Italy edged out Northern Ireland, Türkiye received the higher of Romania and Viktor Gyökeres hit a hat-trick as Sweden beat Ukraine within the semi-finals of the European play-offs for the FIFA World Cup.
UEFA.com rounds up all of the motion from Thursday night time, together with shoot-out successes for Czechia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Path A
Sandro Tonali’s purpose and help helped Italy advance in opposition to dogged opponents. Federico Dimarco went shut twice for the hosts earlier than half-time, hitting a put up with a cross-shot and forcing Northern Ireland goalkeeper Pierce Charles to paw away his drive. On his worldwide return following harm, Tonali fired the Azzurri in entrance 11 minutes after the break after which arrange Moise Kean to register with ten minutes remaining, the striker making use of a deft end to seal victory in Bergamo.
Wales 1-1 Bosnia and Herzegovina (aet, Bosnia and Herzegovina win 4-2 on pens)
Kerim Alajbegović transformed the successful penalty as Bosnia and Herzegovina arrange a Path A final in opposition to Italy. After Harry Wilson’s roller hit the woodwork, a Dan James strike from distance put Wales forward. Another James effort was deflected on to the bar after which, after Karl Darlow’s save saved out Ermedin Demirović, Edin Džeko’s 73rd worldwide purpose with 4 minutes left pressured further time. Brennan Johnson and Neco Williams failed to search out the goal within the shoot-out, in the end teeing up Alajbegović for glory.
Path B
Viktor Gyökeres put in a chic efficiency in Valencia to information Sweden previous Ukraine. The ahead poked in Benjamin Nygren’s good cross six minutes into a good first half and repeated the trick six minutes after the restart as he latched on to Kristoffer Nordfeldt’s lengthy kick earlier than slotting a composed end. Gyökeres then smashed in a penalty to finish his hat-trick earlier than Matvii Ponomarenko headed a late comfort on his Ukraine debut.
The guests took the lead within the first half in Warsaw after Arbër Hoxha pounced on a defensive mistake and rounded the goalkeeper. Robert Lewandowski headed in from a nook with an hour gone, his 89th worldwide purpose levelling the scores. Then, moments after debutant Stavro Pilo had missed an opportunity to revive Albania’s benefit, Piotr Zieliński’s long-range end accomplished a turnaround that leaves Poland one sport away from their tenth World Cup finals.
Path C
Arda Güler shot over from the choose of the first-half possibilities however discovered his vary after the break, delivering the beautiful move from which Ferdi Kadıoğlu managed and completed on 53 minutes. Ianis Hagi shot narrowly large in response and Romania substitute Nicolae Stanciu struck the put up, however the house facet seemed simply as more likely to rating with Kenan Yıldız curling on to the crossbar whereas Arda Güler pressured a pointy Ionuț Radu save. Kosovo now stand between Türki̇ye and a primary World Cup finals since 2002.
The hosts led early on because of a strong Martin Valjent header, just for Veldin Hodža to comb in an equaliser. Lukáš Haraslín’s free-kick restored Slovakia’s lead earlier than the break however Kosovo wanted simply 65 seconds to equalise after the interval because of Fisnik Asllani’s glancing header and targets from Florent Muslija and Kreshnik Hajrizi put them in command of the sport. David Strelec’s added-time reply proved too late and Franco Foda’s facet now host Türki̇ye in Tuesday’s Path C final.
Path D
Denmark had been restricted to long-range efforts for a lot of the primary half, however Mikkel Damsgaard opened the scoring 4 minutes into the second interval. The winger then turned supplier for Denmark’s second, recognizing Gustav Isaksen who completed fantastically on the far put up. Isaksen received his second simply over a minute later, and a Christian Nørgaard header put the consequence past doubt with quarter-hour to play, serving to the Danes to shake off a number of the disappointment of lacking out on direct qualification.
Czechia 2-2 Republic of Ireland (aet, Czechia win 4-3 on pens)
Czechia saved alive their dream of a primary World Cup in 20 years with a dramatic success in Prague. The first three targets got here in eight first-half minutes; Troy Parrott’s penalty opened the scoring then Czechia goalkeeper Matěj Kovář deflected Dara O’Shea’s header into his personal internet, earlier than Patrik Schick’s spot kick halved the house deficit. In his first match as captain, Ladislav Krejčí headed the equaliser with 4 minutes of the 90 remaining and within the shoot-out Kovář saved two penalties, Jan Kliment stepping as much as convert the decisive effort.
Where and when is the 2026 World Cup?
The finals will probably be staged between 11 June to 19 July 2026 throughout 16 cities in Canada, Mexico and the United States:
United States (11): Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle
Mexico (3): Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey
Canada (2): Toronto, Vancouver
The final will probably be held in New York New Jersey Stadium on 19 July 2026.
