Paris (AFP)
Belgium, semi-finalist of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, dominated Wales in Leuven (3-1) and the Netherlands were outclassed in Turkey (4-2) on Wednesday at the opening of qualifying for the World-2022 in Qatar.
During this first day, Belgium was perfectly safe, with goals from Kevin De Bruyne (22nd), Thorgan Hazard (28th) and Romeo Lukaku (73rd).
The Welsh opened the scoring in the 11th minute by Harry Wilson, served by Gareth Bale.
Another great in Europe, Portugal, which received Azerbaijan, won with difficulty (1-0).
Croatia, finalist in 2018, was beaten (1-0) in Slovenia.
In Istanbul, the Dutch were humiliated, suffering a 3-0 in 46 minutes, thanks in particular to a brace from Lille striker Burak Yilmaz, who opened the scoring in the 15th minute.
AC Milan striker Hakan Calhanoglu scored the goal 3-0 after the locker room (46th).
The Oranje hoped by coming back to 3 to 2 in two minutes by Davy Klaasen (75th) and Luuk de Jong (76th).
But veteran Yilmaz, 35, extinguished their last hopes with a free kick in the top corner of Kurl (81st).
The Dutch will be able to recover from Saturday on the second day of qualifying by welcoming Latvia.
In a meeting relocated to Turin for health reasons, Portugal (group A) stumbled against Azerbaijan for a long time, before benefiting from a goal against his camp of Medvedev (1-0, 36th) to win on the most low margins.
The card of the evening was achieved by the Czech Republic (group E) who went to crush Estonia (6-2), thanks in particular to a hat-trick from West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek.
This 1st day of qualifying continues Thursday with in particular Germany which receives Iceland, Italy which welcomes Northern Ireland and Spain against Greece.
© 2021 AFP