedim Bajrami: The US Sassuolo midfielder scored wonderfully from a distance to equalize – with Albania’s first and last shot on goal.
2. Embarrassment just barely averted. After the surprising 2-3 defeat away in Moldova, Poland found its way back to winning ways, but only with a lot of effort and luck. Against the blatant outsiders from the Faroe Islands, Warsaw went into the break 0-0, which resulted in a shrill concert of whistles. Fernando Santos’ team improved in the second half, but only took the lead in the 73rd minute thanks to a hand penalty converted by Robert Lewandowski, which was awarded after a video review. 10 minutes later, the Barcelona striker made it 2-0 with a remarkable individual performance. The labor victory was a fact.
Group G: Serbia loses to Hungary
A quick double strike put Hungary on course for victory against Serbia. After an own goal by Attila Szalai in the 10th minute, the guests were down 0-1, but Barnabas Varga and Willi Orban turned the game around within two minutes (34th/36th). Hungary narrowly won the top game in Group G and is now at the top of the table. As the second-placed team, Serbia is still on course for the finals in Germany.
Group H: Slovenia is heading towards qualification
- Slovenia – Northern Ireland 4:2
At the halfway point in Group H, Slovenia can continue to dream of participating in the European Championship for the second time. Thanks to a 4-2 win in a wild game against Northern Ireland, the Slovenians are in 3rd place, but level on points with second-placed Denmark (4-0 against San Marino). The table is led by Finland (1-0 against Kazakhstan) with 12 points. Zan Celar, who was employed by Lugano, was not used for Slovenia.