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Ukraine's Artem Dovbyk after his goal to make it 2-1
Photo:
Armin Durgut / AP
Three starting places for the European Football Championship in Germany are still up for grabs, Israel won't get any of them. The Israelis lost 1:4 (1:2) against Iceland on Thursday evening. The playoff semi-final was played in Budapest due to the war in Gaza. Iceland, on the other hand, still has a chance of reaching the European Championships and will face Ukraine in the playoff final on Tuesday. They won a dramatic 2-1 (0-0) game against Bosnia-Herzegovina. Ukraine was behind until the 85th minute and then turned the game around.
Robert Lewandowski and his Polish teammates can also continue to dream of the European Championships. The Poles won their playoff semi-final against Estonia 5-1 (1-0) in Warsaw on Thursday. On Tuesday, Poland will face Wales, who beat Finland 4-1 (2-1). Georgia (2-0 against Luxembourg) and Greece (5-0 against Kazakhstan) are playing for the third European Championship ticket that is still available.
Iceland won against Israel 4-1 (2-1) after falling behind, with Albert Guðmundsson scoring three goals (39th minute, 83rd, 87th). Despite the clear result, Israel had a chance of winning and even took the lead thanks to a penalty kick from Eran Zahavi in the 31st minute of the game. Zahavi also had a chance to equalize late in the game, this time with a hand penalty. But he missed the attempt, then Iceland turned up the heat and made everything clear.
In addition to Guðmundsson, Arnór Ingvi Traustason also scored for Iceland in the first half (42'). Israel's Roy Revivo was shown the red card after a serious foul (73').
Ukraine looked like a sure loser for a long time, played harmlessly and was behind after an own goal by Mykola Matwijenko (56th). Shortly before the end, however, the Ukrainians pulled themselves together. Substitute Roman Yaremchuk made it 1-1 (85'), and just three minutes later Artem Dovbyk headed the lead. The Ukrainians no longer gave these away.
The Poles took the lead with a goal from Przemysław Frankowski (22nd minute). The hosts also benefited from the early yellow-red card against the Estonian midfielder Maksim Paskotsi (27th). Piotr Zieliński (50th), Jakub Piotrowski (70th) and Sebastian Szymański (77th) scored the other goals for Poland. In addition, Estonia's captain Karol Mets, who is under contract with second division leaders FC St. Pauli, scored an own goal (74th). Martin Vetkal scored the guests' consolation goal (78').
Greece had no trouble against Kazakhstan. Anastasios Bakasetas with a penalty kick (9th) and Dimitris Pelkas (15th) took a comfortable lead early on. Before the break, Fotis Ioannidis (37th) and Dimitrios Kourbelis (40th) made everything clear. Shortly before the end, the overwhelmed Kazakhs scored an own goal. Kazakhstan rarely came forward and although they had 14 goals, they never threatened the Greeks.
Finland only had a short hope in Wales. David Brooks gave the Welsh the lead in the third minute. Neco Williams added in the 38th minute. But Finland repeatedly played courageously forward - and was rewarded: Ex-Schalke player Teemu Pukki scored 1-2 shortly before half-time (45th). Immediately after the break, Wales struck again: Brennan Johnson scored (47'), and shortly before the end Daniel James finally decided the game (87'). Although Finland had significantly more possession, Wales had many more high-quality opportunities.
The national team of Georgia has taken an important step towards the European Championship in Germany. The team coached by former Bayern professional Willy Sagnol won their playoff semi-final against Luxembourg 2-0 (1-0) on Thursday.
Budu Zivzivadze, who plays for Karlsruher SC in the 2nd Bundesliga, gave the hosts the lead in the 40th minute. In the second half, the Spanish referee José Maria Sanchez took center stage. He took back Luxembourg's supposed equalizer by Gerson Rodrigues (53') after looking at the video images. Maxime Chanot had previously prevented Georges Mikautadze from scoring a goal. The Luxembourger was shown a red card for this. With his second goal (63'), Zivzivadze made everything clear.
kjo/dpa