Author: Amrit Santlani
Portugal – Slovakia – 3:2
After goals from Ramos and Ronaldo (from the penalty spot), the hosts took the lead – 2-0 after half an hour. Slovakia hit back with a deflected shot from David Hancko (69 mins), which was the first goal the Portuguese team had conceded in qualifying. However, Ronaldo took advantage of a cross from Bruno Fernandes to make it 3-1. This is his 700th career goal, excluding penalties (with penalties – 857th).
Stanislav Lobotka hit a long-range shot to reduce the deficit, but the Seleção held on for their seventh consecutive win in qualifying. Under Roberto Martinez, the team remains unbeaten.
Note that these were Ronaldo’s 124th and 125th goals for the national team. He leads the list of top scorers in the history of national teams, ahead of Ali Daei (Iran) on 17 goals and Lionel Messi (Argentina) on 21.
“Cristiano Ronaldo is having a great time, playing a lot of minutes and scoring a lot of goals for his club,” Martinez said after Portugal’s victory, praising the talismanic captain. “He has a lot of experience with the national team and is a point of reference for the young players. The important thing was the result. In seven games, we’ve shown a perfect attitude. I’m very pleased, but it’s only one stage.“
Netherlands – France – 1:2
Runners-up at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, France remained unbeaten throughout the qualifying campaign and secured top spot in Group B with a 2-1 win over the Netherlands, thanks to two goals from Kylian Mbappe.
In Amsterdam, Mbappe opened the scoring seven minutes after the start of the game against a weakened Dutch side. He added to his tally with another fine curling goal eight minutes into the second half. The second goal was Mbappe’s 42nd international goal and he overtook French legend Michel Platini to move into fourth place on the list of all-time top scorers.
Quinlindschy Hartman scored on his debut, but couldn’t save the Dutch. Mbappe had the chance to score a hat-trick, but the 25-year-old hit the crossbar with a late shot.
The Netherlands’ loss to France has complicated things for the Dutch, who are in third place with nine points and will face Greece in Athens on Monday in a virtual tie to decide which team finishes second in Group B.
Austria-Belgium – 2:3
In Vienna, Austria put up a brave fight, but the Red Devils secured a 3-2 victory. Belgium were 3-0 up in the 58th minute thanks to Lukebakio’s first two goals for the national team, while captain Lukaku also scored his ninth goal in qualifying.
Konrad Laimer hit a long-range shot to give the hosts a glimmer of hope. Shortly afterwards, Belgium were down to ten men, Amadou Onana received his second yellow and Arthur Theate conceded a penalty for a handball. Marcel Sabitzer turned the game in his team’s favor, but failed to score the equalizer.
With the defeat, Austria remain seven points ahead of Sweden in Group F, who have a game in hand.
In other matches on the day, the following results were recorded:
- Ireland – Greece – 0:2
- Estonia – Azerbaijan – 0:2
- Iceland – Luxembourg – 1:1
- Liechtenstein – Bosnia and Herzegovina – 0:2