The historical success of Kazakhstan, the missed chance of Denmark and the major defeat of Ukraine: what do you remember about the matches of the League of Nations

Ideal replacements for Clarke

The postponed match of the first round with Ukraine was special for the Scottish team.

The last meeting between these teams took place quite recently.

In early June, the wards of Steve Clark in the semi-final of the playoffs for the right to play at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar lost to the opponent with a score of 1:3 and missed the chance for the first time since 1998 to qualify for the world championship.

Just a few months later, the opponents' paths crossed again in Glasgow at Hampden Park, and this time the hosts managed to take revenge.

The guests had one of the worst meetings of the year and did not create a single chance.

They had only three shots on goal, none of which hit the target.

The hosts had an overwhelming advantage and only miraculously could not open an account for a long time.

In a number of episodes, the Ukrainians were saved by Anatoly Trubin.

In another moment, when he was powerless too, the crossbar played for the "zhovto-Blakyt".

However, closer to the final whistle, the Scots still got their way.

John McGinn otter defender in the penalty area and accurately struck into the far corner.

The replacements of the coaching staff also did a great job.

Lyndon Dykes, barely appearing on the field, designed a double in eight minutes after corners.

He was assisted twice by fellow reservist Ryan Fraser.

So the hosts not only took a convincing revenge, but also came out on top in Group 1 of League B. In the struggle for leadership, they were just ahead of Ukraine.

Excellent result Adiev

But the national team of another country of the post-Soviet space - Kazakhstan - arranged a holiday for their own fans.

However, domestic football fans can also be happy for her, because the Russian specialist Magomed Adiev led the team to success.

The coach managed to perform a small miracle, because after the draw no one expected that the Kazakhs, lacking stars from the sky, would outrun Slovakia, Azerbaijan and Belarus in the quartet of 3 League C.

However, they went through the tournament in the same breath, including twice beating the main favorite of the Slovaks.

Only the Belarusians managed to take away points from them, having achieved a draw at the home stadium.

And it was in the return match with them in Astana that the hosts could, in case of victory, guarantee themselves the first place.

As a result, the desired result was achieved, but not without nerves.

The guests answered Mikhail Gabyshev's goal with Pavel Savitsky's ball in added time to the first half.

After the break, the leader stormed the opponent's gate with all his might, but achieved what he wanted only in the 79th minute.

And again, there was a “Russian trace” as CSKA footballer Baktiyor Zainutdinov scored.

With the final whistle at the stadium "Astana-Arena" uniform madness began.

30 thousand fans gathered in the stands did not let the players and Adiev leave the field for a long time.

You can understand them, because before the local team did not give many reasons for joy.

Now she not only deserved a promotion, but also made it to the playoffs for the right to take part in Euro 2024.

Awesome shot by Eriksen

Enough interesting events in the elite division.

For example, the Danish team did not take advantage of the chance to guarantee themselves a ticket to the Final Four ahead of schedule and utterly aggravated the struggle for the first line in group 1. To solve the problem, they needed a victory over Croatia in Zagreb, but instead Kasper Yllmann's wards were defeated (1:2) and allowed a competitor to get ahead.

The key confrontation was remembered immediately by three goals from a long distance.

And they were clogged for every taste.

At the beginning of the second half, Borna Sosa, neatly, as in billiards, put the projectile into the far corner from the penalty semicircle.

At the 77th minute, Christian Eriksen scored an incredible shot from 30 meters exactly to the top nine.

And literally in the next attack, only Lovro Mayer, who entered the field, put an end to the combination of a blow with a rebound from the lawn.

In parallel, the French made a gift to competitors.

Even though they lost their chances of leadership in advance, they beat Austria at home and deprived the team of Ralf Rangnick of the chances of reaching the Final Four - 2:0.

Separately, in the composition of the tricolors, Olivier Giroud should be noted, who not only scored the 49th goal for the national team and almost caught up with the record holder Thierry Henry (51), but also became the oldest goal scorer in its history (35 years and 11 months and 23 days) , beating the achievement of Roger Marchais, which had been held since 1959.

Pasver's Amazing Achievement

The national team of the Netherlands could not do without its veteran.

Surprisingly, the Ajax goalkeeper Remko Pasver only played the first match for her at the age of 38 years, 10 months and 14 days.

Thus, he managed to take second place in the list of both the oldest Orange players and the most experienced debutants.

The record is held by another goalkeeper Sander Boschker (39 years 7 months and 12 days).

In the away match with Poland, Pasver confidently played to zero, as he had little work to do.

The guests had the advantage and easily secured a two-goal advantage.

Points in multi-way combinations were put by Cody Gakpo and Steven Bergwein.

In the event of a misfire in Belgium in a duel with Wales, the Netherlands had the opportunity to guarantee themselves the first place ahead of schedule, but the current bronze medalists of the World Championship did not give them such an opportunity, also winning - 2: 1.

Kevin De Bruyne and Michy Batshuayi scored two points each in the "goal + pass" system, and the latter now shares the leadership in the tournament in this indicator with Erling Haaland.

Both players have six points each.

However, it will still be difficult for the Red Devils to push their neighbors from the top of the quartet 4. After all, for this they not only need to take the upper hand in a face-to-face meeting on the road in the last round, but also win by more than three goals, since in the first round they are big lost - 1:4.

Yuksek's inimitable debut

The confrontation between Turkey and Luxembourg in Istanbul was another proof that the level of teams in Europe is gradually growing, and any of them is capable of causing problems to a competitor superior in class.

So, at the Basaksehir Fatih Terim stadium, the hosts faced serious difficulties and almost lost.

Although they acted as the first number, they could not do anything with the sharp counterattacks of the opponent.

Yes, and they showed excellent implementation, distinguished themselves three times with three shots on target.

As a result, an unexpected joker saved the team of Stefan Kunz.

In the end, the German threw Fenerbahce midfielder Ismail Yuksek, who was called up to the national team for the first time, into battle.

And he, after only five minutes, scored a magnificent sweeping shot from outside the penalty area.

What's more, the 23-year-old debutant helped his national team move up to Division B.

Well, the representatives of the Grand Duchy can only be praised.

Football in the country is actively developing and no longer corresponds to the former "dwarf" level.

Thus, the national team scored nine points in the qualification for the 2022 World Cup, and immediately entered the C division in the League of Nations. In the current LN draw, it imposed competition on the clear favorite to the last.