next year\u2019s World Cup<\/a> with a 3-1 win that ended tiny Faroe Islands\u2019 dream on Friday and the Netherlands moved closer to qualification by drawing in Poland.<\/p>\nCroatia knew before kickoff that avoiding defeat in Rijeka would guarantee qualification but it was caught cold in the 16th minute when Geza D\u00e1vid Turi scored with a deflected shot.<\/p>\n
The 2018 World Cup runner-up quickly recovered, however, as Jo\u0161ko Gvardiol leveled in the 23rd. Making his return to the national team after two years away, Petar Musa put Croatia ahead 2-1 after halftime from Josip Stani\u0161i\u0107\u2019s assist. In complete control, Croatia added a third goal when Nikola Vla\u0161i\u0107 volleyed in a precise cross from Ivan Peri\u0161i\u0107 at the far post.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal was achieved with a game to spare in the qualifiers. We can proudly say we\u2019ve qualified,\u201d Gvardiol said. \u201cWe\u2019ll travel to Montenegro for the final match in a relaxed manner but with the intention of taking all three points, as every game is preparation for what awaits us in the summer.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was Faroe Islands\u2019 final match in Group L and the team will finish behind runner-up the Czech Republic. The second-placed team advances to the playoffs for the World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.<\/p>\n
Montenegro beat Gibraltar 2-1 in the group\u2019s other game.<\/p>\n
Big draw for the Dutch<\/p>\n
Coach Ronald Koeman\u2019s Netherlands came from behind in Warsaw to draw with Poland 1-1 and take a major step toward direct qualification in Group G.<\/p>\n
With one match left to play, the Dutch top the group, three points clear of the Poles after Memphis Depay\u2019s second-half equalizer canceled Jakub Kami\u0144ski\u2019s opener. The Netherlands also has a much better goal difference before the final match against Lithuania. Poland takes on Malta on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am more disappointed than happy but on the other hand we made another step toward qualification,\u201d Koeman said. \u201cIt is not easy to play against teams who defend very deep. We had to be patient, we had to try to attack in different ways, but we did not create enough good opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Germany and Slovakia fighting for top spot<\/p>\n
In Group A, Germany is guaranteed of a top-two finish after Nick Woltemade scored twice in a scrappy 2-0 win at Luxembourg. Slovakia scored late to beat visiting Northern Ireland 1-0.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the second half, the commitment was noticeably better, and we also scored two good goals,\u201d Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann said. \u201cWe might have deserved to concede but we didn\u2019t, so we can consider ourselves lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n
Germany and Slovakia are level on points and will face off on Monday in Leipzig in a match that will decide the group winner. Slovakia had two goals disallowed before Tom\u00e1\u0161 Bob\u010dek broke the deadlock in added time.<\/p>\n
Malta upsets Finland for a rare win<\/p>\n
Malta snatched its first win in 2026 World Cup qualifying, converting its only shot on target to stun Finland 1-0 in Helsinki in Group G. According to the Malta Football Association, this was only the fourth win ever by Malta in World Cup qualifying.<\/p>\n
Midfielder Jake Grech came off the bench in the 79th minute and scored the decisive goal three minutes later from the edge of the area. It was only Malta\u2019s second goal in seven qualifiers, against 16 conceded.<\/p>\n
Malta rose to fourth in Europe Group G, five points behind Finland, which can\u2019t qualify.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP soccer: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/soccer<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By SAMUEL PETREQUIN Croatia secured a place at next year\u2019s World Cup with a 3-1 win that ended…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41370,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[23395,73,43,10049,38,133,135],"class_list":["post-41369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-faroe-islands","tag-2026-world-cup","tag-european-union","tag-faroe-islands","tag-latest-headlines","tag-news","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116240198114815523","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}