First riots, then nervous thrillers
Hungary only bought their European Championship ticket in the 97th minute
November 16, 2023, 11:15 p.m
Two more starting places for the 2024 European Football Championship in Germany have been taken: The Slovaks qualify confidently against Iceland, meanwhile the duel between Hungary and Bulgaria is overshadowed by riots – and the decision is only made at the last second.
Hungary celebrated a happy ending after a nerve-wracking thriller, Slovakia mastered their task confidently – both teams have qualified for the 2024 European Football Championship in Germany. The Hungarians needed a late own goal for a 2:2 (1:1) in Bulgaria, which brought the decisive point to the European Championship ticket. The Slovaks’ double packer Lukas Haraslin excelled in their 4:2 (2:1) win against Iceland – a total of eleven teams have now qualified.
That evening, the eyes of the Serbs were spellbound on Podgorica. Because if Montenegro lost against Lithuania, Serbia would have qualified without playing themselves. But the competitor didn’t show any weakness and postponed the decision in Group G with a 2-0 (1-0).
The Hungarians are safely through in this group, as they cheered wildly after Alex Petkow’s own goal (90+7). Martin Adam (10th) initially gave the guests the lead, but then the game slipped away. After goals conceded by Spas Delew (24th) and Kiril Despodow (79th, penalty kick) as well as yellow-red cards against Bulgaria’s Valentin Antow (37th) and Hungary’s Milos Kerkez (57th), the first qualifying defeat threatened until the last moment.
Riots before the Hungary game
The duel, which had already been classified as a “high-risk game”, was overshadowed by serious riots between Bulgarian fans and the police, in which 15 people suffered injuries. The game took place in Sofia behind closed doors; there were clashes between around 2,000 fans and the police in front of the stadium.
Even before the game there were riots in Sofia – 15 people were injured.
(Photo: picture alliance/dpa/AP)
Meanwhile, the Slovaks could rely on Haraslin, who scored twice (47th, 55th) and set up the first goal through Juraj Kucka (30th). Former Bundesliga professional Ondrej Duda (36th, penalty kick) was also successful. Goals from Orri Oskarsson (17th) and Andri Gudjohnsen (74th) were not enough for the Icelanders.
Ralf Rangnick’s already qualified Austrians got ready for the upcoming duel with Germany on Tuesday with a 2-0 (2-0) win in Estonia (8.45 p.m./ZDF and in the live ticker at ntv.de) a. Meanwhile, Spain celebrated a 3-1 (3-0) win in Cyprus on Leverkusen’s Alejandro Grimaldo’s debut.
Meanwhile, thanks to superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal has continued its successful streak in the European Championship qualification. The Seleção, who had already qualified, won 2-0 (0-0) in Liechtenstein. Ronaldo (46th minute) and former Bayern professional João Cancelo (57th) ensured an unchallenged victory for the outsiders in Vaduz. For the Portuguese it was their ninth win in their ninth European Championship qualifying game.