World Cup Qualifiers: Austria embarrassed themselves in Israel, disappointed France, and the Netherlands 4-0

All matches on Saturday

World champions France stumbled to the top of the table, Louis van Gaal took their first win, and Austria suffered a heavy defeat in Israel: World Cup qualifiers reached the end of the first half on Saturday night with many contested matches. The French were disappointed again in particular, in Ukraine the defending champions did not get past 1-1 (0-1) – and are still top of Group D.

Ukraine had advanced through Mykola Shabarenko (44), and Anthony Martial (50) equalized. With 9 points, France is now ahead of Finland and Ukraine (both 5) – but the Finns have played two fewer games. Thanks to a goal from Bayer Leverkusen’s Joel Bohjanpalo, they beat Kazakhstan 1-0 (0-0).

For Van Gaal, there was the first success in the second game after his return as Bond coach for the Netherlands. The important goal 4-0 (1-0) against Montenegro was on Memphis Depay (38, penalty kick / 62), Jorginho Wijnaldum (70) and Cody Gakbo (76). Oranje is now second in Group G – with 10 points, however, equal on points with Norway, which, led by top scorer Erling Haaland, won 2-0 (1-0) in Latvia. Both are behind Turkey (11) who beat 3-0 (0-0) over goalless soccer dwarf Gibraltar.

Disappointing World Cup qualifiers: Austria loses heavily, relegates to fourth place

Austria was a bitter evening in Israel. German coach Franco Foda’s team lost 2:5 (1:3) and fell to fourth place in Group F. Leaders Denmark (15 points) scored their fifth victory in their fifth match and won 1-0 (0-0) over the Faroe Islands without a glance. It is followed by Israel (10) now in second place, and Scotland (8) in third place after beating Moldova 1-0 (1-0). Just behind the Austrians. Manor Solomon (5th), Hoffenheim’s Monas Dabur (20th), Iran Zahavi (33/90) and Shaun Weizmann (58th) scored goals for Israel, who only had to shoot four times in the first four strikes. On the other hand, Austria counted 19 shots on goal at the end, and had many excellent chances, but they only succeeded thanks to Christoph Baumgartner of Hoffenheim (42) and Marko Arnautovic of the former Bremen (55).

In Group A, Serbia beat Luxembourg 4-1 (2-0) and now top the standings in front of the Portuguese (both 10) with equal points. Portugal did not play a game and won a test against World Cup hosts Qatar 3-1 (2-0) on Saturday. At the top of Group H, Russia and Croatia are still tied (both 10). Russia won 2-0 (1-0) in Cyprus, and Croatia won 1-0 (0-0) in Slovakia.

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