Plenty of European sides were in action on Wednesday night, with the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers getting underway.
A Burak Yilmaz hat-trick ensured the Netherlands continued their poor start under new head coach Frank De Boer. The Oranje fell two behind before the break, with Yilmaz scoring a brace. AC Milan’s Hakan Calhanoglu added a third seconds after the restart to pile on De Boer’s misery.
There was a small fightback from the Dutchmen as they clawed back the deficit to just one, thanks to quick-fire goals from Davy Klaassen and Luuk De Jong. Yilmaz, however, completed his hat-trick soon after to give Turkey the win. Goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir, meanwhile, saved a stoppage-time penalty from Memphis Depay to keep the score at 4-2.
World Champions France started their qualification process with a drab draw against Andriy Shevchenko’s Ukraine. Les Bleus, who were missing Paul Pogba in midfield from the start, led through Antoine Griezmann in the 19th minute. They controlled much of the possession and had the majority of shots but were pegged back level by their opponents, who equalized through a Presnel Kimpembe own goal.
France will hope to get their first win on the board when they face Kazakhstan in their second qualification match on March 28. They will complete the current international cycle by playing Bosnia and Herzegovina, who drew 2-2 against Finland in their opening match.
The current top-ranked side Belgium took on Wales in the Wednesday night encounter. Roberto Martinez’s men were given an early shock by the Dragons, who took the lead through Liverpool’s on-loan winger Harry Wilson. However, the Red Devils hit back through Kevin De Bruyne and Thorgan Hazard and had overturned the tie before half-time. Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku sealed the win for his national team later on in the second half, when he scored from the spot.
Meanwhile, 2018 FIFA World Cup finalists Croatia were stunned in their opening fixture by Slovenia. Zlatko Dalic’s men fell behind to an early goal by Sandi Lovric and never recovered. The European heavyweights will hope for a better result when they take on Cyprus and Malta later in the international window.
Cristiano Ronaldo-led Portugal got their World Cup qualification campaign off to a positive start, with a win over Azerbaijan. The 2016 Euro winners had much of the possession and registered a whopping 29 shots, 14 of which were on target. However, they had to rely upon an own goal by Azerbaijan’s Maksim Medvedev to get the points in this one.
Elsewhere, Norway registered a 3-0 win over Gibraltar in their tie. Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard were both named in the starting line-up by Stale Solbakken. However, neither of the two go on the scoresheet. Instead, it was RB Leipzig’s Alexander Sorloth who opened the scoring for his side, before Kristian Thorstvedt and Jonas Svensson added two more.
The best performance by a single player came from the Czech Republic’s Thomas Soucek. The West Ham United midfielder, who is known to pop up at the right place at the right time, scored a hat-trick for his side in their opening qualifier against Estonia. Patrick Schick, Antonin Barak, and Jakub Jankto also scored to complete a 6-2 rout.
The second batch of World Cup qualifiers is set to be played today, March 25. Germany, Spain, Italy, and England are all in action as they look to get their campaigns off to a positive start.
