Hungary qualified for its third straight Euros after a 2-2 draw in Bulgaria; Ronaldo scored his 128th goal for Portugal in their 2-0 win in Liechtenstein; Mohamed Salah netted four as Egypt thrashed Djibouti 6-0 in Cairo in their opening 2026 World Cup Qualifier
Thursday 16 November 2023 23:24, UK
Already sure of its spot at Euro 2024, Spain beat Cyprus 3-1 to remain top of Group A on Thursday, with Lamine Yamal, 16, scoring again for his country.
Yamal, who became Spain's youngest player and scorer in a 7-1 qualifying win against Georgia in September, was on target to open the scoring in Cyprus, with Mikel Oyarzabal and Joselu also netting first-half goals to give Spain a two-point lead over second-place Scotland after their 2-2 draw in Georgia, who stay in fourth place, two points behind Norway.
Also on Thursday, Hungary qualified for its third straight European Championship thanks to a stoppage-time own goal in a game marred by violent clashes outside an empty stadium in Bulgaria.
Bulgarian fans threw makeshift bombs, stones and plastic bottles at the police, who responded with a water cannon after trash cans were set on fire in the capital of Sofia. Local media reported several protesters were injured.
Thousands of Bulgarian supporters were protesting the management of the Bulgarian soccer federation, which they blame for the national team's poor results. Fans were made more upset with the decision to play the match against Hungary in an empty stadium.
The Bulgarian national team hasn't qualified for a major tournament in nearly two decades. It was coming off humiliating losses to Albania in a friendly and to Lithuania in qualifying, prompting fans to call for a nationwide protest and demand for the resignation of officials.
Bulgaria looked set to earn its first qualifying victory until defender Alex Petkov put the ball into his own net seven minutes into added time in the 2-2 draw. The point gave Hungary what it needed to secure its spot at Euro 2024 in Germany.
Martin Adam had put Hungary ahead in the 10th minute, before the hosts rallied with goals by Spas Delev 14 minutes later and Kiril Despodov from the penalty kick 11 minutes from time.
Both teams finished the match with 10 men after Bulgaria's Valentin Antov and Hungary's Milos Kerkez saw red in each half.
The result left Hungary two points ahead of Serbia after seven matches in Group G, while Montenegro secured a 2-0 win at home to Lithuania later on Thursday thanks to goals from Edvin Kuc and Stevan Jovetic. Hungary host Montenegro on Sunday.
Serbia will also secure its spot at next year's tournament if Montenegro fail to beat already eliminated Lithuania. However, last-placed Bulgaria stay on just two points.
Elsewhere, Austria opened up a two-point lead over Belgium in Group F by beating last-placed Estonia 2-0. Konrad Laimer and Philipp Lienhart scored first-half goals for the Austrians, who have played a game more than Belgium, with both sides having already qualified for Euro 2024.
Third-placed Sweden lost 3-0 at fourth-in-the-table Azerbaijan, who had Bahlul Mustafazade sent off just before the hour mark, with captain Emin Makhmudov scoring in each half for the hosts.
And Luxembourg thumped Bosnia 4-1 on Thursday night, but fell short of a top-two finish in Group J after Slovakia beat Iceland 4-2, leaving both teams in the hunt for a place for Euro 2024 via the playoffs.
The home side took the lead after six minutes when Mathias Olesen's header flew into the top righthand corner of Nikola Vasilj's goal.
Luxembourg extended the lead 20 minutes later thanks to a penalty from Gerson Rodrigues following a foul by Amir Hadziahmetovic on Leandro Barreiro following a VAR review that caused the away crowd to throw flares on to the pitch.
The hosts' third came 10 minutes after the break thanks to a Nihad Mujakic own goal. A late Renato Gojkovic goal gave the Bosnians some breathing space in added time, before Rodrigues scored his second goal two minutes later.
Ronaldo scored his fifth goal in his last three matches for Portugal, who he has now scored 128 goals for, in a 2-0 win in Liechtenstein.
The forward is also the joint leading scorer in qualifying with 10 goals, along with Belgium's Romelu Lukaku. Joo Cancelo also scored for Portugal, who have outscored opponents 34-2 so far in qualifying, while France are the only nation with a perfect record en route to Germany 2024.
Already-qualified Portugal top Group J with 25 points after nine matches, while Slovakia are second with 19 points. Luxembourg and Bosnia both still have a chance to go through via the playoffs.
Meanwhile, in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup on Thursday, Mohamed Salah scored four times and took his goal tally for Egypt past 50 as they began their campaign with an expected victory over tiny Djibouti, while Nigeria were held to a shock home draw by Lesotho.
Salah's performance ensured a 6-0 win for Egypt in their opening Group A match in Cairo, with the striker grabbing the first four goals and increasing his overall tally for Egypt to 53 in 93 appearances as they look for a place at the 2026 finals, having missed out on the Qatar World Cup last year.
Nigeria, without injured Napoli striker Victor Osimhen, were held to a 1-1 draw at a rainy Uyo by the small mountain kingdom of Lesotho, who are 113 places below them in the FIFA rankings.
Defender Motlomelo Mkhwanazi put Lesotho into a shock lead after 56 minutes of the Group C encounter and they kept their advantage for 11 minutes before London-born centre-back Semi Ajayi headed home the equaliser from Kelechi Iheanacho's corner.
But despite pressure on the visitors' goal for the remainder of the game, Nigeria could not fashion a winner and the result will put heavy pressure on coach Jose Peserio, just two months out from their participation at the Africa Cup of Nations finals.
Meanwhile, Mozambique claimed the first away victory of the African qualifying campaign, which got under way this week, beating Botswana 3-2 in Group G, with Jonathan Muiomo, who plays in the fourth tier of German club football, scoring the winner in only his second appearance.
