England can’t get past Czech-point, Scotland lose at Russian Roulette and Wales and Croatia battled to a point apiece in Cardiff.
After a thrilling set of European Championship qualifiers, England failed to seal their progress to Euro 2020, while Scotland left themselves too much to do and Wales saw matters taken out of their own hands as European countries fought for a place at next year’s Championships.
Czech Republic 2-1 England
England fell apart in Prague as the Czech Republic came from behind to delay England’s qualification party by at least one fixture.
Harry Kane opened the scoring from the penalty spot after just five minutes when Raheem Sterling saw his legs swept from underneath him after cutting back in the area.
Just four minutes later, however, Jakub Brabec scrambled home an equaliser following confusion after a corner, and while England retained more of the ball, the goal changed the flow of the game. The Czech Republic looked more dangerous, and with England ragged in defence, it looked to be only a matter of game before they conceded.
The winner came in the 85th minute when substitute Zdenek Ondrasek slammed home after a neat passing move up the right flank, Danny Rose having already been strongly challenged, losing the ball in the air. England must regroup as they travel to Bulgaria in search of three points to hold onto top spot in the group.
Russia 4-0 Scotland
Scotland were humbled by a second half performance by Russia in Moscow as the hosts scored four goals in under half an hour to put themselves within one win of group leaders Belgium.
Russia had dominated the game, but Scotland defended bravely for almost an hour before the man of the World Cup in Russia last year opened the scoring. Artem Dyzuba netted on 57 minutes, and three minutes later, a second by Magomed Ozdoev looked to have made the game safe.
Russia weren’t finished, however. Dyzuba added another on 73 minutes, before Aleksandr Golovin made it 4-0 with five minutes to play.
Wales 1-1 Croatia
Wales and Croatia battled to a hard-fought draw after a bruising encounter saw Croatia leave Wales happier with a point than their hosts.
Croatia were first to strike when Nikola Vlasic slotted home after just nine minutes from the edge of the box after Wales had thrown away possession and were turned over.
Undaunted and with nothing to lose, Wales surged forward before half-time, and Gareth Bale profited from a determined run from Ben Davies to jink out of the defenders way inside the box and score the equaliser.
Both sides pushed for a winner in the second half, but tempers were frayed by two rough challenges on Daniel James and Ethan Ampadu either side of the break and in the end, the draw was a fair result.
Elsewhere in Qualification
Cristiano Ronaldo edged closer the all-time International goalscoring record after he notched one Portugal’s three goals against Luxembourg.
Italy qualified for the finals after a solid 2-0 win over Greece booked their tickets to the finals, while Belgium won 9-0 against San Marino and both Netherlands and Germany put themselves into the ideal position with away victories over Belarus and Estonia.
Selected Results:
Thursday 10th October:
Netherlands 3-1 Northern Ireland
Croatia 3-0 Hungary
Slovakia 1-1 Wales
Austria 3-1 Israel
Belgium 9-0 San Marino
Russia 4-0 Scotland
Friday 11th October:
Czech Republic 2-1 England
Portugal 3-0 Luxembourg
Ukraine 2-0 Lithuania
Iceland 0-1 France
Saturday 12th October:
Bosnia-Herzegovina 4-1 Finland
Italy 2-0 Greece
Georgia 0-0 Republic of Ireland
Denmark 1-0 Switzerland
Malta 0-4 Sweden
Norway 1-1 Spain
Sunday 13th October:
Kazakhstan 0-2 Belgium
Belarus 1-2 Netherlands
Estonia 0-3 Germany
Wales 1-1 Croatia
