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The irrepressible Scott Murray has England v Serbia over here:
France v Ukraine teams
France: Maignan, Kounde, Saliba, Upamecano, Digne, Kante, Kone, Olise, Cherki, Barcola, Mbappe. Substitutes: Samba, Chevalier, Gusto, Nkunku, Ekitike, Akliouche, Konate, Zaire Emery, Mateta, Lucas Hernandez, Theo Hernandez, Khephren Thuram.
Ukraine: Trubin, Karavaev, Zabarnyi, Svatok, Mykhavko, Mykhaylichenko, Ocheretko, Yarmolyuk, Nazaryna, Gutsulyak, Yaremchuk. Substitutes: Volynets, Riznyk, Konoplya, Bondar, Kaliuzhnyi, Vanat, Shaparenko, Tsygankov, Mykolenko, Sudakov, Voloshyn,
Zubkov.
Referee: Slavko Vincic (Slovenia)
Republic of Ireland v Portugal teams
Republic of Ireland (5-3-2): Kelleher; Coleman, Collins, O’Shea, O’Brien, Scales; Azaz, Taylor, Cullen; Ogbene, Parrott. Substitutes: Travers, Bazunu, O’Toole, Moran, McGrath, Kenny, Johnston, Idah, Egan, Ebosele, Dunne, Coventry.
Portugal (4-3-3): Costa; Joao Cancelo, Dias, Inacio, Dalot; Joao Neves, Vitinha, Ruben Neves; Bernardo Silva, Ronaldo, Joao Felix. Substitutes: Trincao, Veiga, Nelson Semedo, Rui Silva, Leao, Matheus Luiz, Joao Palhinha, Goncalo Ramos, Francisco Conceicao, Forbs, Antonio Silva, Joao Carvalho.
Referee: Glenn Nyberg (Sweden)
“Iceland did what they needed, beating Azerbaijan in Baku with two well-worked goals,” emails Kári Tulinius. “Now Icelandic eyes turn to Paris. If the French beat Ukraine, Iceland gets to the playoffs if they get a draw against Ukraine. As an Icelander, I never expect us to qualify for anything, but the side seams to be peaking at just the right time.”
This was Ed’s take on Group I. Norway are now six points clear of Italy …
Norway lead Italy by three points and no one else can finish in the top two. A win for Norway at home to Estonia on Thursday would in effect secure qualification before they travel to San Siro on Sunday because the astonishing 29 goals plundered by Erling Haaland and co from six matches have given the team a frankly ridiculous goal difference of +26, 16 ahead of Italy. Gennaro Gattuso’s side need maximum points from their games, which start in Moldova on Thursday, and a Norway slip against Estonia to avoid the playoff for which they appear destined as they try to qualify for a first World Cup since 2014.
Final scores in Uefa qualifying thus far today.
Armenia 0-1 Hungary
Azerbaijan 0-2 Iceland
Norway 4-1 Estonia
Alexander Sorloth and Erling Haaland both scored twice in Norway’s win.
And here is Ed Aarons’ take on Group D:
France have a playoff in the bag courtesy of the Nations League and will qualify in top spot if they beat Ukraine in Paris on Thursday. Even a draw would leave France set fair going into their final game in Azerbaijan given they lead Ukraine by three points and have a goal difference superior by five. An Iceland win in Baku on Thursday coupled with a France victory over Ukraine would move Iceland second on goal difference before they face Ukraine on Sunday in Warsaw. Azerbaijan’s very slim hopes of sneaking into a playoff require victories over Iceland and France and sufficiently improving their -9 goal difference.
Full-time: Armenia 0-1 Hungary
Ireland need a result of some sort in Dublin, then. Lose and they’re out.
Into stoppage time in Yerevan … it was Barnabas Varga who got the goal for Hungary.
Andorra v Albania teams
Andorra: Ruiz, Borra, Llovera, Olivera, San Nicolas, Rodrigo Tapia, Babot, de las Heras, Cervos, Rosas, Lopez. Substitutes: Antoni Gomes, Pires, Gomes, Rebes, De Pablos, Remolins, Ferreira, Ricard Fernandez, Moreno, Rubio, Teixeira, Marc Garcia.
Albania: Strakosha, Hysaj, Djimsiti, Ajeti, Mitaj, Shehu, Asllani, Laci, Broja, Manaj, Hoxha. Substitutes: Balliu, Ismajli, Ramadani, Aliji, Medon Berisha, Uzuni, Daku, Dajsinani, Tuci, Simoni, Asani, Bajrami.
Referee: Horatiu Fesnic (Romania)
Ed Aarons has been busy looking at the permutations across all the Uefa qualifying groups:
And as for Group F:
An injury-time equaliser by Hungary’s Dominik Szoboszlai in Lisbon last month has made Portugal wait a little longer to book their place. Two points from games in the Republic of Ireland on Thursday and at home to Armenia on Sunday would guarantee top spot. Hungary, who are second, one point ahead of Ireland, would secure a playoff on Thursday if they win in Armenia and Ireland lose to Portugal. Otherwise the playoff spot may come down to Hungary’s game against Ireland in Budapest on Sunday.
Moldova v Italy teams
Moldova: Kozhukhar, Stefan, Craciun, Dumbravanu, Reabciuk, Perciun, Rata, Ionita, Revenco, Nicolaescu, Postolachi. Substitutes: Platica, Fratea, Forov, Damascan, Cucos, Caimacov, Bors, Bogaciuc, Bitca, Avram, Bodisteanu, Timbur.
Italy: Vicario, Bellanova, Mancini, Buongiorno, Cambiaso, Cristante, Tonali, Orsolini, Raspadori, Zaccagni, Scamacca. Substitutes: Bastoni, Politano, Locatelli, Retegui, Gabbia, Frattesi, Esposito, Ricci, Donnarumma, Dimarco, Di Lorenzo, Carnesecchi.
Referee: Mykola Balakin (Ukraine)
As it stands, with Hungary winning 1-0 in Armenia, Republic of Ireland would need at least a point tonight to stay in with a mathematical chance.
They would be four points behind if they lose and three behind with a draw. A win tonight would set up a winner-takes-all clash in Budapest against Hungary on Sunday.
Preamble
France can qualify for next year’s Donald Trump-themed World Cup in North America by beating Ukraine at Parc des Princes in fashionable Paris tonight, while Portugal can do the same if they defeat Republic of Ireland at fortress Aviva in Dublin.
It looks like Ireland, on the other hand, need to beat the visitors to stay in the hunt for second place in Group F with Hungary currently winning 1-0 in Armenia. Last month, Ireland suffered a late loss to tonight’s opponents on the continent, so the pressure is very much on. Azerbaijan v Iceland, Armenia v Hungary, Norway v Estonia, Moldova v Italy and Andorra v Albania are also on tonight’s menu, along with the small matter of England v Serbia at Wembley. (Super Tommy Tuchel’s team are already qualified, in case you didn’t know.)
The France v Ukraine and Ireland v Portugal fixtures, in Group D and Group F respectively, are the ones we’ll mainly focus on here. I just need to check down the back of the sofa to scrape together the pay-per-view match fees (£2.49 a pop on Amazon Prime Video) and we’ll be ready to go. Team news, previews, news and other good things coming up.
Kick-offs: 7.45pm UK time
