The group stages of the 2020 European Championship Qualifiers ended Tuesday this week, and there are 20 teams that have already booked their place in Europe’s biggest continental tournament for the following year.
Following Wales’ 2-0 win over Hungary, it is now official that only four berths are up for grabs. These will be decided on four mini-playoff tournaments in March next year.
List of teams that already clinched a spot in the 2020 European Championships
The list of qualified teams goes as follows: Italy, England, Belgium, Spain, Ukraine, France, Germany, Switzerland, Croatia, Poland, Russia, Portugal, Turkey, Denmark, Holland, Austria, Sweden, Czech Republic, Finland and Wales. A few teams stood out from the pack based on their performances, though.
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Kylian Mbappe did not perform at his best against Poland despite a second-half brace that helped fire France into the quarter-finals, Didier Deschamps said.
With five goals in Qatar, Mbappe s career tally at the World Cup is now at nine at the age of 23, with only Just Fontaine (13) scoring more for France at the tournament – all of which came in the 1958 World Cup.
Despite his goalscoring exploits, Deschamps stated his belief Mbappe did not have his best performance.
We know about Kylian. We ve already seen him. He speaks on the football pitch, the coach said in the post-match press conference.
He didn t have his best match tonight, I don t want to accuse him of anything, and he knows that himself. But he can change a match in a moment.
He s…
Lautaro Martinez’s late equaliser rescued disappointing Inter Milan a 1-1 Champions League draw against Real Sociedad at the Estadio de Anoeta.
Last year’s beaten finalists Inter had failed to have a single shot on target in their opening Group D tie when captain Martinez fired home in the 87th minute.
Brais Mendez had given Sociedad an early lead but the Spaniards, back in the Champions League for the first time since 2013-14, were cruelly punished after twice hitting the woodwork.
We come away with a point
— Inter (@Inter_en)
Inter thrashed city rivals AC Milan 5-1 on Saturday, but were a shadow of the side which have won their first four Serie A matches.
Sociedad lost 2-1 at Real Madrid on Sunday and have won only one of thei…
Inter Miami take on New York City FC at Yankee Stadium on Saturday aiming to become just the third side in MLS history – after LA Galaxy in 2010 and Seattle Sounders in 2009 – to open a season with three straight shutout victories.
NYCFC have by far the better record in this fixture, though, having won six of their previous seven meetings with Inter, the most recent of those encounters coming in the first round of last season s MLS Cup playoffs when Nick Cushing s side cruised to a 3-0 victory.
Gabriel Pereira and Maxi Moralez scored six minutes apart in the second half and Heber added a late third to seal the win for the then reigning MLS Cup champions, although they tasted defeat against Philadelphia Union in the Eastern Conference Final.
It was a familiar …
Switzerland head coach Murat Yakin was proven right after labelling Xherdan Shaqiri as a special player for special moments .
Shaqiri capitalised on a Scotland mistake to score a stunning equaliser, earning a 1-1 draw in their second game at the tournament to put Switzerland on the brink of qualifying for the knockout stages.
Indeed, Yakin was full of praise for his star man, who has now scored in each of the last six major tournaments going back to the 2014 World Cup, noting the difference he made to the side.
He proved that he lives and breathes for moments such as these, Yakin told reporters. He has shown that time and time again down the years, he really deserved that wonder goal.
It was an unbelievably clinical strike. And that was the only thing y…
According to , several Serie A clubs will be on the hunt for a new central defender when the January window opens, and one of the names on their respective lists is Arsenal s Tahekiro Tomiyasu.
The Japan international was not involved as the Gunners prepared for the start of the season this summer and is yet to return to full fitness following a knee injury. When he does return, he s likely to find it extremely difficult to break back into the starting XI under Mikel Arteta, with Jurrien Timber settling well on the left flank of the back line, also featuring Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba and Ben White. Meanwhile, Arsenal have added Riccardo Calafiori to their defensive ranks as well.
As a result, Tomiyasu is expected to be open to departure in the winter, and the Gu…
Paris Saint-Germain continued the perfect start to their Ligue 1 title defence with a third successive victory, winning 3-1 away to Lille on Sunday.
Vitinha opened the scoring from the penalty spot before Bradley Barcola added another goal just three minutes later in the first half at Stade Pierre-Mauroy.
Barcola s fourth strike of the Ligue 1 season had PSG in control at 2-0 heading into the second period, though Edon Zhegrova reduced the arrears with 12 minutes remaining.
Randal Kolo Muani made sure of all three points, however, with the substitute climbing high to head home from Desire Doue s cross in stoppage time.
Luis Enrique s reigning champions remain top of the table on nine points, two ahead of a four-team chasing pack, while Lille are sixth wit…
Pat Noonan said his FC Cincinnati side must become a team again in order to return to winning ways after their winless MLS run extended to three games in midweek.
The Orange and Blue were on the wrong side of a five-goal thriller, losing 3-2 to New York City FC as another slow start was punished at the Red Bull Arena.
While having already secured their spot in the playoffs, Noonan expressed the importance of team cohesion for the final two games of the regular season, starting this weekend against Orlando City.
We need to be more of a team on the field. I think we have too many individual moments where we re not doing what is in the best interest of the team, Noonan said.
It s a lot of players at a lot of different times. It s not a singular thing. We r…
Vancouver Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini believes there are no limits to where his side can finish in MLS if they continue their unbeaten streak against Sporting Kansas City.
The Whitecaps have not lost any of their last five matches in all competitions, winning four and drawing one, leaving them sixth in the Western Conference.
With only eight points separating them from the top of the table, and Vancouver having two games in hand over some of those above them, Sartini is confident his team can challenge for a top spot.
We have to push for the next two games at home before the rest and the Leagues Cup, so we really need to push, and then we can regroup in the last 10 games to try and get the highest position possible, Sartini said.
We need to get p…
It may have something to do with the world champions love of cagey football, the catenaccio cat and mouse variant they patented, that Italy arrive at Euro 2008 with the oldest squad.
With an average age of 29-and-a-half the Azzurri have no shortage of experienced heads on their shoulders although Roberto Donadoni has called up budding stars in the shape of 23-year-old Alberto Aquilani and 25-year-old striker Fabio Quagliarella.
In contrast, co-hosts Switzerland have the youngest squad with an average age of 26.4 years.
Swiss coach Kobi Kuhn once appeared in a series of TV adverts that featured babies as an unsubtle way of suggesting youth should be given its head and his charges can boast the youngest player of the tournament in 19-year-old striker Eren Derdi…