The World Cup qualifiers held three favourites’ victories on Saturday evening, two tickets for Qatar punched, but also a big surprise.
Group D: Five scorer points for Mbappé
In Group D, France qualified for the World Cup this evening: After an 8-0 victory over Kazakhstan, the defending champions can finally start planning for Qatar. The outstanding man on the pitch was Kylian Mbappé, who scored a hat-trick within 26 minutes (6th, 12th, 32nd) – the first in a competitive match for the Equipe Tricolore since Dominique Rocheteau on 30 October 1985. The French remained hungry and increased the score to 5-0 after the break with Karim Benzema’s brace (55th, 59th). The Real Madrid striker’s second goal was set up by Mbappé. Juve professional Adrien Rabiot (75th), Griezmann (84th, FE) and Mbappé (87th) finally scored goals six, seven and eight.
Group E: Belgium qualified – Wales hopefuls
Belgium also booked their place in the World Cup after beating Estonia 3-1 at home Christian Benteke (11th) and Yannick Carrasco (53rd) scored for the Red Devils, before Erik Sorga’s equaliser (70th) only briefly brought some suspense. Joker Thorgan Hazard, who came in for brother Eden, removed the last remaining doubts about qualification (74th). BVB’s Thomas Meunier was the only Bundesliga professional in the starting eleven for the Belgians.
Right behind them in Group E is Wales, who climbed to second place for the first time on the penultimate matchday. The Welsh left no stone unturned in a 5-1 win over Belarus (last, goal difference -17). Leader Aaron Ramsey scored twice (2nd, 50th FE), Liverpool youngster Neco Williams (20th), Spurs pro Ben Davies (77th) and Burnley defender Connor Roberts (89th) also got on the scoresheet. The late goal by Artem Kontsevoy (87th) was only a cosmetic measure. On Tuesday (20.45), Wales (14 points, against Belgium) and the Czech Republic (11 points, against Estonia) will face each other in a long-distance duel.
Group G: Depay’s brace not enough
The third European team expected to qualify directly on Saturday were the Netherlands. After Norway’s 0-0 draw with Latvia, the eleventh-placed side could have clinched an early berth in Group G with an away win in Montenegro. And for a long time, Bonds coach Louis van Gaal’s team looked like a sure winner, but Depay’s brace (25th, penalty; 54th, hook) was not enough in the end. The home side showed their resilience and equalised with a double strike (Vukotic, 82nd; Vujnovic, 86th) within four minutes.
Now Oranje, who could even miss out on World Cup qualification altogether, have to play a final match against Norway on Tuesday. Turkey, coached by Stefan Kuntz, can at least secure a place in the play-offs with a win in Montenegro after their 6-0 defeat of Gibraltar