... and here’s Ben Fisher’s view of Belgium-Wales. Click below for your edification. Thanks for reading this Clockwatch. Nighty night!
Paul Doyle’s report of Serbia-Ireland has landed. Here’s his take on an “honourable Irish performance”.
Thirty-five goals were scored this evening. The early kick-off was something of a harbinger.
A disappointing evening for Wales and the Republic of Ireland ... but nothing that should dent their confidence too much. Wales were playing the number-one side in the world, after all, and scored a team goal from the top drawer. Ireland, meanwhile, impotent for so long, finally broke the logjam, and it took a magnificent individual performance from Aleksandar Mitrovic to see them off. Onwards! Upwards!
The full-time scores
- Group A: Portugal 1-0 Azerbaijan; Serbia 3-2 Republic of Ireland
- Group D: Finland 2-2 Bosnia-Herzegovina; France 1-1 Ukraine
- Group E: Belgium 3-1 Wales; Estonia 2-6 Czech Republic
- Group G: Turkey 4-2 Netherlands; Gibraltar 0-3 Norway; Latvia 1-2 Montenegro
- Group H: Cyprus 0-0 Slovakia; Malta 1-3 Russia; Slovenia 1-0 Croatia
FULL TIME: Serbia 3-2 Republic of Ireland
Nope. In fact, they’re fortunate not to ship a fourth as Serbia launch a three-on-one counter with Mark Travers miles off his line, but Nemanja Gudelj’s final ball is dismal. No matter: the Serbs take the points, and Ireland are still looking for their first win under Stephen Kenny. At least they found the net at last.
It’s the last minute of injury time in Serbia, and Ireland have a corner. They couldn’t, could they?
FULL TIME: Belgium 3-1 Wales
Harry Wilson’s early goal was delicious, but Belgium, the world number ones, eased clear in the end.
GOAL! Malta 1-3 Russia (Sobolev 89). A long-distance Alexander Sobolev shot goes through the keeper’s saloon-door hands, and the points are safe now for Russia, after that late scare.
GOAL! Serbia 3-2 Republic of Ireland (Collins 86)
Some determined work by Shane Long, who punishes some Serbian faffing by nipping between two men to pull a ball back from the byline on the right. Collins is able to take up possession and trundle the ball into the unguarded net. This isn’t over yet ... and after a seven-match wait, Ireland goals are like the proverbial London bus.
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GOAL! Estonia 2-6 Czech Republic (Anier 86). As things stand, this goalfest will be bookended by two fine Estonian strikes. Henri Anier traps a low right-wing cross, spins and smacks a low drive off the bottom of the left-hand post and in.
GOAL! Finland 2-2 Bosnia-Herzegovina (Stevanovic 84). Earlier on, the Finns hit back quickly when Bosnia-Herzegovina took the lead; now the boot’s on the other foot as Miroslav Stevanovic brings the visitors level in Helsinki with a deflected effort.
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GOAL! Latvia 1-2 Montenegro (Jovetic 83). Stevan Jovetic scores his second of the night, as Montenegro look to complete a comeback victory.
Ukraine’s equaliser in Paris has been officially credited to Presnel Kimpembe. Own goal. No great surprise, as Serhiy Sydorchuk’s initial shot looked suspiciously off-target.
GOAL! Finland 2-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina (Pukki 77). Having equalised, Teemu Pukki now puts the Finns in front, tearing clear from the halfway line, keeping his cool, and slotting home.
GOAL! Serbia 3-1 Republic of Ireland (Mitrovic 75)
Aleksandar Mitrovic, out of sorts at Fulham, scores his second goal in seven minutes, putting the game beyond Ireland. Dusan Tadic floats a cross in from the left and the big man steers a header into the top left.
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GOAL! Belgium 3-1 Wales (Lukaku 73 pen)
Romelu Lukaku gives Danny Ward the eyes, sending the keeper the wrong way then slotting into the bottom right. The spot kick had been awarded after Ward palmed out a Thomas Meunier right-wing cross and Chris Mepham brought down Thorgan Hazard while trying to get to the loose ball.
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GOAL! Serbia 2-1 Republic of Ireland (Mitrovic 68)
Ireland had been holding their own, Ciaran Clark glancing a 57th-minute header wide and enjoying most of the possession. But they’ve been sprung on the break, the substitute Aleksandar Mitrovic romping down the inside right, spotting Mark Travers miles off his line, and floating an exquisite chip over the keeper and home from 35 yards. That’s a sensational goal.
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Wales are still searching for that elusive equaliser. But it’s Belgium who come close here, Kevin De Bruyne using Ethan Ampadu as a shield before attempting a curler around the Wales midfielder and into the top right. He ripples the side netting.
GOAL! Finland 1-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina (Pukki 58). Teemu Pukki slots home after a bit of pinball in the Bosnia-Herzegovina box.
GOAL! Malta 1-2 Russia (Mbong 56). Joseph Mbong halves the deficit, making good down the right before roofing an unstoppable effort into the top corner.
GOAL! Gibraltar 0-3 Norway (Svensson 57). Jonas Svensson begins to put a more realistic sheen on this scoreline, and all of Dayle Coleing’s first-half heroics are in vain. A pearler, this one, too, whistled into the bottom right from distance.
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GOAL! France 1-1 Ukraine (Sydorchuk 57). A lucky equaliser for Ukraine against the reigning champs, as Serhiy Sydorchuk’s shot, ready to be easily gathered by Hugo Lloris, takes a huge deflection off Presnel Kimpembe and flies in.
GOAL! Estonia 1-6 Czech Republic (Jankto 56). Jakub Jankto makes it six. It’s probably time to point out that Estonia had to stand ten players down after a Covid-19 outbreak in their camp.
GOAL! Finland 0-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina (Pjanic 55). Miralem Pjanic breaks the deadlock in Helsinki. A penalty box melee led to a spot kick, which was missed by Pjanic, who tucked away the rebound.
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Attention fans of Arsenal and Glentoran! “I guess that probably no-one outside of Norway - and definitely no-one in Northern Ireland - watches the Gibraltar vs Norway showdown,” begins Arild Andersen. “I’d like to point out that Gibraltar and Glentoran future legend Dayle Coleing have done much better than most European goalies against Erling Braut Haaland in the first half. A string of brilliant saves until he was beaten twice in the last minutes of the half. Not by Haaland, mind. A move on the cards? Oh, and I guess that Arsenal fans won’t be happy to hear that Martin Ødegaard limped off after injuring himself on the dry artificial turf.”
GOAL! Estonia 1-5 Czech Republic (Soucek 48). Tomas Soucek completes his hat-trick early in this second half. West Ham have themselves a player here.
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Some nice early second-half possession for Wales. Nothing much comes of it, but that should do wonders for the old confidence.
The second halves. Here we go, then.
The half-time scores
- Group A: Portugal 1-0 Azerbaijan; Serbia 1-1 Republic of Ireland
- Group D: Finland 0-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina; France 1-0 Ukraine
- Group E: Belgium 2-1 Wales; Estonia 1-4 Czech Republic
- Group G: Turkey 4-2 Netherlands (FT); Gibraltar 0-2 Norway; Latvia 1-1 Montenegro
- Group H: Cyprus 0-0 Slovakia; Malta 0-2 Russia; Slovenia 1-0 Croatia
GOAL! Gibraltar 0-2 Norway (Thorstvedt 45). Kristian Thorstvedt punishes some slapstick defending by Gibraltar, smashing a ball that should have been hoofed clear back into the net. So close to a clean sheet in the first 45 and now look.
GOAL! Gibraltar 0-1 Norway (Sorloth 43). The minnows had been holding out well, with half-time in sight, but Alexander Sorloth breaks the deadlock by planting a header from a left-wing corner into the bottom right.
GOAL! Estonia 1-4 Czech Republic (Soucek 43). This is turning into something of a rout. Tomas Soucek gets his second of the evening, threading a glorious diagonal shot into the bottom left from 25 yards.
GOAL! Latvia 1-0 Montenegro (Ikaunieks 40). Latvia take the lead through a hell of a long-distance lash by Janis Ikaunieks, only for this - GOAL! Latvia 1-1 Montenegro (Jovetic 41) - to happen immediately afterwards, Stevan Jovetic forcing the visitors back on terms.
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GOAL! Serbia 1-1 Republic of Ireland (Vlahovic 40)
The Serbs had been working their way back into this game, and now they get their reward, Dusan Vlahovic chasing a long pass down the inside-left channel and steering it confidently across young Mark Travers and into the bottom right.
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GOAL! Portugal 1-0 Azerbaijan (Medvedev 37 og). The European champions take the lead in farcical circumstances. Ruben Neves crosses from the right. Azerbaijan keeper Shakhrudin Magomedaliyev comes off his line to punch clear ... but slaps the ball into the back of Maksim Medvedev, standing right next to him, and it pings into the net. Oh dear.
GOAL! Malta 0-2 Russia (Fernandes 35). Mario Fernandes doubles the Russians’ lead, coming in from the right to slam home.
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GOAL! Estonia 1-3 Czech Republic (Soucek 32). West Ham’s Tomas Soucek has given this scoreline a more realistic sheen. He flashes a header into the top left from a right-wing corner.
Wales are hanging on a bit here. Romelu Lukaku holds the ball up gracefully on the edge of the D before teeing up Thorgan Hazard, who looks for the top-left corner and isn’t too far away.
GOAL! Estonia 1-2 Czech Republic (Barak 27). It’s also turned around quickly in the Estonia game, where Antonin Barak spins on the edge of the six-yard box and sweeps into the bottom left in one economic movement.
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GOAL! Belgium 2-1 Wales (Hazard 28)
Yep, Belgium are on top. A cross comes in from the right. Connor Roberts looks to have the situation covered at the far post, but he slips, allowing Thorgan Hazard to win an uncontested header, sending it across Danny Ward and into the bottom right.
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Belgium are well on top now. Wales are struggling to get out of their own box.
GOAL! Malta 0-1 Russia (Dzyuba 23). The 2018 hosts take the lead in Malta, Artem Dzyuba finishing off some cute Russian triangles with an instinctive stab into the bottom right.
GOAL! Estonia 1-1 Czech Republic (Schick 18). It didn’t take long for the Czechs to haul themselves back level. Patrik Schick swivels to guide cutely into the bottom right from 12 yards.
GOAL! Belgium 1-1 Wales (De Bruyne 22)
They’re not number one in the world for nothing. Kevin De Bruyne takes aim from 25 yards and whistles a forensic low drive into the bottom right. No chance for Danny Ward, at full stretch in the Welsh goal.
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GOAL! France 1-0 Ukraine (Griezmann 19). The reigning champions shouldn’t have to qualify, in my book, but here we are. France go ahead with a stunning Antoine Griezmann curler into the top left.
GOAL! Serbia 0-1 Republic of Ireland (Browne 18)
Ireland’s long goal drought is over! Alan Browne meets a dinked Callum Robinson cross from the left, rising high at the far stick and planting a diagonal header into the bottom right. The keeper had no chance!
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GOAL! Slovenia 1-0 Croatia (Lovric 15). Sandi Lovric has put Slovenia ahead against the 2018 runners-up. Croatia and the Czech Republic are both in England and Scotland’s group at Euro 2020.
GOAL! Estonia 1-0 Czech Republic (Sappinen 12). Some more good news for Wales, as in the other Group E game, Rauno Sappinen gives underdogs Estonia the lead against the Czech Republic.
A reminder that Wales are on a four-game unbeaten run against Belgium. The last of those matches was that Euro 2016 semi. Belgium have since become the number-one team in the world, but even the best have their bogey teams. That was a lovely goal too, a smooth team move down the right that also involved Connor Roberts, a dummy, a perfectly weighted assist from Bale and a calm finish by Wilson.
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GOAL! Belgium 0-1 Wales (Wilson 10)
What a start in the big match! Harry Wilson exchanges crisp passes with Bale, sashaying down the inside-right and striding into the box. He opens his body and slides a gorgeous shot across Courtois and into the bottom left!
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Not sure why both Belgium and Wales are in their away kits. You’d like to think it’s some Six Nations style politeness, but there’s a fair chance it’s got something to do with both teams launching new Adidas kits.
Aw this is miserable luck for Joe Allen. He’s down, having pulled his hamstring after six minutes of his big return. Joe Morrell replaces him.
No early goals ... but it’s been a decent start for Ireland, who are on the front foot in Belgrade. A corner leads to a bit of bedlam, Clark knocking a half-chance wide right. That seven-game run without a goal continues though.
The big kick-off. Belgium in white, Wales in yellow; Serbia in red, Ireland in white. Meanwhile here’s a tip for those without a Sky subscription. The Belgium-Wales game is free to view: it’s on S4C. “In Welsh of course,” reports Alan Pugh. “Speakers of non-indigenous British languages are welcome to tune in.”
All over Europe, the teams take to the field of play. Anthems are currently either being belted out with great passion or silently endured. We’ll be off sooner rather than later.
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Some pre-match reading.
Rob Page speaks to Sky. “Joe Allen is a great addition to the squad, he’s been a big miss ... we welcome him back for his vast experience on and off the pitch ... Danny Ward hasn’t been playing week in, week out, but Wardy did well in the last camp and has rightly kept his position ... you want to start off with a positive note ... it’s going to be a tough challenge but we’ve worked hard ... we are as prepared as we can be and are looking forward to the challenge.”
FULL TIME: Turkey 4-2 Netherlands. There’s already been one result tonight, with the match at the Ataturk in Istanbul kicking off early ... and if the rest of the qualifiers are like this, we’re in for one hell of a ride. Turkey were 3-0 up and coasting with 15 minutes to go, before a quick Dutch one-two briefly put the result in doubt. Burak Yilmaz restored a two-goal cushion with an absolute peach of a free kick, curling powerfully into the top right from 25 yards and completing a hat-trick. Memphis Depay missed a very late penalty, and the Dutch, who failed to qualify last time round, have started slowly again.
Serbia v Republic of Ireland teams
Serbia: Dmitrovic, Stefan Mitrovic, Milenkovic, Pavlovic, Mladenovic, Gajic, Lukic, Racic, Tadic, Djuricic, Vlahovic.
Subs: Rajkovic, Nikolic, Petkovic, Spajic, Gudelj, Kostic, Milinkovic-Savic, Ristic, Maksimovic, Radonjic, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Jovic.
Republic of Ireland: Travers, Clark, Coleman, Stevens, O’Shea, Cullen, Browne, Molumby, Doherty, Robinson, Connolly.
Subs: O’Hara, Bazunu, Duffy, Christie, Lenihan, McClean, Brady, Hendrick, Horgan, Knight, Collins, Shane Long.
Dusan Tadic of Ajax, and formerly of Southampton, captains Serbia in new boss Dragan Stojkovic’s first match in charge. Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic takes a seat on the bench.
Some rare good news for the Republic of Ireland and their injury decimated squad. Brighton forward Aaron Connolly is over a rib problem and starts. Seamus Coleman makes his first appearance since October 2019, wearing the captain’s armband, while 21-year-old Bournemouth goalkeeper Mark Travers goes in goal. Stephen Kenny hopes to end an eight-game wait for his first victory as Ireland boss.
Belgium v Wales teams
Belgium: Courtois, Alderweireld, Vermaelen, Vertonghen, Meunier, De Bruyne, Dendoncker, Tielemans, Mertens, Lukaku, Thorgan Hazard.
Subs: Doku, Batshuayi, Vanaken, Praet, Castagne, Januzaj, Foket, Denayer, Casteels, Benteke, Mignolet, Trossard.
Wales: Ward, Mepham, Jamie Lawrence, Rodon, Connor Roberts, Wilson, Allen, Ampadu, Neco Williams, James, Bale.
Subs: Cabango, Tom Lawrence, Moore, Norrington-Davies, Tyler Roberts, Hennessey, Jonathan Williams, Smith, Adam Davies, Robson-Kanu, Gunter, Morrell.
Belgium make two changes from their November win over Denmark. Thomas Vermaelen and Thomas Meunier replace Jason Denayer and Nacer Chadli. Romelu Lukaku starts after a negative test result following a coronavirus outbreak at Internazionale.
Wales welcome back Joe Allen, who ruptured his Achilles 12 months ago and hasn’t pulled on an international shirt since November 2019. He’s one of two changes from November’s Nations League win over Finland, replacing Joe Morrell, while Neco Williams takes the place of Rhys Norrington-Davies.
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Preamble
The road to Qatar starts here. This evening, Wales and the Republic of Ireland launch their World Cup qualification campaigns. Both sides are looking to end a lengthy barren stretch; the Irish last qualified in 2002, while the Welsh haven’t made it to a finals since 1958. The ghosts of John Charles and Ivor Allchurch - scorer of one of the greatest goals in the history of the World Cup - loom large.
Neither team have an easy task tonight. Stephen Kenny’s side travel to Belgrade to face Serbia, on an eight-game winless streak under the new boss and without a goal in the last seven. Their squad is decimated by injury, and they’re forced to play a 19-year-old keeper who can’t get a game for Bournemouth.
Rob Page’s men meanwhile are slated to play the hardest fixture possible: an away game at the number-one ranked side in the world. Belgium are tough enough at the best of times, but they’ll have some extra incentive tonight: revenge for that Euro 2016 quarter-final.
So that’s our expectations managed. However, in football, you just never know. The Irish floodgates have to open at some point, while Wales are undefeated against the Belgians in four. There’s always hope ... and there’s no better time to dream than just before the opening match of a qualification campaign. Both matches kick off at 7.45pm GMT, and you can follow them here, along with all the other action on a busy opening night.
- Group A: Portugal v Azerbaijan; Serbia v REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
- Group D: Finland v Bosnia-Herzegovina; France v Ukraine
- Group E: Belgium v WALES; Estonia v Czech Republic
- Group G: Turkey v Netherlands; Gibraltar v Norway; Latvia v Montenegro
- Group H: Cyprus v Slovakia; Malta v Russia; Slovenia v Croatia
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