Cristiano Ronaldo stops hat-trick as Portugal beat Luxembourg – Round-up of World Cup Qualifiers | Football News

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick as Portugal beat Luxembourg 5-0 in Group A qualifying for the World Cup.

Ronaldo converted two penalties in the opening 13 minutes before ending the three times of his career for the club and the country with a late header.

Bruno Fernandes and Palhinha also found the target as Portugal moved one point behind the leaders of the Serbia group, which they host in the final phase of the matches.

Portugal’s victory sets off a direct shot with Serbia for the first place after they overcame Azerbaijan 3-1 in Belgrade.

Group I: Crowd problems in Albania and Wembley

Albaniaagainst the World Cup Poland was temporarily suspended after home fans threw objects at opposition players celebrating the opening goal in Tirana.

Karol Swiderski gave the Poles a 1-0 lead with 13 minutes of the Group meeting before he and his teammates were covered in plastic drinking bottles from the stands. The players left the pitch for more than 20 minutes after the incident at Air Albania Stadium.

Poland held on to their slim lead when play resumed to rise above their hosts and move three points behind group England leaders in the race to reach the tournament of the year. next in Qatar.

Prior to the long-delayed incident, Polish midfielder Piotr Zielinski was also targeted with an object from the crowd.

Albania, who are bidding to reach a World Cup final for the first time, will travel to Wembley to face Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions next month, before ending their campaign in home to Andorra.

A forgettable night on and off the pitch for the home team leaves them five points away from England and two behind Poland, with the play-offs seeming to be their only realistic hope. to qualify.

Under the pair England were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw by Hungary amid crowd worries at Wembley on Tuesday, meaning a former qualifier of the last nervous with Albania awaits in November if they want to secure an automatic passage to the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

Hungary were beaten 4-0 by England last month but took the lead when Luke Shaw’s high pocket allowed Roland Sallai to score from the penalty spot (24) and it was necessary to finishes the back-post by John Stones (37) to draw the hosts level.

Raheem Sterling’s header hit the post after half-time as England began to find their way but despite dominating the second period and saw good chances passed by Sterling and Harry Kane – who was replaced by With 15 minutes played, Gareth Southgate had a fantastic opportunity to reply but his shot flew harmlessly into the side-netting of the goal.

Earlier, Hungarian fans – who had been punished for the racist abuse of England players when the sides met in September – cheered the home side by stopping a knee, holding up a banner against the gesture for equality, fought with the police at the stands, and released a flare when they scored. One arrest was made for a rationally aggravated public order offense following comments made to a steward.

Hungary had seen their own chances of reaching Qatar diminish since they lost to England, with Albania beating them at home and away, but their draw at Wembley means the Group leaders I England realistically need to beat Albania at Wembley on November 12 before their last group game against minnows San Marino.

Andorra won the battle of the bottom two in Group I with a 3-0 victory in San Marino – the first away win in 16 attempts and the biggest international victory they have ever had.

Group F: Scotland ends Moldova’s confrontation

Lyndon Dykes saves Scotland with a dramatic late winner against Faroe Islands to put Steve Clarke’s team within 90 minutes of a World Cup-qualifying play-off spot.

The Scots traveled to Torshavn at the highest level after a wonderful 3-2 win over Israel at Hampden Park on Saturday, but the visitors found everything a bit of a struggle.

However, with four minutes of normal time remaining, a cross from substitute Nathan Patterson came out of Dykes and ended up in the net and after what seemed like an eternity while Slovenian referee Matej Jug checked for handball, the goal was awarded. for 1- crucial. 0 wins.

Scotland need three points from the last two Group F matches next month, the first of which is a trip to the Moldova makeweights section before the last home game for the runaway group winners Denmark, which sealed first place to become the third side to reach Qatar 2022 with a 1-0 win over Austria, sealed by Joakim Maehle’s second-half strike.

Elsewhere, Israel bounced back from last Saturday’s beautiful defeat in Scotland as Eran Zahavi and Mu’nas Dabbur hit to secure a 2-1 win over 10-man Moldova.

Group C: Northern Ireland hopes to end in Bulgaria

Bad week for Northern Ireland worsened Tuesday evening as they witnessed two crisp Todor Nedelev strikes Bulgaria come from behind to win 2-1 at Sofia.

Conor Washington’s sixth international goal had given Ian Baraclough’s side a half-time lead as they seemed to have responded well to Saturday’s controversial 2-0 defeat in Switzerland that effectively ended it. -qualification hopes for the World Cup, but everything went wrong after the break.

Bulgarian boss Yasen Petrov pulled out his pack at half-time and reaped the benefits, although Nedelev took credit as he beat Bailey Peacock-Farrell well twice in 11 minutes to turn things around. just after the hour.

This led to further frustration for Baraclough, who had finally built some positive momentum last month but saw things unfold quickly in the last week, Qatar’s dream now definitely dead.

Elsewhere, Switzerland ended Bulgaria’s qualifying hopes with a 4-0 home win Lithuania.

The Breel Embolo double and the attacks of Renato Steffen and Mario Gavranovic ensured the emphatic victory that moved the Swiss level on 14 points with the leaders of Group C Italy and away from -Bulgaria, located in third place on eight points.

This means that European champions Italy will enter next month’s meeting with Switzerland in Rome just in front of the goal difference as both sides fight for the top spot.

Group B: The battle between Sweden and Spain goes to the wire

Sweden climbed to Spain in first place in Group B with a 2-0 win over Greece, thanks to second-half strikes by Emil Forsberg and Alexander Isak.

Sweden’s win sets an exciting final in the group, with the Swedes leading Spain by two points with two matches each, one of which is a cross-country meeting in Spain on Day 10.

Group D: Pukki sets Finnish record

Teemu Pukki sar Finlandrecord scorer by netting both goals in a 2-0 win over Kazakhstan.

The Norwich striker’s double took him on 33 international goals, one more than Finnish legend Jari Litmanen.

The victory leaves Finland third in Group D, one point behind Ukraine, which drew 1-1 with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and four after the French leaders.