Sunday, 15 November 2020

Scotland end long finals wait to set up Wembley clash

EURO 2020 PLAYOFFS

[A]SF1ICELAND2-1ROMANIA
Reykjavik


Sigurdsson 16, 34

Maxim 63(p)


SF2BULGARIA1-3HUNGARYSofia


Yomov 89


Orban 17, Kalmar 47
Nikolic 75


FINALHUNGARY2-1ICELANDBudpaest


Nego 88, Szoboszlai 90+2

Sigurdsson 11

(Q) HUNGARY qualified for Euro 2020+1

[B]SF1BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA1-1NORTHERN IRELAND
Sarajevo


Krunic 14

3-4
pens

McGinn 53



SF2SLOVAKIA0-0IRELANDBratislava



4-2
pens



FINALNORTHERN IRELAND
1-2SLOVAKIABelfast


Skriniar 87 (og)

Kucka 17, Duris 110


(Q) SLOVAKIA qualified for Euro 2020+1


[C]SF1SCOTLAND0-0ISRAELGlasgow



5-3
pens




SF2NORWAY1-2SERBIAOslo


                      Normann 88
aet
Milinkovic 82, 102


FINALSERBIA1-1SCOTLANDBelgrade


Jovic 90

4-5
pens

Christie 52



(Q) SCOTLAND qualified for Euro 2020+1


[D]SF1GEORGIA1-0BELARUSTblisi


Okriashvili 7(p)




SF2NORTH MACEDONIA
2-1KOSOVOSkopje


Kololli 16 (og), Velkovski 33

Hadergjonaj 29


FINALGEORGIA0-1NORTH MACEDONIA
Tblisi




Pandev 56

(Q) NORTH MACEDONIA qualified for Euro 2020+1


SCOTLAND qualified for their first major tournament appearance this century after beating Serbia on penalties in Belgrade.

Derby County goalkeeper David Marshall was the Scottish hero after he saved the decisive spot-kick from Fulham forward Aleksandar Mitrovic.

And so, following so many false dawns and a few embarrassments down the years, Scotland have finally made it to their first major championship finals since Morocco dumped Craig Brown's side out of the World Cup on 23 June 1998.

Even taking this qualifying campaign in isolation, though, Scotland have taken a rather torturous, circuitous route to Euro 2020+1.

Steve Clarke's men missed out in the regular qualifiers to Belgium and Russia but gave themselves a second chance by winning their inaugural Nations League group against Israel and Albania.

The oddities of the decision by UEFA to combine the European qualifiers with the Nations League resulted in the Scots being quickly reunited with Israel in a one-off semi final at Hampden Park last month.

And, in a sign of things to come, the Scotland players collectively held their nerve, firing in five perfect penalties after a tense 0-0 draw.

Meanwhile, Serbia themselves had surprisingly removed the big threat posed by Norway and Borussia Dortmund hotshot Erling Haaland in their own semi final.

The final was played in skiddy conditions - and in a quiet first half, Sasa Lukic had the best Serbian chance, striking narrowly wide, before John McGinn called Predrag Rajkovic into action for just about the first time.

Scotland were much brighter after the interval and really should have taken the lead when Lyndon Dykes squared the ball to skipper Andy Robertson, only for the Liverpool full-back to blaze wildly over the bar. 

No matter. From their very next attack, Scotland did go 1-0 up after Celtic midfielder Ryan Christie turned and hit a low shot in-off the post from the edge of the box.

That might have been the cue for Scotland to hold on to what they had - but, instead, Clarke's men continued to play positively as chances came and went for Scott McTominay and Callum McGregor.

However, the second goal was not forthcoming and, inevitably, the tide eventually turned in the Serbs' favour as the regulation 90 minutes drew to a close. 

Still, even then, it looked like Scotland might have done enough when Luka Jovic's header sailed inches wide from Filip Mladenovic's cross.

But, as the the match headed towards stoppage time, danger man Jovic found himself completely unmarked and just six yards out.

He simply could not fail to score and his downward header duly forced the match into extra time - with Serbia suddenly carrying all of the momentum.

Despite this, the hosts fashioned only one major scare for Scotland when Marshall was forced to tip Nemanja Gudelj's viscous shot around the post.

And so, for only the second time ever, came a penalty shootout for Scotland.

Of course, their first occasion had come just a month prior - and, as mentioned, the Scots scored a perfect five out of five to beat Israel and reach this final.

Remarkably, they repeated the feat against Serbia as Leigh Griffiths, McGregor, McTominay, Oli McBurnie and Kenny McLean all converted and left Marshall to do the rest.

Sadly, the Home Nations joy from Scotland in Belgrade was not matched by similar scenes in Belfast, at least not from Northern Ireland who were beaten by Slovakia.

Ian Baraclough's men were looking to make it to back-to-back European Championships and made it to their final in a similar style to Scotland by beating Bosnia-Herzegovina on penalties.

In the final, though, the Northern Irish made a poor start in front of the 1,060 fans who had been allowed to attend Windsor Park - and Juraj Kucka gave a lead to the visitors after just 14 minutes following a bad giveaway by George Saville.

Deficits are nothing new for Northern Ireland in recent times - and, having come back from 1-0 down to get a draw against Bosnia in the semi, Baraclough's side set about producing a repeat performance.

Rather worryingly, it looked as if the Northern Irish might be leaving it too late - but, with three minutes left, Paddy McNair sent a low cross into the box and Milan Skriniar could only slice into his own net.

Incredibly, Northern Ireland might have won the tie inside the 90 minutes as substitute Kyle Lafferty went close.

However, the Reggina man's shot clipped the outside of the post and the action moved into extra time as the tension ratcheted up another notch.

By this point, both teams had weary legs and the match appeared to be meandering towards a penalty shoot-out.

But suddenly, with 10 minutes left, Slovakia regained the lead after Michal Duris beat Bailey Peacock-Farrell at his near post.

It was a heartbreaking blow for Northern Ireland and one from which they ultimately failed to recover - but there was, of course, still one more chance for the hosts in the final seconds.

Peacock-Farrell pumped the ball forwards and a cross from the right found Jonny Evans, entirely free and just six yards out.

For once, though, there was to be no late drama and no penalty shoot-out as the Leicester City centre-back headed straight into the grateful arms of Slovakian goalkeeper Marek Rodak.

Elsewhere in the playoffs, Hungary also left it late as they ended Icelandic hopes of a third successive major finals appearance.

Gylfi Sigurdsson's early goal from an awful goalkeeping error by Peter Gulacsi looked like it might be enough for Iceland as the clock ticked into the 88th minute.

But France-born Loic Nego then equalised for Hungary from close range and an extra 30 minutes at the Puskas Arena in Budapest beckoned.

The brightest star of this young Magyar team, Dominik Szoboszlai, had other ideas, though - and he ended the contest in stoppage time with a sweet strike in-off the post from 25 yards.

Now, of course, whatever happened in Playoff Path D was bound to be a piece of football history, as Georgia, Belarus, Kosovo and North Macedonia all began with the same ambition of reaching a first ever major finals.

The campaign ended with celebrations in Skopje as the North Macedonians beat Georgia in the final in Tbilisi after Genoa veteran Goran Pandev finished off a beautifully-worked move for the only goal of the game.

North Macedonia went on to spurn several opportunities to kill off the tie completely but, as the Georgians struggled to mount any sort of response, the single goal from Pandev always looked like it would be enough.

The draw for Euro 2020+1 has eventually been completed then.

Scotland slot into Group D alongside Croatia, Czech Republic and England with the mouthwatering clash against the Three Lions scheduled for a potentially sultry Friday night at Wembley on 18 June at 8pm.

North Macedonia will make their major finals debut in Group C against Austria - and also take on Ukraine and Netherlands - while, in Group E, Slovakia face neighbours Poland as well as Spain and Sweden.

Finally, in Group F, Hungary's reward for beating Iceland will be three titanic matches against defending champions Portugal, current world champions France, and recent world champions Germany.

In Group A, Wales meet Switzerland, Turkey and Italy - while the last of the 24-team line-up to be mentioned here are Belgium, Russia, Denmark and debutants Finland in Group B.

Currently scheduled to take place from 11 June to 11 July next year, UEFA still intends for the 60th anniversary edition of the tournament to be hosted by 12 venues across the continent.

Unfortunately, it remains a worrying possibility that the coronavirus pandemic may yet still force a change of plans.

EURO 2020+1 FINALS DRAW
11 June 2021 - 11 July 2021
 

GROUP A 
Rome
Baku


GROUP B
Copenhagen
St Petersburg


GROUP C 
Amsterdam
Bucharest


GROUP D
London
Glasgow



[A1]TURKEY  [B1]DENMARK  [C1]NETHERLANDS  [D1]ENGLAND

[A2]ITALY  [B2]FINLAND  [C2]UKRAINE  [D2]CROATIA

[A3]WALES  [B3]BELGIUM  [C3]AUSTRIA  [D3]SCOTLAND

[A4]SWITZERLAND  [B4]RUSSIA  [C4]N MACEDONIA
  [D4]CZECH REP














GROUP E 
Bilbao
Dublin


GROUP F
Munich
Budapest







  [E1]SPAIN  [F1]HUNGARY





  [E2]SWEDEN  [F2]PORTUGAL





  [E3]POLAND  [F3]FRANCE





  [E4]SLOVAKIA  [F4]GERMANY





GROUP A
11-June(8pm)TURKEY v ITALYRome
12-June(2pm)WALES v SWITZERLANDBaku
16-June(5pm)TURKEY v WALESBaku
16-June(8pm)ITALY v SWITZERLANDRome
20-June(5pm)SWITZERLAND v TURKEYBaku
20-June(5pm)  ITALY v WALESRome

GROUP B
12-June(5pm)DENMARK v FINLANDCopenhagen
12-June(8pm)BELGIUM v RUSSIASaint Petersburg
16-June(2pm)FINLAND v RUSSIASaint Petersburg
17-June(5pm)DENMARK v BELGIUMCopenhagen
21-June(8pm)RUSSIA v DENMARKCopenhagen
21-June(8pm)  FINLAND v BELGIUMSaint Petersburg

GROUP C
13-June(5pm)AUSTRIA v N MACEDONIA
Bucharest
13-June(8pm)NETHERLANDS v UKRAINEAmsterdam
17-June(2pm)UKRAINE v N MACEDONIA
Bucharest
17-June(8pm)NETHERLANDS v AUSTRIAAmsterdam
21-June(5pm)N MACEDONIA v NETHERLANDSAmsterdam
21-June(5pm)  UKRAINE v AUSTRIABucharest

GROUP D
13-June(2pm)ENGLAND v CROATIALondon
14-June(2pm)SCOTLAND v CZECH REPUBLICGlasgow
18-June(5pm)CROATIA v CZECH REPUBLICGlasgow
18-June(8pm)ENGLAND v SCOTLANDLondon
22-June(8pm)CROATIA v SCOTLANDGlasgow
22-June(8pm)  CZECH REPUBLIC v ENGLANDLondon

GROUP E
14-June(5pm)POLAND v SLOVAKIADublin
14-June(8pm)SPAIN v SWEDENBilbao
18-June(2pm)SWEDEN v SLOVAKIADublin
19-June(8pm)SPAIN v POLANDBilbao
23-June(5pm)SLOVAKIA v SPAINBilbao
23-June(5pm)SWEDEN v POLANDDublin

GROUP F
15-June(5pm)HUNGARY v PORTUGALBudapest
15-June(8pm)FRANCE v GERMANYMunich
19-June(2pm)HUNGARY v FRANCEBudapest
19-June(5pm)PORTUGAL v GERMANYMunich
23-June(8pm)PORTUGAL v FRANCEBudapest
23-June(8pm)GERMANY v HUNGARYMunich

LAST 16
26-June(5pm)[38]  RUNNER-UP A v RUNNER-UP BAmsterdam
26-June(8pm)[37]  WINNER A v RUNNER-UP CLondon
27-June(5pm)[40]  WINNER C v THIRD D/E/FBudapest
27-June(8pm)[39]  WINNER B v THIRD A/D/E/FBilbao
28-June(5pm)[42]  RUNNER-UP D v RUNNER-UP ECopenhagen
28-June(8pm) [41]  WINNER F v THIRD A/B/CBucharest
29-June(5pm)[44]  WINNER D v RUNNER-UP FDublin
29-June(8pm)  [43]  WINNER E v THIRD A/B/C/DGlasgow

QUARTER FINALS
02-July(5pm)(45)  WINNER [41] v WINNER [42]Saint Petersburg
02-July(8pm)(46)  WINNER [39] v WINNER [37]Munich
03-July(5pm)(47)  WINNER [40] v WINNER [38]Baku
03-July(8pm)  (48)  WINNER [43] v WINNER [44]Rome

SEMI FINALS
06-July(8pm)WINNER (46) v WINNER (45)London
07-July(8pm)  WINNER (48) v WINNER (47)London


NATIONS LEAGUE

A1
(Q) Italy
(R) Bosnia-Herzegovina


Italy 1-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina
Netherlands 1-0 Poland
Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-2 Poland
Netherlands 0-1 Italy
Bosnia-Herzegovina 0-0 Netherlands 
Poland 0-0 Italy 
Italy 1-1 Netherlands
Poland 3-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina
Netherlands 3-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina
Italy 1-0 Poland
Bosnia-Herzegovina 0-2 Italy
Poland 1-2 Netherlands

A2
(Q) Belgium
(R) Iceland


Iceland 0-1 England
Denmark 0-2 Belgium
Belgium 5-1 Iceland
Denmark 0-0 England
England 2-1 Belgium
Iceland 0-3 Denmark
England 0-1 Denmark
Iceland 1-2 Belgium
Belgium 2-0 England
Denmark 2-1 Iceland
Belgium 4-2 Denmark
England 4-0 Iceland

A3
(Q) France
(R) Sweden


Portugal 4-1 Croatia
Sweden 0-1 France
France 4-2 Croatia
Sweden 0-2 Portugal
Croatia 2-1 Sweden
France 0-0 Portugal
Croatia 1-2 France
Portugal 3-0 Sweden
Portugal 0-1 France
Sweden 2-1 Croatia
Croatia 2-3 Portugal
France 4-2 Sweden

A4
(Q) Spain
(R) Ukraine


Germany 1-1 Spain
Ukraine 2-1 Switzerland
Spain 4-0 Ukraine
Switzerland 1-1 Germany
Spain 1-0 Switzerland
Ukraine 1-2 Germany
Germany 3-3 Switzerland
Ukraine 1-0 Spain
Germany 3-1 Ukraine
Switzerland 1-1 Spain
Spain 6-0 Germany
Switzerland 3-0* Ukraine

B1
(P) Austria
(R) Northern Ireland


Norway 1-2 Austria
Romania 1-1 Northern Ireland  
Austria 2-3 Romania
Northern Ireland 1-5 Norway
Norway 4-0 Romania
Northern Ireland 0-1 Austria
Norway 1-0 Northern Ireland
Romania 0-1 Austria
Austria 2-1 Northern Ireland
Romania 3-0* Norway
Austria 1-1 Norway
Northern Ireland 1-1 Romania

B2
(P) Czech Republic
(R) Slovakia


Scotland 1-1 Israel
Slovakia 1-3 Czech Republic
Czech Rep 1-2 Scotland
Israel 1-1 Slovakia
Israel 1-2 Czech Republic
Scotland 1-0 Slovakia
Scotland 1-0 Czech Rep
Slovakia 2-3 Israel
Slovakia 1-0 Scotland
Czech Republic 1-0 Israel
Czech Republic 2-0 Slovakia
Israel 1-0 Scotland

B3
(P) Hungary
(R) Turkey


Russia 3-1 Serbia
Turkey 0-1 Hungary
Hungary 2-3 Russia
Serbia 0-0 Turkey
Russia 1-1 Turkey
Serbia 0-1 Hungary
Russia 0-0 Hungary
Turkey 2-2 Serbia
Turkey 3-2 Russia
Hungary 1-1 Serbia
Hungary 2-0 Turkey
Serbia 5-0 Russia

B4
(P) Wales
(R) Bulgaria


Bulgaria 1-1 Ireland
Finland 0-1 Wales
Wales 1-0 Bulgaria
Ireland 0-1 Finland
Ireland 0-0 Wales
Finland 2-0 Bulgaria
Finland 1-0 Ireland
Bulgaria 0-1 Wales
Bulgaria 1-2 Finland
Wales 1-0 Ireland
Ireland 0-0 Bulgaria
Wales 3-1 Finland

C1
(P) Montenegro
(R-playoff) Cyprus


Azerbaijan 1-2 Luxembourg
Cyprus 0-2 Montenegro
Cyprus 0-1 Azerbaijan
Luxemb'rg 0-1 Montenegro
Luxembourg 2-0 Cyprus
Montenegro 2-0 Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan 0-0 Cyprus
Montenegro 1-2 Luxemb'rg
Azerbaijan 0-0 Montenegro
Cyprus 2-1 Luxembourg
Luxembourg 0-0 Azerbaijan
Montenegro 4-0 Cyprus

C2
(P) Armenia
(R-playoff) Estonia


North Macedonia 2-1 Armenia
Estonia 0-1 Georgia
Armena 2-0 Estonia
Georgia 1-1 North Macedonia
Armenia 2-2 Georgia
Estonia 3-3 North Macedonia
Estonia 1-1 Armenia
North Macedonia 1-1 Georgia
North Macedonia 2-1 Estonia
Georgia 1-2 Armenia
Armenia 1-0 North Macedonia
Georgia 0-0 Estonia

C3
(P) Slovenia
(R-playoff) Moldova


Moldova 1-1 Kosovo
Slovenia 0-0 Greece
Slovenia 1-0 Moldova
Kosovo 1-2 Greece
Greece 2-0 Moldova
Kosovo 0-1 Slovenia
Greece 0-0 Kosovo
Moldova 0-4 Slovenia
Moldova 0-2 Greece
Slovenia 2-1 Kosovo
Greece 0-0 Slovenia
Kosovo 1-0 Moldova

C4
(P) Albania
(R-playoff) Kazakhstan


Lithuania 0-2 Kazakhstan
Belarus 0-2 Albania
Kazakhstan 1-2 Belarus
Albania 0-1 Lithuania
Kazakhstan 0-0 Albania
Lithuania 2-2 Belarus
Lithuania 0-0 Albania
Belarus 2-0 Kazakhstan
Albania 3-1 Kazakhstan
Belarus 2-0 Lithuania
Albania 3-2 Belarus
Kazakhstan 1-2 Lithuania

D1
(P) Faroe Islands


Latvia 0-0 Andorra
Faroe Islands 3-2 Malta
Andorra 0-1 Faroe Islands
Malta 1-1 Latvia
Faroe Islands 1-1 Latvia
Andorra 0-0 Malta
Latvia 0-1 Malta
Faroe Islands 2-0 Andorra
Malta 3-1 Andorra
Latvia 1-1 Faroe Islands
Andorra 0-5 Latvia
Malta 1-1 Faroe Islands
D2
(P) Gibraltar


Gibraltar 1-0 San Marino
San Marino 0-2 Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein 0-1 Gibraltar
Liechtenstein 0-0 San Marino
San Marino 0-0 Gibraltar
Gibraltar 1-1 Liechtenstein






*Romania v Norway was awarded as a 3–0 win to Romania after being cancelled as Norway could not travel to the match due to a member of the squad testing positive for COVID-19
*
Switzerland v Ukraine was awarded as a 3–0 win to Switzerland after being cancelled as Ukraine were placed in quarantine prior to the match due to positive COVID-19 tests in the team

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