International Football Roundup

 EURO 2020 PLAYOFFS/UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE

The final international break of the year saw the final playoffs games for Euro 2020 (2021), as well as the final fixtures for the UEFA Nations League on who gets promoted and who will play in the finals next year. Scotland qualified for an international tournament for the first time since 1998, beating Serbia on penalties, with David Marshall saving Aleksander Mitrovic's spot-kick. North Macedonia has qualified for the first time as an independent nation beating Georgia 1-0 thanks to club captain Goran Pandev. Dominik Szoboszlai scored a late winner to send Hungary to Euro 2020, beating Iceland 2-1 after conceding very early in the match. Slovakia also qualified for Euro 2020 beating Northern Ireland 2-1 after extra time. In the UEFA Nations League, Spain topped their group in Pool A, meaning they will play in the Finals after a convincing 6-0 victory over Germany with Manchester City winger Ferran Torres scoring a hat-trick while Germany inflicted their heaviest defeat in 66 years. France will also play in the Finals, topping their group unbeaten with five wins from six games including their final two games against Portugal and Sweden. England failed to reach the Finals after losing 2-0 to Belgium as the Red Devils go to the Finals instead. Italy just edged past the Netherlands in topping their group as the Azzurri finished the group unbeaten and one point ahead of the Dutch. Czech Republic, Wales, Hungary, and Austria will play in Pool A in the next edition as they topped their groups in Pool B. 

AFCON QUALIFIERS

Qualifiers for the African Cup of Nations resumed following the coronavirus pandemic with the main tournament moved to 2022. Senegal is the first to book their place in the tournament following their back-to-back wins over Guinea-Bissau which puts them top of their group with four wins from four games. Meaning even if they fail to win their final two games, they will still qualify. Despite losing their talisman Mohamed Salah with the Egyptian winger testing positive for coronavirus, the Pharaohs of Egypt won 1-0 against Togo in Cairo and 3-1 at Lomé. So far, Egypt is unbeaten with eight points. Level with the island nation of Comoros while Kenya is third with only three points. Nigeria dropped points against Sierra Leone with a goalless draw in Freetown on Tuesday, and more surprisingly a 4-4 draw in Benin City on Friday last week. The Super Eagles scored four goals very early in the first half despite conceding one before halftime. However, three goals for Sierra Leone in the final twenty minutes turned the game on its head as Nigeria was embarrassed. Nigeria still tops their group with eight points but they are ahead of Benin Republic by only a point with Sierra Leone still have some hope of qualifying as they sit third with three points. Ghana experienced a shock 1-0 defeat to Sudan while Algeria beat Zimbabwe 3-1 with Riyad Mahrez scoring the pick of the goals.

WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS (SOUTH AMERICA)

World Cup qualifiers in South America is still in its infancy but there were some game that produced results that could be pivotal this qualification season. Brazil kept their perfect record intact after beating Venezuela 1-0 and Uruguay 2-0, winning all their four games played having the best goal difference. Argentina dropped points for the first time following a goalless draw against Paraguay in Buenos Aires but went back to winning ways beating Peru 2-0, keeping them second in the table with ten points. Chile finally got their first win in their qualifying campaign beating Peru 2-0 with Arturo Vidal scoring a brace but they lost 2-1 to Venezuela on Tuesday. Thus far, Chile only have four points from four games, so they need a good run of form to get going this qualifying campaign.  The biggest result of the qualifiers so far was Ecuador's 6-1 thrashing of Colombia. The Colombians were shell-shocked by Ecuador, conceding four in the first half before conceding another two despite Ecuador going down to ten men late in the game. So far, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, and Paraguay occupy the automatic qualifying spots while Uruguay is in the playoff spot. Only Peru and Bolivia are yet to win a game so far.