Dutch qualify for World Cup with win over Norway; Turkey, Ukraine into play-offs
The Netherlands clinched the final automatic place in European qualifying for the 2022 World Cup as late goals from Steven Bergwijn and Memphis Depay sealed a 2-0 win over Norway on Tuesday, with Turkey and Ukraine grabbing play-off spots.
The Dutch, with injured coach Louis van Gaal watching from the stands in Roterdam, only needed a point to top Group G and came through a nervy encounter to finish two points clear of second-placed Turkey, who pipped Norway to a play-off spot.
Totenham winger Bergwijn smashed Arnaut Danjuma’s cross into the top corner with six minutes let at De Kuip.
Barcelona’s Depay then made it two a minute into injury time as he sloted home Bergwijn’s pass to seal the Netherlands a return to the tournament ater missing out on Russia in 2018.
The victory was played behind closed doors ater a partial lockdown was re-introduced last week due to an increase in cases of Covid-19.
“Of course there are many things that could be improved, but the result was the most important. We are going to Qatar,” Oranje captain Virgil van Dijk told broadcasters NOS.
“I was very sorry that the national coach was there from a distance and the fans were not there at all. We’re going to celebrate well inside (the stadium). I can’t wait for the World Cup.”
In Podgorica, Montenegro forward Fatos Beqiraj opened the scoring ater just four minutes to put Turkey in danger of missing out on a top-two finish.
Thevisitorsrespondedon22minutesasgalatasary atacker Kerem Akturkoglu finished acrobatically at the back post before Feyenoord youngster Orkun Kokcu added a second to secure a 2-1 win.
“There are very tough opponents in the playoffs,” Turkey’s Abdulkadir Omur said ater assisting Akturkoglu’s equaliser.
“We want to give the best fight there and go to the World Cup. I am very happy and proud in this shirt, I do everything I can.”
Thenetherlandsjoinbelgium,england,germany, Denmark, France, Croatia, Switzerland, Spain and Serbia to have qualified directly from Europe.
In the play-offs, Turkey are alongside Euro 2020 winners Italy, Portugal, Scotland, Russia, Sweden, Poland,wales,northmacedonia,ukraine,theczech Republic and Austria, with the draw on November 26 for the games in March.
Elsewhere, in Group E, Wales secured a home game in the play-offs ater a 1-1 draw in Cardiff againstbelgiumwithoutinjuredcaptaingarethbale.
In Group D, Finland missed out on the play-offs as Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappe scored in World Cup holders France’s 2-0 win in Helsinki.
The pair became the first France players to score in four successive Les Bleus games since David Trezeguet in 2003.
Ukraine took the play-off spot ater beating Bosnia and Herzegovina by the same scoreline thanks to Oleksandr Zinchenko and Artem Dovbyk’s second-half efforts in Zenica.
PJANIC EXPELLED FROM THE NATIONAL TEAM FOR SHISHA: Bosnia terminated Miralem Pjanic from the national team ahead of last night’s World Cup qualifier against Ukraine.
The Bosnian national team said the former Barcelona midfielder Pjanic was removed ater pictures spread on social media of him smoking shisha and drinking alcohol ater the match with Finland. Pjanic was loaned to Turkey’s Beşiktaş from Barcelona.