© EuroFootball.com
During the 2006 World Cup qualifying matches in Europe that took place on Wednesday, football enthusiasts were not disappointed - there were plenty of goals, intense, dramatic, and unpredictable matches, as well as surprises. The biggest surprise was recorded in Northern Ireland, where the local team defeated England by a narrow margin. Croatia unexpectedly did not defeat Malta, while victories in the final minutes were snatched by Bulgaria, Sweden, and Greece.
The Northern Irish had not beaten the English since 1927, and they achieved a sensational victory with a goal from D. Healy in the 74th minute. This defeat was taken advantage of by Poland, the leader of Group 6, who narrowly beat Wales at home and increased their lead over England to 5 points. Nevertheless, for England to win the group, they would still need victories in the final two home matches against Austria and Poland. Azerbaijan also provided a surprise by playing to a draw against Austria, practically shattering the hopes of their opponents to compete for the second spot.
Group 1 leader Netherlands, having the most points among all European teams, had no trouble defeating Andorra 4-0 at home, while the Czech Republic also easily defeated Armenia 4-1 and overtook Romania to return to third place. Finland crushed Macedonia 5-1, maintaining their hopes of taking the third spot. In the remaining matches, the Netherlands would only need a point against the Czechs for victory in the group, while the Czech Republic would need two victories to secure the second spot.
In Group 2, Ukraine, already securing a spot for the next year in Germany, lost at home to Turkey. Denmark thrashed Georgia playing with ten men for a large portion of the match, while European champions Greece had to work hard against Kazakhstan and secured a victory only after a goal in the final minute. Greece would only need two victories to secure second place, but they would still have to defeat the Danes to achieve that. Turkey, currently in a better position, would aim to maintain parity with both of their main rivals.
In Group 3, leaders Portugal played to a draw away with Russia and could almost start preparing for the World Cup final tournament - a point against Latvia or Liechtenstein would be sufficient. Slovakia again failed to take advantage of a draw with Russia, this time unable to beat Latvia. In the third group matches, Liechtenstein defeated Luxembourg, with Luxembourg still without points.
From the leaders' group in Group 4, Ireland was pushed out after home defeat to France, although Israel and Switzerland secured victories against the Faroe Islands and Cyprus respectively with a two-goal difference and still had hopes. Now, Italy only needs a draw against Slovenia or Moldova to secure first place, while the battle for second place will be between Norway and Scotland with Slovenia, who will still face each other.
As we know, Lithuania suffered a defeat against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Group 7, giving them hope for three points, while in the duel of leaders Serbia and Montenegro played a 1-1 draw with Spain away and could now take first place. Spain and Bosnia and Herzegovina still have a chance to earn three points in matches against San Marino, while Belgium could also join the fight by defeating Lithuania away and Spain at home.
There was a change of leaders in Group 8 - Croatia failed to defeat Malta away and ceded the first position to Sweden, who defeated Hungary with a goal in the last minute. This means that before the upcoming duel for first place in Zagreb, the Swedes acquired a one-point advantage over Croatia. In another match, although Iceland and Bulgaria no longer had hopes of qualifying for the World Cup, one of the most impressive matches of the day took place between these teams - Iceland led 2-0 away, but later conceded three goals, with the winning goal scored four minutes before the end of the match.
World Cup qualifying Europe zone statistics
Group 1:
Czech Republic 4 - 1 Armenia
48' [1 - 0] Marek Heinz
52' [2 - 0] Jan Polak
58' [3 - 0] Milan Baros
76' [4 - 0] Jan Polak
85' [4 - 1] Ara Hakobyan
Finland 5 - 1 Macedonia...
(continues)
