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On Saturday, the World Cup European zone qualifying matches took place in the stadiums of the Old Continent. The Ukrainian national team did not lie for the third time - in the last two World Cup qualifying cycles, they were just short of a victory in the playoff matches for a ticket, but this time the team coached by O. Blokhin won their group and is the first among the Europeans (excluding the hosts Germans) to start preparing for the final tournament in Germany in 2006. For the Ukrainians to win Group 2, they needed a victory at home against Georgia - although the hosts led after R. Rotan's goal, G. Gakhokidze equalized the score in the final minute with a penalty kick. However, favorable results in other matches allowed the 50,000 people gathered in Kiev to triumph - Denmark thanks to a dramatic goal by S. Larsen at the end of the match, managed to snatch a point in Turkey, meaning the Turks cannot catch up to the Ukrainians anymore. In the third group matches on Saturday, Albania defeated the underdog Kazakhstan and maintained the fifth position. A surprise was presented in Group 1 by Romania, who, with A. Mutu scoring twice, overcame the Czech Republic and moved past them into second place, although the Czechs have played two fewer matches. The Netherlands continues to lead the group, narrowly defeating Armenia with R. van Nistelrooy's goal, while Andorra played a goalless draw with Finland at home. In Group 3, Latvia hardly has any hopes left after losing 1-2 against Estonia in the Baltic derby after a 65-year break. Portugal, the group leader, did not spare Luxembourg at home, scoring six goals unanswered, while Russia managed to break Liechtenstein with two goals from A. Kerzhakov and equalize points with Slovakia in second place. The most difficult situation is in Group 4, where four teams still contend for the top two spots. Despite having fewer points and playing more matches than their opponents, Israel seems to have fewer chances. Israel played a 1-1 draw away with the leading Switzerland in the group due to a better goal difference, Ireland holds the second position, and France climbed to third position after defeating the Faroe Islands 3-0. One of the most unpredictable and dramatic matches of the day took place in Slovenia - in the battle for second place in Group 5, the hosts played against Norway and lost 2-3 in the last minute with a goal from M.G. Pedersen. Italy, currently in the first position, finished 1-1 against Scotland away. A surprise also came from Moldova, who won their first victory of the qualifying cycle at home with a two-goal margin against Belarus. Leading Group 6 is Poland, who narrowly defeated Austria 3-2 at home after a tough battle, temporarily maintaining a two-point advantage over the England team having played fewer matches. England won 1-0 against Wales away thanks to a goal from J. Cole. Northern Ireland celebrated their first victory, defeating Azerbaijan at home. As we already know, after the defeats to Serbia and Montenegro, the fate of the Lithuanian national team now depends not only on their own results - our team will need to win the next two matches and earn at least one point in the last one while hoping for favorable results in other matches. Bosnia and Herzegovina, currently in a slightly better position than Lithuania, leapfrogged them by defeating Belgium at home, which dropped to fifth place with 8 points. In Group 8, all three leading teams won their matches: Sweden thrashed Bulgaria 3-0 at home, Hungary defeated Malta 4-0, and Croatia won 3-1 against Iceland. Therefore, the battle for the first place in this group is between Croatia and Sweden, with Hungary still having a chance to fight for the second position trailing by five points behind the Swedes. World Cup qualifying match statistics Group 1: Andorra 0 - 0 Finland Armenia 0 - 1 Netherlands Romania 2 - 0 Czech Republic Standings: (Position, Team, Played, Won, Drawn, Lost, Goals, Points) 1. Netherlands 9 8 1 0 21-3 25 2. Romania 11 7 1 3 19-10 22 3. Czech Republic 9 7 0 2 28-9 21 4. Finland 9 4 1 4 16-14 13 5. Macedonia 10 2 2 6 10-19 8 6. Andorra 10 1 2 7 4-27 5 7. Armenia 10 1 1 8 5-21 4 Group 2: Georgia 1 - 1 Ukraine Albania 2 - 1 Kazakhstan Turkey 2 - 2 Denmark Standings: 1. Ukraine 10 7 3 0 16-4 24 2. Turkey 10 4 5 1 21-9 17 3. Greece 9 4 3 2 12-7 15 4. Denmark 9 3 4 2 15-10 13 5. Albania 10 4 0 6 9-17 12 6. Georgia 9 2 3 4 13-18 9 7. Kazakhstan 9 0 0 9 4-25 0 Group 3: Estonia 2 - 1 Latvia Russia 2 - 0 Liechtenstein Portugal 6 - 0 Luxembourg Standings: 1. Portugal 9 7 2 0 30-4 23 2. Slovakia 9 5 3 1 22-7 18 3. Russia 9 5 3 1 18-11 18 4. Latvia 10 4 2 4 17-17 14 5. Estonia 10 4 2 4 14-16 14 6. Liechtenstein 10 1 2 7 9-21 5 7. Luxembourg 9 0 0 9 4-38 0 Group 4: Switzerland 1 - 1 Israel France 3 - 0 Faroe Islands Standings: 1. Switzerland 7 3 4 0 14-5 13 2. Ireland 7 3 4 0 11-4 13 3. France 7 3 4 0 8-1 13 4. Israel 8 2 6 0 11-9 12 5. Cyprus 7 1 1 5 7-12 4 6. Faroe Islands 8 0 1 7 3-23 1 Group 5: Moldova 2 - 0 Belarus Scotland 1 - 1 Italy Slovenia 2 - 3 Norway Standings: 1. Italy 7 4 2 1 10-6 14 2. Norway 7 3 3 1 9-5 12 3. Slovenia 7 2 3 2 8-8 9 4. Belarus 7 1 4 2 10-9 7 5. Scotland 7 1 4 2 4-5 7 6. Moldova 7 1 2 4 3-11 5 Group 6: Northern Ireland 2 - 0 Azerbaijan Wales 0 - 1 England Poland 3 - 2 Austria Standings: 1. Poland 8 7 0 1 25-7 21 2. England 7 6 1 0 14-3 19 3. Austria 7 3 2 2 13-11 11 4. Northern Ireland 7 1 3 3 7-13 6 5. Wales 7 0 2 5 5-12 2 6. Azerbaijan 8 0 2 6 1-19 2 Group 7: Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 - 0 Belgium Serbia and Montenegro 2 - 0 Lithuania Standings: 1. Serbia and Montenegro 7 4 3 0 12-0 15 2. Spain 7 3 4 0 10-2 13 3. Bosnia and Herzegovina 7 2 4 1 8-8 10 4. Lithuania 7 2 3 2 7-5 9 5. Belgium 7 2 2 3 7-8 8 6. San Marino 7 0 0 7 2-23 0 Group 8: Sweden 3 - 0 Bulgaria Iceland 1 - 3 Croatia Hungary 4 - 0 Malta Standings: 1. Croatia 7 6 1 0 19-4 19 2. Sweden 7 6 0 1 26-2 18 3. Hungary 7 4 1 2 13-11 13 4. Bulgaria 7 2 2 3 11-14 8 5. Iceland 8 1 1 6 11-21 4 6. Malta 8 0 1 7 2-30 1
