🇪🇺 Serbia reach Euro 2024; Spain, Belgium seal top spots; Scotland held | OneFootball

Sunday saw several Euro 2024 qualifiers taking place with possible permutations in a handful of groups.

Here’s what went down

Scotland and Norway deliver goal feast

Scorers:  McGinn (PEN) 13′, Østigård (OG) 33′, Armstrong 59′; Dønnum 3′, Larsen 20′, Elyounoussi 86′

Scotland’s hopes of eclipsing Spain to Group A’s top spot fell short after their six-goal thriller with Norway.

Aron Dønnum stunned Hampden Park in the third minute by drilling home from Jørgen Strand Larsen’s cutback.

Steve Clarke’s side were handed a lifeline as John McGinn levelled from the penalty spot after Callum McGregor’s volley was handled.

Norway restored their cushion midway through the first half when Larsen tapped home after Julian Ryerson’s shot squirmed past Zander Clark.

The Tartan Army hit back as Scott McTominay’s corner sparked a leveller courtesy of Leo Østigård turning the ball into his own net.

They finally took the lead shortly before the hour mark when Stuart Armstrong met McGinn’s returned pass with a low drive from inside the area.

But there was a further twist in the tail as Mohamed Elyounoussi pounced to head home a late equaliser at the far post after Clark clawed at Ryerson’s cross.

Spain clinch top spot with bittersweet Georgia win

Scorers: Le Normand 4′, Torres 55′, Lochoshvili (OG) 72′; Kvaratskhelia 10′

Spain assured their place as Group A winners with a bittersweet victory over Georgia.

The Nations League holders took an early lead when Robin Le Normand glanced home a Ferran Torres free kick at the far post.

But the visitors were level just six minutes later as Khvicha Kvaratskhelia threatened to derail La Roja’s plans by sliding past Unai Simón.

Luis de la Fuente’s side also had to contend with seeing midfielder Gavi leave the pitch distraught midway through the half with an apparent knee injury.

La Roja retook the lead early in the second half as Torres met José Gayà’s cross with a downward header to add a goal to his previous assist.

A largely comfortable evening continued when substitute Lamine Yamal engineered a third for the hosts with a cross that Luka Lochoshvili’s deflected into his own net.

Perfunctory Portugal sign off with a clean sweep

Scorers: Fernandes 37′, Horta 65′

Portugal signed off their Group J campaign with a 100% win record after seeing off Iceland.

Bruno Fernandes delivered a breakthrough during a tetchy first half as he fired a low bouncing effort that eluded Hákon Valdimarsson.

The Seleção doubled their lead in the second half when Ricardo Horta bundled the ball home after Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal-line effort had been saved.

Roberto Martínez’s side are the only nation to have won all of their 10 group fixtures in this qualification campaign.

Lukaku seals Belgium’s top spot in Azerbaijan rout

Scorers: Lukaku 17′, 26′, 30′, 37′, Trossard 90′

Belgium ensured their spot as Group F leaders with a Romelu Lukaku-inspired rout over Azerbaijan.

The Roma forward racked up his 80th international goal in the opening stages with a trademark header from Jérémy Doku’s cross.

Matters worsened for the visitors as they saw midfielder Eddy Israfilov sent off after picking up two bookings in the space of four minutes.

Lukaku doubled his tally midway through the first half after a lengthy VAR check with a sweeping close-range finish.

He followed that up just four minutes later by heading home Wout Faes’s delivery to claim a quick-fire hat-trick.

A fourth arrived as Domenico Tedesco’s side refused to relent heading into the interval through a strike from Orel Mangala’s tee-up.

Leandro Trossard added a fifth at the end of second-half normal time by arriving in the penalty area to meet Doku’s second assist.

The Red Devils finished their final qualification outing by overtaking Austria in top spot by a solitary point.

Serbia get over the line with edgy draw against Bulgaria

Scorers: Veljković 18′, Babić 82′; Rusev 59′, Despodov 69′

Serbia were made to work for their spot in the Euro 2024 next summer but got the job done, earning their first qualification for the tournament since 2000.

Needing just a draw to qualify, Serbia dominated the early period of the game, eventually getting their reward in the 18th minute through Miloš Veljković. The Werder Bremen centre back headed home from a corner to put one foot in Germany 2024.

The home side continued to pile on the pressure, looking to get the second goal that would almost guarantee the victory, but could not find it despite having six shots on the Bulgarian goal in the first 45.

Serbia were left ruing their missed chances just before the hour when Bulgaria equalised. A big error from Filip Kostić inside his own box allowed Georgi Rusev to smash home to level things up.

It got even worse ten minutes later when Kiril Despodov raced through and finished in style to put the Bulgarians in the lead very much against the run of play.

Goals elsewhere meant Serbia were still safe but the sealed it themselves with an equaliser in the 82nd minute. Dušan Tadić got his second assist, whipping a corner in that was headed in by Srđan Babić much to the relief of the Belgrade crowd.

Szoboszlai the star as Hungary seal comeback win and top spot

Scorers: Szoboszlai 66′, 68′, Nagy 90+3′; Rubežić 36′

Hungary were made to work for their win but had captain and talisman Dominik Szoboszlai to thank for performing a near-one man comeback.

Needing a win to have any chance of qualifying, Montenegro found themselves on the back foot for much of the first half, Hungary dominating possession and having numerous shots, albeit none were on target surprisingly.

They got the goal, however, against the run of play in the 36th minute. A long ball into the box led to confusion for the Hungarians, Stevan Jovetić headed it across the box and Slobodan Rubežić nodded home from close range.

Already qualified but requiring three points to guarantee top spot in the group, the home side pressed on in the second 45, and it was their main man Dominik Szoboszlai who turned the game on its head.

First, in the 66th minute, he danced through the Montenegro side before finishing brilliantly with a low shot in the corner of the goal. The second was courtesy of a lovely through ball from Martin Adam, but the close range finish was excellently taken.

Zsolt Nagy added some gloss to the scoreline late into injury time as Hungary topped the group ahead of Serbia in what was a very impressive qualifying campaign from the Magyars.

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