The UEFA Euro 2020 lineup on Thursday began to take shape after big-hitters France and England qualified for next year’s finals alongside Turkey and the Czech Republic.
World champions France reached the tournament without having to kick a ball thanks to Turkey sealing their own qualification after a goalless draw with Iceland in the early match.
Chelsea outcast Olivier Giroud then moved to within two international goals of France great Michel Platini with a late penalty that ensured a comeback win over world No. 175 Moldova.
The scrappy victory at a chilly Stade de France put Didier Deschamps’ side two points ahead of Turkey at the top of Group H ahead of their final match at Albania tomorrow.
The celebratory mood was initially dampened when Vadim Rata punished abject defending to give Moldova a shock ninth-minute lead.
However, Raphael Varane leveled for the hosts 10 minutes before break, despite furious protests from Moldova’s players and their coach, who were convinced Giroud had fouled goalkeeper Alexei Koselev in the buildup.
Giroud then slotted home his 39th France goal from the spot in a confident manner that defied the fact that he has only played 20 minutes for Chelsea since last month’s international break.
“I could and should have scored before the penalty. We quite simply didn’t get off to the start we should have done,” Giroud told French TV.
Harry Kane fired England into the Euros in style with a hat-trick that helped last year’s FIFA World Cup semi-finalists dismantle poor Montenegro 7-0 at Wembley.
Kane struck his treble in the first half as Gareth Southgate’s side racked up five before the break in England’s 1,000th match, making light of the absence of Raheem Sterling, who was dropped by Southgate earlier in the week after an altercation with teammate Joe Gomez.
“We wanted to put on a show in our 1,000th game and with five goals in the first half I think we did that,” Kane said.
England displayed the firepower that will make them one of the favorites for next year’s European Championship as they sealed top spot in Group A.
The victory took them to 33 goals in seven qualifying matches following Tammy Abraham’s first international goal, further strikes from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Marcus Rashford, as well as an own-goal from Aleksandar Sofranac.
Kane moved sixth in the all-time list of England goal scorers by taking his tally for the qualifying campaign to 11.
The Czech Republic followed England into the tournament after coming from behind to beat third-placed Kosovo 2-1.
They join former World Cup winners Spain and Italy, who kick off the multi-host tournament at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico on June 12 next year; dark horses Belgium; Poland; Russia; and Ukraine.
Reigning European champions Portugal were made to wait for their place, despite Cristiano Ronaldo hitting his ninth international hat-trick in a 6-0 thrashing of Lithuania in Faro, Portugal.
Pizzi, Goncalo Paciencia and Bernardo Silva rounded off an easy win that kept Portugal second in Group B behind already-qualified Ukraine and one point clear of third-placed Serbia, who beat Luxembourg 3-2.
They will secure their spot at next year’s finals with a victory in Luxembourg tomorrow.
Ronaldo has now scored 98 international goals after a seventh-minute penalty, a superb curling effort midway through the first half and a simple finish in the 65th minute, and the Juventus attacker will this weekend be hoping to become the second player to reach 100.
The Netherlands and four-time world champions Germany will make add to an already mouth-watering lineup today, should they make it out of Group C.
Ronald Koeman’s resurgent Netherlands need just a draw at Northern Ireland to guarantee a spot at their first international tournament since coming third at the 2014 World Cup.
Joachim Loew’s Germany have to better the Northern Irish’s result if they are to make the finals.
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