Gavi strike sends Spain to Euro 2024, Scotland and Turkey also qualify

PARIS: Spain secured a place at Euro 2024 after Gavi’s second-half goal was enough to beat Norway 1-0 away on Sunday and they will be joined by Group ‘A’ rivals Scotland and Turkey from Group ‘D’ following an eventful night in qualifying.

Spain and the Scots both secured spots in the top two with 15 points from six games, with Norway third on 10 points having played a game more, while Turkey thrashed Latvia 4-0 to make sure they will finish among the qualifying places.

On a chilly night in Oslo, Spain dominated possession but struggled to break down a resolute home defence, and it looked like VAR might prevent them from booking their Euro berth when Alvaro Morata had a first-half goal ruled out for offside.

The Spain striker was the centre of attention again when midfielder Gavi fired home four minutes after the break and another VAR offside check ensued, but this time he was in the clear and the goal was allowed to stand.

Norway set up to hit Spain on the break but struggled to create much in attack as the visitors kept striker Erling Haaland shackled to reach the finals in Germany with two games to spare.

“We are very happy because the team has grown a lot and has a great future,” said Spain coach Luis de la Fuente. “We have worked to get to this moment.”

Norway have not qualified for a major competition since Euro 2000, but a team featuring Haaland and Martin Odegaard still has hope of advancing to the play-offs.

Georgia thrashed Cyprus 4-0 in the other game in that group.

Turkey capped off a momentous week in which they were announced as co-hosts of Euro 2032 with Italy, by turning on the style in the closing minutes to beat Latvia and book their place at the finals.

A brilliant volley from Yunus Akgun just before the hour put Turkey on course for a comprehensive win. The visitors tried valiantly to equalise but instead they collapsed, with two late goals from Cenk Tosun and one from Kerem Akturkoglu sealing Turkey’s participation in Germany.

The Turks top their group with 16 points, six points ahead of Wales and Croatia after the Welsh beat the Croats 2-1 to keep their qualifying hopes alive.

Wales leapfrogged Croatia into second as Harry Wilson got both goals over last year’s World Cup semi-finalists in Cardiff.

Wilson outran the Croatia defence to loft in the opening goal shortly after half-time and then glanced in a Dan James cross for the second.

Mario Pasalic reduced the deficit but Wales now have control of their own destiny heading into the concluding rounds of qualifying games in November.

Switzerland needed two late goals at home to Belarus to rescue a 3-3 draw but surrendered first place in Group ‘I’ to Romania.

Xherdan Shaqiri curled the

Swiss ahead in St Gallen before Belarus, beaten 5-0 by the same opponents in March, levelled through Max Ebong.

Denis Polyakov nodded Belarus in front at a corner and the visitors looked on course for a shock win when Dmitri Antilevski struck a third in the 84th minute.

Manuel Akanji tapped in from a Shaqiri free-kick to spark the last-ditch comeback for the hosts as substitute Zeki Amdouni saved Switzerland’s blushes, scrambling in a 90th-minute equaliser.

Romania eased to a 4-0 victory over Andorra to move a point clear, but the Swiss have a game in hand after Thursday’s trip to Tel Aviv was postponed due to the war between Israel and Hamas.

Sunday’s match between Kosovo and Israel was also called off because of the conflict.

Poland’s hopes of qualifying from Group ‘E’ suffered a blow as they came from a goal down to draw 1-1 at home to Moldova and remain third on 10 points, three adrift of leaders Albania and one behind Czech Republic, who both have a game in hand.

With striker Robert Lewandowski missing through injury, the Poles had 21 attempts on goal compared to four by the visitors who took the lead in the 26th minute through Ion Nicolaescu, with Karol Swiderski netting a second-half equaliser.

Tomas Soucek’s 76th-minute penalty earned the Czechs a narrow 1-0 win over the Faroe Islands in Plzen — the result leaving Albania waiting to seal qualification.

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2023