The first misfire of England, four quick goals from Italy and a sensation in Greece: how the sixth round of selection for the 2022 World Cup ended

Salvation of Poland in Warsaw

Perhaps the main event of the day was England's misfire in the match against Poland.

The current vice-champions of Europe approached the confrontation in Warsaw with a series of five victories, and in case of another success, they could practically guarantee themselves getting into the final stage of the World Cup, and at the same time discard the main competitor in the standings.

The meeting was not the most spectacular.

Gareth Southgate's wards, in a proprietary manner, completely blocked access to their own goal.

The eminent guests possessed the ball and the initiative, but also practically did not create dangerous moments.

As a result, even shots on goal have become a rarity.

Kamil Glick amused the fans gathered in the stands a little.

Already in the added time to the first half, he began to grab Kyle Walker by the throat.

As a result, a scuffle began on the field, and the defender and Harry Maguire received a yellow card.

After the break, the favorite added in aggression, and the Poles finally closed in their own half.

In the end, it bore fruit.

In a completely dry game, the result was almost made by Harry Kane.

The captain unexpectedly shot from outside the penalty area and hit his right corner.

Wojciech Szczęsny could have saved the team, but he was late with the jump, because he did not see the moment of the shot.

The forward scored the 41st goal for the England national team and came out on to a clear fifth place in the list of the best scorers of the “Three Lions” in history, ahead of Michael Owen.

However, a strange decision by Southgate prevented the guests from scoring three points.

The coach did not make any substitutions.

As a result, in the ending, the British naturally pressed against their gates and let them in.

Let Robert Lewandowski leave the field for the first time in the current qualification without scoring a goal, in the 92nd minute he delivered an effective serve to Damian Szymanski, who "hung" in the air of the short Luke Shaw and sent the shell into the net with his head.

But even a miraculous rescue did not help Poland retain the second place in the group.

Albania bypassed it thanks to a crushing victory over San Marino.

Defeat from Italy at Reggio Emilia

Italy, on the other hand, is back on track for victory.

Autumn began not so well for the reigning champions of the continent.

First, they parted with Bulgaria, and then with Switzerland.

But Roberto Mancini's team simply had no right to lose points in the home confrontation with Lithuania.

As a result, even the serious rotation arranged by the coaching staff did not prevent the hosts from achieving defeat.

Lorenzo Insigne, Ciro Immobile and Marco Verratti were not included in the application.

And Leonardo Bonucci, Giorgio Chiellini and Manuel Locatelli remained on the bench.

The castles did not affect the result in any way.

The updated "Squadra Azzurra" did not leave any chances to the modest rival.

The Balts lasted only 11 minutes, after which they conceded four goals in 19. Moise Keene was especially good.

The young striker, who played the first meeting in the current qualification, scored twice.

Giacomo Raspadori could have scored a double, but his first goal was scored on Edgaras Utkas.

After that, the Italians relaxed and distinguished themselves only once in the second half.

Giovanni Di Lorenzo made a neat serve to the far post, and the ball suddenly flew into the far corner.

Thus, the favorite not only returned to the victorious path, but also beat two achievements at once.

Firstly, we managed to update the world record for the longest unbeaten streak - 37 matches in all tournaments.

Secondly, the Italians, for the first time in history, scored four goals in the first half hour of the meeting.

Beating of Iceland in Reykjavik

Germany also defeated the opponent on Wednesday.

The Germans on the road left no chance for the Icelanders, who were experiencing serious staffing problems - 4: 0.

The Bundestim, under the leadership of the new head coach Hans-Dieter Flick, is not only not losing points, but also not conceding.

Moreover, he is the second specialist after Joachim Loew, who began his career in this national team with three dry wins.

The eminent guests managed to open an account already in the fourth minute. Moreover, the line judge initially canceled Serge Gnabry's goal due to an offside position, but his colleagues at VAR corrected his mistake. And in the middle of the first half, Antonio Rudiger struck someone else's goal after filing a standard. Finally removed all questions at the beginning of the second half of the meeting Leroy Zane, previously marked with an assist.

Although the intrigue died, the fans immediately got a new one - whether the unlucky Timo Werner will score.

The Chelsea striker has traditionally ruined one dangerous moment after another.

But in the 88th minute, he still “removed the curse”.

The forward from outside the penalty area struck a light blow from the bottom.

Hannes Halldorsson missed the ball between his hands, and he with a rebound from the bar at the last moment rolled over the line.

It is curious that Kai Havertz did not specifically play on finishing moves, but only sent the projectile into the net.

And Werner, despite his bad luck, distinguished himself in the third match in a row with the national team.

Along the way, the Germans managed to break away from their competitors.

Armenia sensationally failed to beat Liechtenstein at home (1: 1), but remained in second place, as Romania and North Macedonia also fell apart in peace (0: 0).

Defeat of Sweden in Athens

In addition to England, Sweden also had one hundred percent on the eve of the reporting game day, which won three victories in the first three matches.

However, Tre Krunur suffered an unexpected defeat from Greece on the road - 1: 2.

Thus, in qualifying there was only one team that did not lose points - Denmark.

It is worth noting that the Scandinavians in this match, which was served by the Russian team of judges headed by Sergei Karasev, were not lucky.

They possessed the advantage and could repeatedly hit other people's gates, but every time there was not enough of every little thing.

So, Matthias Svanberg and Krasnodar midfielder Viktor Klasson sent the ball to the post.

The hosts relied on counterattacks, and after the break it worked.

First, Anastasios Bakasetas took advantage of the opponent's failure in the center of defense and opened the scoring.

And then Vangelis Pavlidis from close range closed the chamber of his partner.

In this case, the story from the meeting between Iceland and Germany was repeated.

Karasev's assistant on the line recorded an offside position, but the referee at VAR changed his decision.

Immediately, the Swedes managed to reduce the gap in the long run to a minimum thanks to the mistake of Odysseas Vlachodimos, who reflected the ball right in front of him.

But the guests did not have time to escape.

Their misfire was taken advantage of by the Spaniards, who took first place in Group B, who won a labor victory over Kosovo - 2: 0.

Now they are ahead of the competitor by four points.

However, the Scandinavians have two meetings in reserve and are still leading in terms of lost points.

Battle of Belarus in Kazan

The decision to hold two nominally home matches in Kazan turned out to be quite successful for the national team of Belarus.

Even though the neighbors didn’t score points on the lawn of “Centralny”, they gave battle to the opponents who were significantly superior in class.

At first, Wales snatched a victory here only in the 94th minute, and then Belgium experienced serious problems, hitting the gate of Sergei Chernik only once.

Quite worthy, considering that Belarusians conceded eight in Leuven.

On the one hand, this turned out to be due to the desire of Roberto Martinez to save the leaders.

Romelu Lukaku, Thibaut Courtois, Yannick Carrasco, Axel Witsel and Kevin de Bruyne did not come to Russia, and Eden Hazard remained in reserve.

On the other hand, the composition of the current bronze medalists of the World Championship is still very powerful.

The guests scored the only and winning goal in the 33rd minute.

Alexis Salemakers beat an opponent in a foreign penalty area and fell.

However, while everyone was thinking about whether the referee would appoint a penalty, Dennis Prat grabbed the projectile and gently sent it to the far corner.

In the future, Martinez's team could repeatedly increase the advantage in the score, but every time he lacked luck.

And in several episodes, Chernik saved his rival.

Also among the hosts is Lokomotiv striker Vitaly Lisakovich, who almost single-handedly tried to create sharpness in front of the goal.

At the same time, his younger brother, 19-year-old Ruslan, entered the field from the very first minutes.

For him, this fight was his debut for the national team.