Klasson's winning ball, Lewandowski's 70th goal and Italy's misfire after Euro: how the 4th round of selection at the 2022 World Cup ended

Stockholm Syndrome of Spain

The main surprise of the September 2022 qualifiers came from the Swedish national team.

The Scandinavians beat the Spaniards in their field and removed them from the first line in Group B. The match ended with a score of 2: 1 in favor of the home team, and Krasnodar midfielder Viktor Klasson brought them the victory.

The beginning of the meeting turned out to be eventful.

Less than five minutes later, the teams managed to exchange goals scored.

The hero of both episodes was the Spanish midfielder Carlos Soler, who recently won the silver medal of the Olympic Games.

First, he took advantage of the soft canopy of Jordi Alba, after which he easily opened the gate of Robin Olsen.

But after the Swedes played the ball from the center of the field, Soler made a gross mistake with a pass back to Sergio Busquets.

This chance was used by Alexander Isak.

The Swedish striker immediately grabbed the shell and struck at the goal of the Spanish national team, which was defended by Unai Simon.

What was happening was not at all like the goalless draw played by the teams at Euro 2020.

After such a brisk start, the game calmed down until the second half, when the Spaniards tried to regain the lead, but Olsen did not allow this with his double save.

The Swedes responded with a breakthrough from Dejan Kulushevski on the left flank, after which Klasson definitely shot past Simon.

The semi-finalists of the European Championship never recovered from this shock and did not create chances to win back.

Spain suffered its first defeat to Sweden in 15 years, and at the same time interrupted an outstanding unbeaten run in the World Cup qualifiers.

Luis Enrique's wards have not lost in 66 matches in a row, and the last defeat was also from the Scandinavian team - from Denmark in 1993.

One step closer to a unbeaten record

After winning Euro 2020, the Italian national team was one step away from repeating the world record for the longest unbeaten run.

Roberto Mancini's wards at the end of the tournament remained undefeated in 34 matches in a row, while Spain and Brazil managed to avoid defeats in 35 games in a row.

The home meeting with Bulgaria, which the Italians had already beaten with a score of 2: 0 this spring, allowed them to catch up with these great teams.

The home team filed an application for a record already a quarter of an hour after the starting whistle.

Federico Chiesa beautifully broke through to someone else's penalty, played a wall with Ciro Immobile and opened the scoring.

But, as it happened twice at Euros, the goal of the 23-year-old winger was followed by a return ball.

The Italians were already playing out the first half, when suddenly the Bulgarians fled into a quick counterattack, which was completed by Serie B player Atanas Iliev.

In the second half of the meeting, the home team did not look like European champions at all.

They could not realize their chances, and after the first substitutions, even attempts to get ahead again disappeared.

Squadra Azzurra failed to win in regulation time for the third time in a row, but fulfilled its main goal and became a team that did not lose in 35 matches.

Next time Mancini's charges will face Switzerland, and in this game they will have a chance to show the best unbeaten run in the history of football.

Four unanswered goals at the Hungarian gate

The finalists of the last Euro, the British won the fourth victory in a row in the selection for the 2022 World Cup, which, apart from them, so far only the Danes have achieved.

Gareth Southgate's charges scored another three points in the match against the Hungarian national team, which closely followed them in Group I.

The first half of the meeting was frankly disappointing.

The British did not strike a single blow on target, and the home team was in no hurry to punish them for it.

But after the break, the guests' business went uphill.

The first to score was Raheem Sterling, who closed the cross along the goal.

After the goal, he took off his T-shirt and paid tribute to the popular streamer Steffy Gregg in his native Jamaica, who died at the age of 26 from coronavirus.

Minutes later, Sterling helped double the tally for Harry Kane, who never became his teammate this season.

The Tottenham forward scored in the 13th consecutive qualifying match for the major tournaments in which he took part.

In total, he scored the 39th goal and came close to the top five top scorers of the national team.

Soon the score in the match was already devastating.

Defender Harry Maguire shot after a corner kick and Hungarian goalkeeper Peter Gulachi was unable to hit the ball in the field.

Toward the end of the meeting, he made another serious mistake when he missed a blow from 22-year-old Declan Rice.

The Hungarians, for their part, almost did not bother Jordan Pickford, who played for the 20th time with a zero for the national team.

Lewandowski chasing Ronaldo

Poland rejoined the fight to get to the World Cup.

The first three matches brought Robert Lewandowski's team only four points and fourth place in Group I, but thanks to the victory over Albania, they overtook the Balkans and caught up on points with the Hungarians.

While fans are discussing Cristiano Ronaldo's scorer record, Lewandowski recalled that he ranks second after the Portuguese among the current European footballers. The Bayern striker opened the scoring against the Albanians by heading off a free kick in the first half. He scored his 70th goal for the national team, while being ahead of Ronaldo in average goals per game.

The guests were able to equalize the score quickly enough, but even before the break, the Poles again took the lead through the efforts of Adam Buksa, for whom this was the first match in the national team.

In the second half, Lewandowski again drew attention to himself with a magnificent pass on the right flank, which, however, did not bring him a double.

At the last moment he had to shoot along the goal line, and Grzegorz Krychowiak reacted to this pass.

The midfielder of Krasnodar scored his fifth goal for the national team in his career.

The point in the match was set by Karol Lynetta, whom the Albanians no longer bothered to score a minute before the end of regular time.

Continuation of the Armenian miracle

The Armenian national team continues to amaze in the current selection at the World Championship.

At the end of the day, she retained the leadership in Group J, which also includes Germany, Romania and Iceland.

In the fourth round, Joaquin Caparros' charges played away with North Macedonia and shared points with it.

On the one hand, this result cannot please the Armenian fans.

In the previous three rounds, the national team won all matches.

But at the same time she had to try to avoid defeat in Skopje, and one point in such a situation can be considered a good outcome.

The Macedonians struck 13 times on the goal of David Yurchenko, but none of their shot became an assist.

In the next match, Armenia will face the most difficult test in the face of Germany, which has nine points so far.

After the unsuccessful Euro 2020, the Germans beat Liechtenstein with a rather modest score of 0: 2.