Tuesday, September 9 World Cup Qualifier Results
Norway 11 – 1 Moldova
There’s not much to say outside of the score.
Poor Moldova were utterly eviscerated; even their one goal was courtesy of Norway’s Leo Østigard (who may well have felt guilty for the beat-down his team was delivering). Erling Haaland scored five; Thelo Aasgaard got his first national team hat-trick. Moldova had two shots to Norway’s 34 (!), half of which were on frame.
Norway leads Group I with five straight victories (15 pts.).
Serbia 0 – 5 England
As if to apologize for the soporific performance against Andorra, England opened a can of whoop-ass on Serbia.
Harry Kane and Noni Madueke got one-two punches in the 33rd and 35th minutes to kick things off. In the second half Ezri Konsa and Mark Guehi did their part and the cherry on top was Marcus Rashford’s 90th minute penalty. With half of their 24 shots on target, Serbia’s keeper Djordje Petrovic was kept busy and screaming at his defensive line to provide better support.
England (15 pts.) move seven points clear of second place Albania (8 pts.), and are thoroughly in control of Group K.
Armenia 2 – 1 Republic of Ireland
Alas, there was no last minute Hail Mary-esque equalizer from Adam Idah to rescue Ireland on this night. In faraway Yerevan, the Irish went down right before halftime when Nathan Collins conceded a (very soft) penalty. Just minutes into the second half that deficit doubled as Ireland’s defense lapsed for a split second and allowed Grant-Leon Ramos to punch in Nair Tiknizyan’s cross. Evan Ferguson gave the visitors hope with a fine 57th minute strike, but all of Ireland’s pressure couldn’t produce anything more.
Ireland fall to last place in Group F with a single point and four games to play. They cannot afford any more mistakes.
Other Results
- France 2 – 1 Iceland
- Kylian Mbappé scored and got an assist to help a 10-man France overcome a tough Iceland side.
- Hungary 2 – 3 Portugal
- Barnabás Varga got a brace for the hosts, but it was João Cancelo who got the game winner in the 86th. And, yes, Cristiano Ronaldo scored a penalty.
- Azerbaijan 1 – 1 Ukraine
- Albania 1 – 0 Latvia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 – 2 Austria
- Cyprus 2 – 2 Romania
