The qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup are in full swing in Europe. In the increasingly intense competition, several favorite teams demonstrated their superiority.
In the first round of Group D, France played against Ukraine and secured a convincing 0-2 victory. Olise and Kylian Mbappé added their names to the scoreboard for France. At the same time, Iceland also defeated Azerbaijan with five unanswered goals and recorded the largest score of the round.
Ukraine - France 0:2
Goals: Olise (10), Mbappé (82).
Ukraine - Trubin, Konoplya, Zabarny, Matviyenko, Zinchenko (Voloshin, 87), Zubkov (Nazarenko, 76), Yarmolyuk (Ocheretko, 82), Sudakov (Bondarenko, 82), Kalyuzhny, Gutsulyak, Dovbik (Vanat, 76).
France - Menyan, Kunde (Gusto, 90+2), Konaté, Upamecano, Din, Kone, Chuameni, Barcola (Rabio, 76), Olise (Aqliouche, 90+2), Doué (Dembele, 46, Ekitike 81), Mbappé.
Iceland - Azerbaijan 5:0
Goals: Palsson (45+2), Johannesson (47, 56), Gudmundsson (66), Hlinsson (77).
In Group I, the Italian national team started with a big victory under the new head coach Gennaro Gattuso. In the match against Estonia, the Azzurri won 5-0. The Israeli team defeated Moldova away with a resounding 0:4.
Italy - Estonia 5:0
Goals: Ken (58), Retegi (69, 89), Raspadori (71), Bastoni (90+2).
Italy: Donnarumma, Di Lorenzo, Bastoni, Calafiori, Dimarco (Cambiazo, 67'), Politano (Orsolini, 76'), Barella, Tonali (Locatelli, 76'), Zaccani (Raspadori, 66'), Ken (Espozito, 84'), Retegi.
Moldova - Israel 0:4
Goals: Perez (15), Solomon (35), Baribo (59), Gluh (77).
In Group B matches, Sweden conceded a 2-2 draw away against Slovenia, missing the victory in the final minutes. Switzerland secured a convincing 4-0 victory against Kosovo, taking full control of the field.
Slovenia - Sweden 2:2
Goals: Lovrich (46), Vipotnik (90) - Elanga (18), Ayyari (73).
Switzerland - Kosovo 4:0
Goals: Akanji (22), Embolo (25, 45), Widmer (39).
In Group C, an unexpected result was recorded: the match between Denmark and Scotland ended goalless. Greece defeated Belarus at home with a resounding score of 5:1.
Denmark - Scotland 0:0
Greece - Belarus 5:1
Goals: Karetsas (3), Pavlidis (17), Bakasetas (21), Kurbelis (36), Solis (63) - Barkovsky (72, penalty).
Interesting debates also took place in Group L. Croatia defeated the Faroe Islands by a narrow margin. The Czech Republic secured important points by defeating Montenegro away with a score of 0:2.
Faroe Islands - Croatia 0:1
Goal: Kramarić (31).
Montenegro - Czech Republic 0:2
Goals: Cherv (3), Chernpy (90+7).
Thus, the first qualifying rounds were full of several surprising results and large-scale victories. The favorites have begun to show their goal, but there are still many more matches ahead.
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