France, Portugal and Belgium qualified for the Euro
The French beat the Netherlands, Portugal beat Slovakia, and Belgium beat Austria. They will go to Germany next year.
The French national team qualified for the 2024 European Championship (June 14 – July 14 in Germany) after defeating the Netherlands (1-2) thanks to a brace by its star and captain, Kylian Mbappe, on Friday in Amsterdam.
Ineffective in four appearances for Paris Saint-Germain, Kylian Mbappé responded to emerging criticism by overtaking Michel Platini as the Blues’ top scorer (42 goals).
In the other group meeting, Greece beat the Republic of Ireland 2-0, and was eliminated from the Euro race, which is the fourth victory in the qualifiers that allows it to occupy second place behind France.
Double from Ronaldo
Portugal, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, also secured a ticket to the 2024 European Championship by defeating Slovakia (3-2), in Porto, to expand the gap at the top of Group 10, which will allow it to obtain at least second place in the qualifiers.
Thanks to Paris Saint-Germain striker Gonzalo Ramos’s opener and Cristiano Ronaldo’s brace, the Seleção continued their perfect form, recording seven wins in as many matches, while conceding their first goals of the season.
Slovakia is in second place, but Luxembourg, which drew 1-1 with Iceland, is two points behind. Bosnia and Herzegovina ranks fourth in the group after beating Liechtenstein 0-2.
Belgium suffered
Belgium was afraid, but it was able to qualify for the 2024 European Championship thanks to its painful 3-2 victory over Austria in Vienna.
Without Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne or Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, the Belgians, who guaranteed to see Germany next June, achieved a painful victory over the Group F runner-up and finished first with 16 points.
Austria will have to wait until it is certain of its qualification, which it successfully qualified for in one of its last two matches, on Monday, against Azerbaijan – which beat Estonia 0-2 on Friday – or Estonia in November.
AFP/YDE
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