In Group I, Rome witnessed the bitter defeat of the Azzurri when the Italian team lost 1-4 to Norway in the decisive match of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Although the mission of winning 9-0 was impossible, the army of coach Gennaro Gattuso still aimed for revenge but was eventually extinguished by Norway with a destructive attacking performance in the second half.
In the 11th minute, the Norwegian player made a control error, creating conditions for Italy to coordinate quickly, ending with Francesco Pio Esposito turning and shooting close to the goal, opening the score 1-0.
The home team wanted to take advantage of the victory, but Norway cleverly slowed down the pace of the match, even pulling superstar Erling Haaland back to support the defense, keeping the score steady until the end of the first half.
Italy lost to Norway, having to play a risky play-off to win the chance to go to the 2026 World Cup (Photo: Getty).
In the second half, Norway completely changed their tactics, attacking and continuously attacking. Four consecutive goals scored in the 63rd, 78th, 79th and 90+3rd minutes completely extinguished the will of the Italian players.
This heavy defeat officially gave Norway a direct ticket to the 2026 World Cup and pushed Italy down to the risky Play-off round.
England have officially completed their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign in the most impressive way, defeating Albania 2-0 away from home. Despite having already secured their ticket, the "Three Lions" still maintained their destructive form, finishing the qualifying round with a perfect record of winning all 8 matches.
Harry Kane celebrates helping England to their eighth consecutive win in the 2026 World Cup European qualifiers (Photo: Getty).
The Three Lions' achievement is even more remarkable when considering the group stage. Only Spain are capable of finishing the qualifiers without conceding a goal. However, Spain are in a group of four teams, while England are in a group of five.
As a result, England became the first team in European qualifying history to go 0-0 in a group of at least five teams.
Returning to the match between England and Albania, the brilliance of key striker Harry Kane resolved the deadlock, bringing the "Three Lions" two consecutive goals in the 74th and 82nd minutes. Although Albania tried hard to find an equalizer, they were completely helpless against the disciplined, extremely challenging defensive style that coach Thomas Tuchel and his team applied.
With this victory, England finished the qualifying round in the leading position of Group K with 24 absolute points. While Albania ranked 2nd with 14 points.
In the final qualifying match of the 2026 World Cup, the French team won 3-1 against the host Azerbaijan. Although coach Deschamps sent out an experimental lineup and was unexpectedly behind, France still showed their mettle.
Azerbaijan opened the scoring in the 4th minute through striker Dadashov. However, the "Gaul Rooster" quickly stabilized and equalized the score 1-1 thanks to Mateta's high header in the 17th minute. France's pressure quickly brought this team to a 2-1 lead in the 30th minute thanks to Akliouche.
France won in the absence of Mbappe (Photo: Getty).
Before the break, France scored the third goal from an unlucky situation of the home team. The shot of the away team player caused goalkeeper Mahammadaliyev to accidentally put it into his own net, bringing the score to 3-1 in favor of France.
In the second half, the French team continued to put pressure on their opponents and continuously attacked the goal. However, the away team's strikers were quite unlucky in the final situations. In the second half, France fired 9 shots but only 1 was on target and could not convert into a goal.
In the end, France won 3-1 away from home. This result helped coach Deschamps and his team complete the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign in full, despite a somewhat lackluster performance, especially in the second half.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/italy-ngam-ngui-nhin-na-uy-du-world-cup-2026-anh-va-phap-chien-thang-20251117061407051.htm
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