Thanks for reading this Clockwatch. Nighty night!
Julian Taylor was at Windsor Park. Here’s his take on Northern Ireland’s tense tussle with Switzerland.
Ben Fisher was in Cardiff to witness Welsh frustration first hand. Here’s his report.
Those aren’t ideal results for Northern Ireland and Wales ... but neither are the pair of goalless draws against, respectively, Switzerland and Estonia, disastrous. First place in Group E already looked a pipe dream for Wales, with Belgium running away with Group E, but Rob Page’s side have now drawn level on points with the second-placed Czech Republic, and they’ve got a game in hand. Northern Ireland meanwhile missed out on the chance of leapfrogging Switzerland into second place, but they stay on their tails, three points shy with four games still to play.
The full-time scores
Group B
Greece 2-1 Sweden
Kosovo 0-2 Spain
Group C
Italy 5-0 Lithuania
Northern Ireland 0-0 Switzerland
Group E
Belarus 0-1 Belgium
Wales 0-0 Estonia
Group I
Albania 5-0 San Marino
Hungary 2-1 Andorra
Poland 1-1 England
Group J
Armenia 1-1 Liechtenstein
Iceland 0-4 Germany
North Macedonia 0-0 Romania
FULL TIME: Hungary 2-1 Andorra
FULL TIME: Greece 2-1 Sweden.
FULL TIME: North Macedonia 0-0 Romania.
FULL TIME: Poland 1-1 England. A draw that will feel like a defeat ... but a draw/defeat that shouldn’t make too much difference in the grand scheme of things. Simon Burnton has the details.
FULL TIME: Wales 0-0 Estonia. Gareth Bale looks sickened as the final whistle goes in Cardiff. The Welsh couldn’t find a way past the inspired Estonia keeper Karl Hein, who nonetheless had the woodwork to thank a couple of times as well.
GOAL! Poland 1-1 England (Damian Szymanski 90+2). Robert Lewandowski turns provider for once, standing one up for Damian Szymanski to knock home. It probably makes little difference to England’s qualification chances, but there goes that 100 percent record in the group.
FULL TIME: Iceland 0-4 Germany.
Updated
FULL TIME: Italy 5-0 Lithuania.
FULL TIME: Albania 5-0 San Marino.
FULL TIME: Northern Ireland 0-0 Switzerland. Bailey Peacock-Farrell is the Irish hero after saving Haris Seferović’s first-half penalty, though Shayne Lavery had a very impressive game too. Northern Ireland leapfrog Bulgaria into third place in Group C.
FULL TIME: Belarus 0-1 Belgium.
FULL TIME: Kosovo 0-2 Spain.
GOAL! Kosovo 0-2 Spain (Ferran Torres 88). Job done for the 2010 winners in Pristina.
GOAL! Iceland 0-4 Germany (Timo Werner 88). Well that makes up for earlier.
Wales come so close to opening the scoring in Cardiff! Gareth Bale storms down the inside-right channel, forcing a fine save from Karl Hein. The rebound flies his way, and he heads a second effort onto the post! So close. So frustrating for Wales.
Updated
GOAL! Greece 2-1 Sweden (Robin Quaison 80). The VAR officials took five minutes to decide whether Evangelos Pavlidis’s clearly onside goal for Greece should stand. When play finally restarted, Sweden wasted no time in halving the deficit, Emil Forsberg’s curler towards the bottom-right corner wonderfully parried by Odisseas Vlachodimos, only for Robin Quaison to slam the loose ball home.
GOAL! Hungary 2-1 Andorra (Max Llovera 82). It’s not quite all over in Budapest!
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GOAL! Albania 5-0 San Marino (Myrto Uzuni 80). It’s now 24 and counting.
GOAL! Greece 2-0 Sweden (Evangelos Pavlidis 74). Viktor Claesson, spinning on a sixpence in the Greek box, whips a shot towards the bottom-left corner ... only for the ball to carom off the base of the post and away to safety. And then the inevitable sucker punch, as Greece go down the other end and put some daylight between the teams. Sweden have been on top, but look at the score.
Updated
Not much going on in Cardiff, and not much going on in Belfast either. Ciaron Brown has seen his header from a corner blocked by Yann Sommer, and that’s the closest we’ve come to a goal for either of the home nations in a while.
GOAL! Poland 0-1 England (Harry Kane 72). The captain opens the scoring, surprising Polish keeper Wojciech Szczęsny from distance. Our man Simon Burnton has the details.
Updated
Sweden had been bossing things before that Greek opener. But the goal was lovely, Anastasios Bakasetas bursting through a gap in the centre of the Swedish defence, opening his body, and sidefooting confidently into the bottom left. Compare and contrast to the antics of Timo Werner, whose confidence must be in ribbons right now. Lukas Klostermann burst down the right and rolled a ball across the face of goal for the Chelsea striker, who was free, a couple of yards out. He somehow managed to hoick over the bar, one of those when the old cliche of It Was Harder To Miss really was geometrically true.
GOAL! Albania 4-0 San Marino (Elseid Hysaj 68). San Marino have now conceded 23 goals in five-and-three-quarter Group I matches.
GOAL! Greece 1-0 Sweden (Anastasios Bakasetas 62). The young Utrecht striker scores his second goal in just his fourth appearance for his country, and Sweden’s perfect start to Group B is suddenly under severe threat.
A poignant moment in Cardiff. The Welsh crowd rise as one to celebrate the life of the much-loved and much-missed Gary Speed, who would have been 52 today.
There's Only One Gary Speed. ❤️🏴
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) September 8, 2021
The Red Wall rises for the former Wales manager on what would have been his 52nd birthday. pic.twitter.com/LhoqmFuZgn
Wales have finally got an effort on target. Who else but Gareth Bale? However his header was parried well by Karl Hein in the Estonian goal. It’s still goalless.
GOAL! Albania 3-0 San Marino (Armando Broja 61). Scrub that.
GOAL! Albania 2-0 San Marino (Qazim Laci 58). It was 2-0 to Albania in Serravalle back in March; it’s heading that way in Tirana tonight.
Updated
GOAL! Iceland 0-3 Germany (Leroy Sane 56). A goal to go along with an assist for the Bayern Munich winger.
GOAL! Italy 5-0 Lithuania (Giovanni Di Lorenzo 54). It took a while, but something’s finally occurred in one of the matches. Praise be to Napoli defender Giovanni Di Lorenzo.
The second halves are underway. Nothing much happening in the very early stages, so here’s Charles Antaki’s take on Spain’s visit to Kosovo. “Nothing much has been happening in the Kosovo-Spain game, other than endless rondo, plus Kosovo forwards nearly but not quite catching out Spain’s astronomically high backline, plus the nifty passing working just the once and producing a goal. Not by Morata, that would be asking too much, but he did do the assist. Otherwise he’s not even had the chance of showing off his trademark skill of missing an obvious sitter. What happened to the Spain we knew?”
Wales will be hoping to raise their game in the second half. Other than Harry Wilson’s early chance from Chris Gunter’s cross, they’ve not achieved a whole lot despite dominating possession. Estonia grew in confidence towards the end of the first half and came close to scoring when Mattias Kait struck the crossbar from 20 yards.
I’ll level with you; it’s not shaping up to be a classic evening of World Cup qualifying. The status of 17 November 1993 remains a while yet.
The half-time scores
Group B
Greece 0-0 Sweden
Kosovo 0-1 Spain
Group C
Italy 4-0 Lithuania
Northern Ireland 0-0 Switzerland
Group E
Belarus 0-1 Belgium
Wales 0-0 Estonia
Group I
Albania 1-0 San Marino
Hungary 2-0 Andorra
Poland 0-0 England
Group J
Armenia 1-1 Liechtenstein (FT)
Iceland 0-2 Germany
North Macedonia 0-0 Romania
A couple of suggestions elsewhere suggesting that the Seferović penalty for Switzerland was a tame travesty. It certainly wasn’t a great one, nowhere near the bottom-left corner the Swiss striker was clearly aiming for, but he did give it a fair belt and it still took some stopping. Hats remain off to Bailey Peacock-Farrell.
That second German goal was a cracker, by the way. Joshua Kimmich swung a ball in from the right. Antonio Rüdiger powered in from the left and steered a cute diagonal header across Hannes Halldórsson and into the top right. The keeper had absolutely no chance whatsoever. Rüdiger was very much the boss of everyone there.
It’s still goalless in Belfast, but only thanks to Northern Ireland keeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell. He stops a well-struck Haris Seferović penalty, which Switerland were awarded when Michael Smith clanked into Ruben Vargas. Wonderful save, down to his right!
Updated
GOAL! Belarus 0-1 Belgium (Dennis Praet 33). Is this World Cup the last shout for Belgium’s second Golden Generation? Perhaps. They’ll almost certainly be in Qatar next winter, well clear at the top of Group E, and most likely even more comfortable tonight. Leicester City’s Dennis Praet, on loan at Torino, sweeps in from a tight angle on the right.
GOAL! Kosovo 0-1 Spain (Pablo Fornals 32). The West Ham midfielder gets his first goal for his country in only his fourth appearance.
Updated
GOAL! Albania 1-0 San Marino (Rey Manaj 32). Manaj opens the scoring, just as he did in the reverse fixture, a 2-0 win for his team in Serravalle.
GOAL! Italy 4-0 Lithuania (Moise Kean 29). Less than half an hour gone in Italy, and already we’re in rout territory. Kean gets his second of the night, and it’s an absolute belter. Federico Bernardeschi, quarterbacking 30 yards from goal, wedges a graceful first-time ball down the inside-left channel. Kean lets it drop over his shoulder before whipping a volley into the top right. What a player! What happened at Everton?
Switzerland have been on top against Northern Ireland in the early stages at Windsor Park. In terms of possession, anyway. Shayne Lavery has made a couple of electric runs that have put the fear of god into the Swiss defence. But it’s still goalless there ... and it’s still goalless in Cardiff between Wales and Estonia.
GOAL! Italy 3-0 Lithuania (Giacomo Raspadori 24). Raspadori is not to be denied. Robbed of his first goal for his country ten minutes ago, the irrepressible young striker goes again, tapping home from close range in a crowded box, and here we are.
Updated
GOAL! Iceland 0-2 Germany (Antonio Rudiger 24).
Anything Italy and Hungary can do ... Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger doubles Germany’s lead in Reykjavik. Iceland’s golden age suddenly seems a long time ago.
Updated
The Hungarian one-two wasn’t quite so sexy. A penalty slammed down the middle, and a garden variety close-range header. But they all count the same.
That second Italian goal had initially been credited to young Sassuolo striker Giacomo Raspadori, who had cut in from the right and aimed for the top left. But it took a massive deflection off the hapless Edgaras Utkus. Italy are coming at Lithuania from all angles; the first was a fine effort by Moise Kean, who purposefully mazed infield from the left, ramming home low and hard from an uninviting angle.
GOAL! Hungary 2 -0 Andorra (Endre Botka 18). Anything Italy can do ... it’s two for the Hungarians as well in Budapest.
GOAL! Italy 2 -0 Lithuania (Edgaras Utkus og 14). It’s not long before Roberto Mancini’s side double their lead. Edgaras Utkus puts through his own net.
GOAL! Italy 1-0 Lithuania (Moise Kean 11). The European champions hit the front against Lithuania, Juventus striker Moise Kean scoring his third goal for the Azzurri.
Updated
GOAL! Hungary 1-0 Andorra (Adam Szalai 9 pen). Hungary haven’t enjoyed this international break too much, stuffed at home by England and losing in Albania. But they’re quickly on course to salvage something from the week.
GOAL! Iceland 0-1 Germany (Serge Gnabry 4). An early goal at the Laugardalsvöllur in Reykjavik, and it could be a long night for the hosts. Leroy Sane, out on the left, rolls a delicious low cross towards Serge Gnabry at the far stick, and the former Arsenal and West Brom man walks it in.
Updated
Nearly a super start for Wales. With less than a minute gone, Chris Gunter speeds off down the right wing in absolute acres and crosses low for Harry Wilson, who slaps a first-time shot wide right. Wilson may have been flagged offside had that hit the net, but what a move.
Peep peep! That’s the sound of referees across the continent blowing their whistles to get the evening’s play underway. Here we go, then.
Mr 99, Gareth Bale, speaks! Yesterday, admittedly, but the Welsh captain is still worth listening to.
Northern Ireland boss Ian Baraclough, looking extremely relaxed and feeling optimistic, talks to Sky Sports. “I was just looking at the team, and didn’t realise until I sat down in the office, but seven of the guys starting tonight were with me in the Under-21s. That’s where we’ve come from. It’s a new era, really. We’re off and running and we know if we can get a result tonight it puts us second in the group with four games to go. I think we’ve got an exciting team for people to watch, hopefully for years to come.”
A reminder, should you really require one, that England are taking on Poland in Warsaw tonight. Simon Burnton has your back.
All the other team news
Group B
Greece: Vlachodimos, Chatzidiakos, Mavropanos, Tzavelas, Androutsos, Zeca, Bouchalakis, Tsimikas, Bakasetas, Pavlidis, Douvikas.
Subs: Vrousai, Saliakas, Koutris, Mandalos, Dioudis, Siopis, Papadopoulos, Retsos, Paschalakis, Limnios, Fountas, Tzolis.
Sweden: Olsen, Johansson, Helander, Lindelof, Augustinsson, Claesson, Kristoffer Olsson, Svanberg, Forsberg, Kulusevski, Isak.
Subs: Quaison, Karlsson, Cajuste, Dahlberg, Danielson, Nordfeldt, Larsson, Thelin, Nilsson, Krafth, Martin Olsson, Sema.
Kosovo: Muric, Hadergjonaj, Rrahmani, Faziji, Vojvoda, Rashani, Loshaj, Dresevic, Bytyqi, Rashica, Muriqi.
Subs: Mirlind Kryeziu, Seljmani, Aliti, Muslija, Domgjoni, Ujkani, Thaci, R Kastrati, Jashari, Valon Berisha.
Spain: Simon, Llorente, Martinez, Laporte, Reguilon, Carlos Soler, Busquets, Koke, Torres, Morata, Fornals.
Subs: Rodri, Ruiz, Sarabia, Albiol, Traore, Sanchez, Merino, Mendez, Jordi Alba, Garcia, de Gea, Azpilicueta.
Group C
Italy: Donnarumma, Di Lorenzo, Acerbi, Bastoni, Biraghi, Pessina, Jorginho, Cristante, Bernardeschi, Raspadori, Kean.
Subs: Florenzi, Gollini, Chiellini, Toloi, Castrovilli, Scamacca, Bonucci, Calabria, Berardi, Barella, Sirigu, Locatelli.
Lithuania: Setkus, Lasickas, Klimavicius, Utkus, Slavickas, Dapkus, Slivka, Kazlauskas, Verbickas, Novikovas, Dubickas.
Subs: Tutyskinas, Satkus, Krapikas, Megelaitis, Barauskas, Uzela, Gaspuitis, Baravykas, Gertmonas.
Group E
Belarus: Chernik, Shvyatsow, Rakhmanov, Sachivko, Zolotov, Shevchenko, Ruslan Lisakovich, Bykov, Vitali Lisakovich, Klimovich, Skavysh.
Subs: Begunov, Pechenin, Podstrelov, Ebong, Sedko, Khadarkevich, Yuzepchuk, Stepanov, Pavlyuchenko, Kontsevoj.
Belgium: Casteels, Alderweireld, Boyata, Denayer, Saelemaekers, Praet, Tielemans, Castagne, Trossard, Batshuayi, Lukebakio.
Subs: Vanaken, Sels, Mechele, Verschaeren, Vanheusden, De Ketelaere, Kaminski, Eden Hazard, Foket, Benteke.
Group I
Albania: Strakosha, Mihaj, Kumbulla, Djimsiti, Hysaj, Bajrami, Bare, Trashi, Laci, Uzuni, Manaj.
Subs: Berisha, Cepele, Cekici, Roshi, Doka, Hoxhallari, Cokaj, Selmani, Ismajli, Balaj, Ramadani, Broja.
San Marino: Elia Benedettini, Manuel Battistini, Fabbri, Brolli, Palazzi, Grandoni, Jose Hirsch, Enrico Golinucci, Alessandro Golinucci, David Tomassini, Nanni.
Subs: D’Addario, Ceccaroli, Michael Battistini, Zavoli, Simone Benedettini, Conti, Vitaioli, Zafferani, Bernardi, Quaranta, Raschi, Fabio Tomassini.
Hungary: Dibusz, Botka, Lang, Attila Szalai, Fiola, Kleinheisler, Nagy, Schafer, Sallai, Adam Szalai, Schon.
Subs: Salloi, Szoboszlai, Tamas, Kecskes, Cseri, Gazdag, Roland Varga, Bogdan, Nikolic, Szabo, Bolla.
Andorra: Iker, San Nicolas, Llovera, Emili Garcia, Alavedra, Marc Garcia, Alaez, Marcio Vieira, Cervos, Pujol, Fernandez.
Subs: Jordi Rubio, Moreno, Bernat, Clemente, Alexandre Martinez, Cristian Martinez, Xavier Vieira, Sanchez, Pires, Lima, Gomes.
Group J
Iceland: Halldorsson, Saevarsson, Brynjar Ingi Bjarnason, Fjoluson, Skulason, Birkir Bjarnason, Palsson, Johannesson, Johann Berg Gudmundsson, Albert Gudmundsson, Helgason.
Subs: Runarsson, Gunnarsson, Baldursson, Gudjohnsen, Arnason, Eyjolfsson, Sampsted, Thorarinsson, Thorsteinsson, Kjartansson, Sigurdsson, Hermannsson.
Germany: Neuer, Hofmann, Rudiger, Sule, Kehrer, Kimmich, Goretzka, Gundogan, Gnabry, Werner, Sane.
Subs: Leno, Musiala, Gosens, Wirtz, Klostermann, Havertz, Neuhaus, Raum, Trapp, Dahoud, Adeyemi, Schlotterbeck.
North Macedonia: Dimitrievski, Stefan Ristovski, Velkovski, Musliu, Alioski, Spirovski, Bardhi, Elmas, Kostadinov, Milan Ristovski, Churlinov.
Subs: Todoroski, Iliev, Miovski, Avramovski, Serafimov, Atanasov, Nikolov, Jahovic, Siskovski, Trajkovski, Ristevski, Askovski.
Romania: Nita, Ratiu, Chiriches, Nedelcearu, Camora, Stanciu, Nedelcu, Cicaldau, Man, Markovic, Sorescu.
Subs: Manea, Olaru, Marius Marin, Rus, Tosca, Ghita, Vlad, Razvan Marin, Cordea.
FULL TIME: Armenia 1-1 Lichtenstein. The first result of the evening is in. Henrikh Mkhitaryan put the hosts ahead from the penalty spot on the stroke of half time, but young Noah Frick - son of Liechtenstein’s all-time top-scorer Mario - levelled things up with ten minutes to go. That’s Liechtenstein’s first point in Group J, and is good news for Germany, who remain one point clear of second-placed Armenia with tonight’s game in hand.
Team news from Cardiff
Wales: Ward, Gunter, Ampadu, Mepham, Ben Davies, Morrell, Allen, Wilson, James, Roberts, Bale.
Subs: Levitt, King, Johnson, Harris, Norrington-Davies, Colwill, Hennessey, Jonathan Williams, Smith, Woodburn, Lawrence, Rodon.
Estonia: Hein, Kuusk, Paskotsi, Kait, Pikk, Anier, Vassiljev, Mets, Kreida, Puri, Sappinen. Subs: Igonen, Kirss, Lilander, Lukka, Miller, Peetson, Poom, Sinyavskiy, Sorga, Teniste, Vallner, Zenjov.
Wales make three changes from the XI named for the 3-2 win over Belarus. Ethan Ampadu, Harry Wilson and Tyler Roberts are all back, with James Lawrence, Brennan Johnson and Rubin Colwill dropping to the bench. Gareth Bale will win his 99th cap.
Team news from Belfast
Northern Ireland: Peacock-Farrell, Ballard, Cathcart, Brown, Lewis, Smith, McCann, Davis, Thompson, Washington, Lavery.
Subs: Saville, McCalmont, Carson, Flanagan, Bradley, Whyte, Jones, Lafferty, Hazard, Ferguson, McGinn, Charles.
Switzerland: Sommer, Widmer, Elvedi, Akanji, Rodriguez, Freuler, Frei, Zakaria, Fassnacht, Vargas, Seferovic.
Subs: Steffen, Schar, Mvogo, Zeqiri, Zesiger, Zuber, Garcia, Aebischer, Lauper, Sow, Kobel, Lotomba.
Ciaron Brown replaces the suspended Paddy McNair as Ian Baraclough makes ten changes from Sunday’s 1-0 friendly win in Estonia. Jamal Lewis is the only man to keep his place, with nine of those who started last Thursday’s 4-1 win over Lithuania back in favour. McNair is banned after picking up a yellow card in Vilnius.
Preamble
Good evening! Here are tonight’s fixtures, arranged for your leisure. They all kick off at 7.45pm BST, apart from the one that doesn’t. Team news coming right up. It’s on!
Group B
Greece v Sweden
Kosovo v Spain
Group C
Italy v Lithuania
Northern Ireland v Switzerland
Group E
Belarus v Belgium
Wales v Estonia
Group I
Albania v San Marino
Hungary v Andorra
Poland v England
Group J
Armenia v Liechtenstein (5pm KO)
Iceland v Germany
North Macedonia v Romania
