And with that, I’m checking out. I’ll be back for more tomorrow. I leave you with Danny Ward’s reaction to Wales’s victory tonight. Bye!
We knew it would be hard in difficult conditions. Estonia have got a real intensity about them and are more difficult than people think. It wasn’t pretty in the second half but we stuck together and it’s a big three points for us. Everyone had to show a bit of leadership and put their bodies on the line. We came away with a point on Friday and this win is massive for us.
And here’s the match report again:
The final whistle has blown in Benghazi, where Egypt have won 3-0 against Libya. Mo Salah played the whole game but didn’t score. In players of English interest news, former Stoke and Huddersfield ace Ramadan Sobhi got the third.
Ben Fisher was watching Wales tonight. Here’s his report:
Wales pointed to their wastefulness in front of goal as a major factor in their failure to yield victory in their previous two qualifiers but in Estonia they had to be grateful for their opponents’ profligacy, with Kieffer Moore’s first-half tap-in enough to take victory in Tallinn. It was a much-needed win but they lost ground in the race for second spot in World Cup qualifying Group E, which ensures a play-off spot, with the Czech Republic not only beating Belarus but bettering Wales’s win margin. In the end, Wales were fortunate to come away with victory on the Baltic Sea, with the Estonia substitute Vlasiy Sinyavskiy drawing a superb save from Danny Ward late on.
Wales’s previous examination against Estonia did not go to plan and dropping points in Cardiff last month is partly why Robert Page promised to be bold in Tallinn, aware goal difference could yet prove significant. He named a starting lineup that was built to attack, with Sorba Thomas making his first Wales start at left wing-back, nine months on from leaving non-league Boreham Wood for second-tier Huddersfield, and the dependable Connor Roberts rampaged forward on the opposite flank. Estonia carved the first opening, Taijo Teniste taking aim from an acute angle with less than a minute on the clock but the Wales goalkeeper Ward, given a hearty reception from the travelling Wales support during the warmup following his error in Prague on Friday, made a smart save down to his right.
Much more here:
All the European qualifying tables are available for your perusal here.
Two teams have now qualified for the 2022 World Cup, leaving just the 30 spots remaining.
👏 Congratulations Germany! The 4-time #WorldCup winners have become the 1st team to join hosts Qatar at the 22nd global finals 🏆 pic.twitter.com/jBy4YsnZTm
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) October 11, 2021
Aaron Ramsey has a chat:
First half I thought we did pretty well but second half wasn’t good enough. But it showed the resilience of this team again and we managed to come away with the three points. It shows what a team we’ve got, coming away with the three points, that’s the most important thing. The first 30 minutes we had a few good chances, but then something changed and it was one of them performances when we needed just to dig in. We grinded one out tonight. It was just important to come here and get three points, and it’s all in our hands.
Final scores in tonight’s Uefa qualifiers are as follows:
Uefa Group E
Belarus 0-2 Czech Republic
Estonia 0-1 Wales
Uefa Group G
Latvia 1-2 Turkey
Netherlands 6-0 Gibraltar
Norway 2-0 Montenegro
Uefa Group H
Cyprus 2-2 Malta
Croatia 2-2 Slovakia
Slovenia 1-2 Russia
Uefa Group J
Iceland 4-0 Liechtenstein
North Macedonia 0-4 Germany
Romania 1-0 Armenia
GOAL! Latvia 1-2 Turkey (Yilmaz pen, 99 mins)
The actual final goal of the night is actually scored by Burak Yilmaz, Torukey’s 36-year-old veteran forward, who has converted a penalty in the ninth minute of stoppage time, which isn’t bad given that only four minutes of stoppage time were signalled. Most of them were spent putting the penalty award through a rigorous VAR check, and the final whistle swiftly follows.
GOAL! Norway 2-0 Montenegro (Elyounoussi, 96 mins)
The final goal of the night is scored by Mohamed Elyounoussi in the sixth minute of stoppage time, two minutes after Montenegro had Marko Vesovic sent off for a second yellow card!
Final score: Estonia 0-1 Wales
Wales did a lot of hanging on in the second half, but they have successfully snaffled the points!
Netherlands have scored a sixth against Gibraltar, Donyell Malen with the latest. And in further thrashing news, Andri Gudjohnsen has put Iceland 4-0 up against Liechtenstein - it’s a big moment for the Gudjohnsen family, given that the assist came from Sveinn Aron Gudjohnsen, Andri’s brother (and they’re both Eidur’s sons).
Bingo! Bingo! Bingo! Váááá!
— Knattspyrnusambandið (@footballiceland) October 11, 2021
Stóri bróðir sendir á litla bróðir og Ísland er komið í 4-0#fyririsland pic.twitter.com/eGgpUZPtxO
GOAL! North Macedonia 0-4 Germany (Musiala, 83 mins)
An excellent finish from 18-year-old recovering former Englishman Jamal Musiala, who tucks the ball past the advancing keeper and inside the near post!
Updated
Disallowed goal! Croatia think they take the lead for the first time tonight after Nikola Vlasic bundles the ball in, but it’s disallowed for a foul.
GOAL! Iceland 3-0 Liechtenstein (Gudmundsson pen, 79 mins)
Iceland now have as many goals as they will win points this evening, with Albert Gudmundsson putting them 3-0 up over Liechtenstein.
GOAL! North Macedonia 0-3 Germany (Werner, 73 mins)
Another excellent goal from Timo Werner! This one’s a dipping curler from the left-hand corner of the penalty area.
Updated
GOAL! Latvia 1-1 Turkey (Dursun, 76 mins)
Latvia led for six minutes! Turkey will be knocked out of World Cup contention if they lose tonight, and they are no longer losing!
Elsewhere, it’s now Netherlands 5-0 Gibraltar with ex-Bournemouth man Arnaut Danjuma the latest name on the scoresheet.
GOAL! North Macedonia 0-2 Germany (Werner, 70 mins)
Weird as it sounds, Timo Werner has just scored with an excellent finish. If the scores stay as they stand, Germany will qualify for the World Cup tonight.
GOAL! Croatia 2-2 Slovakia (Modric, 71 mins)
Modric equalises with a free kick from a few inches outside the penalty area, which goes straight through the wall with just a very slight deflection and goes in at the near post!
Updated
GOAL! Latvia 1-0 Turkey (Demiral og, 70 mins)
There is now at least one goal in every European qualifier this evening, thanks to Merih Demiral sticking one in his own net.
In other news, I have now seen Hlozek’s goal for the Czechs and it was a fabulous near-post top-corner thrash from 15 yards, massively underplayed in the original update.
GOAL! Belarus 0-2 Czechia (Hlozek, 65 mins)
The 19-year-old Czech forward Adam Hlozek has doubled his side’s lead at the Centralniy Stadion in Kazan, set up by Patrick Schick, scorer of his side’s first.
Red card! Luxembourg’s Martin Marxer has got his Marxing orders having been shown a second yellow card.
GOAL! North Macedonia 0-1 Germany (Havertz, 50 mins)
Germany, who famously lost to North Macedonia last year and had been struggling against them once again, have finally taken the lead through Kai Havertz, who strokes into the empty net after being teed up by Muller!
Updated
Final score: Andorra Under-21s 0 England Under-21s 1
It’s all over in Andorra, and England have banked the points even if it was in no way comfortable. Here’s the rather excellent goal that decided it:
A brilliant counter from our #YoungLions ⚡️@curtisjr_10 🤝 @emilesmithrowe pic.twitter.com/7xrNRWzBvr
— England (@England) October 11, 2021
GOAL! Netherlands 4-0 Gibraltar (Dumfries, 48 mins)
Listen, they’re playing Gibraltar, they’re now four to the good, and I think it’s time to relegate Netherlands goalflashes from their current key event status. Denzel Dumfries is the latest player on the scoresheet, a nice if pretty easy header.
Updated
Peeeeeeep! Second halves have got under way!
Half-time scores in tonight’s Uefa qualifiers are as follows:
Uefa Group E
Belarus 0-1 Czech Republic
Estonia 0-1 Wales
Uefa Group G
Latvia 0-0 Turkey
Netherlands 3-0 Gibraltar
Norway 1-0 Montenegro
Uefa Group H
Cyprus 2-2 Malta (final score)
Croatia 1-2 Slovakia
Slovenia 1-2 Russia
Uefa Group J
Iceland 2-0 Liechtenstein
North Macedonia 0-0 Germany
Romania 1-0 Armenia
GOAL! Netherlands 3-0 Gibraltar (Memphias pen, 45 mins)
Memphis Depay does another thing, converting a penalty this time. So he’s missed a penalty, scored a penalty, set up a goal and scored in open play, and he more than most deserves a breather.
GOAL! Croatia 1-2 Slovakia (Haraslin, 45 mins)
Most matches have now temporarily stopped because of the half time. However, just before they did in Croatia Lukas Haraslin gave the visitors the lead. He’s picked out unmarked at the far post, takes a touch to convince the keeper he’s about to shoot across goal, and then drills it low inside the near post!
GOAL! Andorra 0-1 England Under-21s (Smith Rowe, 67 mins)
Ten-man England finally take the lead in Andorra, Emile Smith Rowe putting the cherry on a beautiful counter-attacking cake.
Updated
GOAL! Slovenia 1-2 Russia (Ilicic, 40 mins)
I’m glad there’s been another goal in this game, because it gives me a chance to admit that I completely misdescribed the last one, which was in fact another corner, an excellent backheel-volleyed flick-on and an even better overhead finish from Georgiy Dzhikija. Slovenia have now pulled one back. Here are some happy Slovenians:
Golazo de Ilicic 1-2 pic.twitter.com/tD7S5lXakV
— Марио (@Mario9GL) October 11, 2021
GOAL! Iceland 2 Liechtenstein 0 (Gudmundsson pen, 35mins)
I’ve just been shown the incident that led to the penalty, and I’ve still got no idea what it was awarded for. I’m guessing there was a handball in there somewhere. Anyway, it was a fabulously nonchalant penalty from Albert Gudmundsson, fair dos.
Updated
GOAL! Slovenia 0 Russia 2 (Dzhikija, 32 mins)
Another header from a set piece, though this was a free-kick out on the left wing, rather than a corner. It’s sent into the area, and back-flick-headed in at the near post!
GOAL! Romania 1-0 Armenia (Mitrita, 26 mins)
Another goal from a corner! Romania take it short and then swing it in, the cross is deflected slightly and it’s headed in off the goalkeeper’s rather limp glove!
Updated
Red card! England's Under-21s down to 10 men in Andorra!
England’s Under-21s are being held by Andorra, and now they’re down to 10 men after Rhian Brewster’s second yellow card.
GOAL! Croatia 1-1 Slovakia (Kramaric, 25 mins)
A corner, a lovely flick-on at the near post (by a defender, sadly) and Andrej Kramaric nods in from five yards!
GOAL! Belarus 0-1 Czechia (Schick, 22 mins)
I’m told that Patrick Schick has just scored an excellent volley. Indeed, according to the Czechs’ Twitter feed it was “perfect”.
Updated
GOAL! Netherlands 2-0 Gibraltar (Memphis, 21 mins)
Memphis Depay has already set up a goal, missed a penalty and scored a goal, and he’s only played for 20-odd minutes. He taps into an empty net after being set up by Klaassen.
GOAL! Croatia 0-1 Slovakia (Schranz, 20 mins)
I have now seen Thordarson’s goal, a nicely-guided header from a deep cross from the left. I can now not tell you anything about Slovakia’s goal, except that it has been scored.
GOAL! Iceland 1-0 Liechtenstein (Thordarson, 19 mins)
I can’t for the moment tell you anything about this goal, but Stefan Thordarson has scored it.
Maaaaark! Ísland kemst í 1-0#fyririsland pic.twitter.com/pkQbJWILqP
— Knattspyrnusambandið (@footballiceland) October 11, 2021
This is an aggressively-sized pennant, is it not? It’s enormous! It’s basically a flag.
This seems a more rationally-sized pennant. Just a little something to hand over before kick-off. No need to go overboard.
GOAL! Estonia 0-1 Wales (Moore, 12 mins)
It’s scrappy as all hell, but Wales have the lead! A corner is headed, deflected, saved, cleared straight into the air, headed, deflected and finally turned in from two yards by Kieffer Moore!
Updated
GOAL! Netherlands 1-0 Gibraltar (Van Dijk, 9 mins)
We have our first goal, and Gibraltar have shipped it! Memphis takes a corner, and Van Dijk nods it in.
“Fantastic support for Wales in Estonia,” Dean Kinsella reports, as Harry Wilson sends a free-kick just wide of goal. “Brilliant rendition of their anthem.”
Peeeeeep! Tonight’s 7.45pm kick-offs have kicked off!
Updated
Players are walking out across the continent, nearly ready for action.
Updated
Robert Page has a chat:
They frustrated the life out of us in September, we created enough chances to win two games and couldn’t get that goal. Sorba’s going to be very attack-minded. Connor on the other side will be a little bit more defensive minded if need be. We’re expected to win, and that’s the expectation we put on ourselves as well. We’re going out with the intent to win games. We’ll come out of the traps fast and try to get that early goal.
There has been one final score already in today’s Uefa World Cup qualifiers: in Group H Malta drew 2-2 in Cyprus thanks to a 98th-minute equaliser from Jurgen Degabriele. He seemed pleased.
A few other line-ups:
North Macedonia: Dimitrievski, Stefan Ristovski, Musliu, Velkovski, Alioski, Kostadinov, Nikolov, Ademi, Churlinov, Jahovic, Elmas. Subs: Todoroski, Rakip, Iliev, Miovski, Spirovski, Serafimov, Atanasov, Zajkov, Siskovski, Trajkovski, Ristevski, Askovski.
Germany: Neuer, Klostermann, Sule, Kehrer, Raum, Goretzka, Kimmich, Gnabry, Muller, Havertz, Werner. Subs: Musiala, Wirtz, Ginter, ter Stegen, Leno, Neuhaus, Adeyemi, Schlotterbeck, Hofmann, Reus, Sane.
Referee: Danny Makkelie (Holland).
Estonia: Hein, Teniste, Kuusk, Tamm, Paskotsi, Pikk, Vassiljev, Mets, Kait, Zenjov, Sorga. Subs: Vastsuk, Poom, Purg, Ojamaa, Lukka, Vallner, Kallaste, Sinyavskiy, Igonen, Kirss.
Wales: Ward, Connor Roberts, Mepham, Rodon, Thomas, Wilson, Allen, Ramsey, Ampadu, James, Moore. Subs: Johnson, Harris, Neco Williams, Tyler Roberts, Hennessey, Vaulks, Jonathan Williams, Adam Davies, Gunter, Morrell, Lawrence, Cabango.
Referee: Sandro Scharer (Switzerland)
Holland: Bijlow, Dumfries, de Vrij, van Dijk, Blind, Wijnaldum, Frenkie de Jong, Klaassen, Berghuis, Depay, Lang. Subs: Timber, Malacia, Gravenberch, Krul, Luuk de Jong, de Ligt, Til, Flekken, Koopmeiners, Malen, Weghorst, Danjuma.
Gibraltar: Banda, Olivero, Annesley, Wiseman, Roy Chipolina, Walker, Bosio, Joseph Chipolina, Styche, Torrilla, Valarino. Subs: Mouelhi, Morgan, Ronan, Vinet, Badr, Pons, Britto, Robba, Coombes, Santos, Casciaro.
Referee: Vitaly Meshkov (Russia).
Here’s the Welsh starting XI in full: Ward, C Roberts, Rodon, Mepham, Thomas, Ampadu, Allen, Ramsey, James, Wilson, Moore. Subs: Hennessey, Davies, Cabango, Lawrence, N Williams, Gunter, Morrell, J Williams, Vaulks, T Roberts, Johnson, Harris.
CYMRU XI 🏴
— Wales 🏴 (@Cymru) October 11, 2021
Let’s gooooo 🙌#ESTWAL | #TogetherStronger pic.twitter.com/zhheFWq4Q9
Sorba Thomas makes his first start for Wales tonight. Here’s Ben Fisher to fill you in on his backstory:
Hello world!
There are 10 games of European World Cup qualifying football this evening, 10 big and crunchy fixtures of varying importance for us to get our teeth into like so many granny smiths. A lip-smacking time is guaranteed, or at least likely, for all! Here’s a quick guide (it might be helpful to know that you can find all the latest European qualifying tables here, and also that all matches are 7.45pm BST kick-offs unless stated):
Uefa Group E
Belarus v Czech Republic
Estonia v Wales
The state of play: Wales and the Czechs are duking it out for second place behind Belgium, who after six games are eight points clear (though the Welsh have only played five). Estonia and Belarus are fighting for the wooden spoon.
Uefa Group G
Latvia v Turkey
Netherlands v Gibraltar
Norway v Montenegro
The state of play: The Netherlands are two points clear of Norway, and four of Turkey, with three games to play. They’re playing pointless Gibraltar, and so will still be two points clear with two games to play, unless Turkey or Norway slip up.
Uefa Group H
Cyprus v Malta (5pm)
Croatia v Slovakia
Slovenia v Russia
The state of play: Croatia and Russia are level on 16 points each and thus six ahead of Slovenia, and seven ahead of Slovakia, with three to play. If both win tonight they’ll have the top two places sewn up.
Uefa Group J
Iceland v Liechtenstein
North Macedonia v Germany
Romania v Armenia
The state of play: Germany are romping home in Group G, the question being whether North Macedonia, Armenia or Romania will come second. Romania are two points behind the others, but have the advantage of being the only one of those teams that doesn’t still have to play Germany.
It might also be worth keeping an eye on:
Caf Group F
Libya v Egypt (8pm) - Egypt and Libya are separated by a single point at the top of Group F, ahead of Gabon and Angola, who have played a game more.
And also
Euro Under-21 qualifying Group G
Andorra v England (7pm)
