The success of Ukraine, the character of Wales and Turkey, a gift from the Netherlands to Van Gaal: how the 10th round of selection for the 2022 World Cup ended

Key confrontation in Zenica

The Ukrainian national team had an amazing qualifying stage for the World Championship.

In eight matches, the team did not suffer a single defeat, but won only two victories.

Before the final round, the national team fell to third place, leaving Finland ahead, and made life extremely difficult for itself.

To get into the joints, it was required to beat unmotivated Bosnia and Herzegovina on the road and wait for a competitor to misfire in the confrontation with France.

In the end, both conditions were found.

The neighbors, albeit with difficulty, scored three points in Zenica.

And the first half left the fans rather depressing impression.

The hosts looked no worse and could well open an account.

So, shortly before the break, an incredible save was made by Georgy Buschan, who transferred the ball to the post after hitting at close range.

However, at the right time, the Ukrainians were saved by one of the star legionnaires - Alexander Zinchenko.

As he shot in the 1/8 finals with Sweden at Euro 2020, so in the qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, he scored the first goal in the decisive meeting.

Andrey Yarmolenko failed to close the cross from the flank, but the projectile bounced from him directly to his partner, who calmly hit the empty target.

And shortly before the final whistle, all questions about the outcome of the confrontation were removed by Artyom Dovbik, who came on as a substitute.

So, "zhovto-blakitnye" not only solved the problem, but also completed the second consecutive qualification of a major tournament without defeat.

In the qualification for Euro 2020, they won six wins and two draws.

Champion level in Helsinki

But luck turned away from the Finnish national team at the last moment. The team came as close as possible to their debut trip to the World Cup, but failed to cope with the current trophy holder France. Moreover, the first half was rather dictated by the owners. In a crowded stadium in Helsinki, although they gave the initiative to the opponent, they regularly responded with dangerous counterattacks. Lukasz Hradecki didn’t have to really get into the game. During the break, Markku Kanerva's wards left as a participant in the joints.

However, at the beginning of the second half, everything changed dramatically.

First, Zinchenko scored in a parallel meeting, and then the tricolor scored.

Karim Benzema and Kilian Mbappe played into the wall in the penalty area, and the Real Madrid forward, after a partner discount with his heel, struck an accurate blow.

With a high degree of probability, Hradecki could have dealt with him, if not for the leg of his own defender Leo Väisänen, from which the ball flew along a completely unpredictable trajectory for the goalkeeper.

And ten minutes later, the other's gates were hit by Mbappe.

And again, Väisänen played the role of the main antihero.

This time, he allowed the fast forward on the defensive flank to escape from him.

PSG striker burst into the penalty area and carefully twirled the shell into the far top corner with his right foot.

Cowardly football in Rotterdam

In Group G, before the final round, three teams - the Netherlands, Turkey and Norway - claimed the first two places at once.

However, in order to maintain the leadership, the Orangemen had enough to share points with the Scandinavians at home.

The guests, on the other hand, needed a victory in order not to depend on the outcome of the meeting of another competitor.

However, Stole Solbakken's team staked on defense.

In the first hour, the Norwegians created practically nothing in the attack.

Often they retreated in full force to their half and repeated the sad "achievement" of Russia in the confrontation with Croatia - they dealt only two blows, none of which hit the target.

Only in the last minutes did the Scandinavians try to go all-in, and the coaching staff even threw two attackers into the battle.

The favorite took advantage of this and made a couple of effective counterattacks.

Steven Bergwijn and Memphis Depay were struck by someone else's gate.

For the latter, this goal is 12th in the tackle, and the striker shared the first place in the qualifying scorers race with Harry Kane.

For the first time in eight years, the Netherlands made their way to the final stage of the world championship.

And the hosts' footballers made a nice gift to their mentor Louis van Gaal, who broke his thigh bone on the eve of the match and was forced to watch the game, sitting in a wheelchair.

The decisive contribution of youth in Podgorica

Perhaps, Montenegro, not the Scandinavians themselves, did the most to get into the joints of Norway. Having lost the chance to continue the struggle, the Balkans first sensationally took points from the Netherlands, and then gave battle to Turkey. Moreover, already in the third minute they managed to come out ahead. Former Dynamo Moscow striker Fatos Bechirai scored his fourth goal in qualifying.

To the guests' credit, they did not break down and managed to make an impressive comeback.

Representatives of the younger generation helped them get into the joints.

In the middle of the first half, the 23-year-old midfielder of Galatasaray Kerem Aktyurkoglu, who showed himself brightly in the confrontation with Lokomotiv in the Europa League, leveled the score.

And the decisive goal was scored by Feyenoord forward Orkun Kyokchu, born in 2000.

The striker came on as a substitute after the break, and after an hour of play he made a beautiful shot into the far nine from outside the penalty area.

This ball became the debut for the young athlete in the national team and at the same time so important.

Turkey, under the leadership of Stefan Kunz, nevertheless made it through the joints with great difficulty and took a step towards the first time since 2002 to go to the World Cup.

At the same time, the team was among the unseeded in the playoffs and may meet with Russia in the semifinals.

An important draw in Cardiff

Meanwhile, in octet E, a paradoxical situation developed, in which two teams were guaranteed to hit the joints at once.

Wales was ahead of the Czech Republic by three points before the final round, but the pursuer also solved the problem as one of the winners of the League of Nations groups.

And even if the British let the Czechs get ahead of themselves, they would also get into the extra round by a similar right.

But in the end there was no need to count the balls. The Welsh at their home stadium took away points from Belgium, which had guaranteed itself first place in advance - 1: 1. In this regard, Roberto Martinez released a semi-reserve squad on the field. Serious rotation did not prevent the guests from opening an account already in the 12th minute thanks to an accurate shot by Kevin De Bruyne. But the hosts won back even before the break. Kieffer Moore, after a pass from the flank, calmly accepted the ball and sent it to the far corner. The opponents failed to score more goals.

The Czechs in a parallel duel could not hit the gate of modest Estonia for a long time.

Only in the second half, after a corner kick, Jakub Brabec scored.

And in the end Jan Sikora doubled the lead of the favorite.

As a result, the team remained third.

For Wales, the point gained was incredibly important.

Thanks to him, the team at the last moment was among the seeded in the joints, ahead of Turkey in terms of the difference between goals scored and conceded.