European Championship qualifiers: follow-up round – France and the Netherlands without problems – Poland narrowly wins – Sports

Group Two: An easy win for the candidates

• France – Ireland 2-0

France remains flawless in the European Championship qualifiers. After beating Ireland, the French have achieved five wins after five matches and have not conceded a single goal. In the Parc des Princes in Paris, Aurelien Chouamini (19) with a beautiful shot and Marcus Thuram (48) made the difference in a match whose outcome seemed clear from the beginning. Ireland never found their way into the match and only dared attack after trailing 2-0. Swiss referee Urs Schneider managed the match with confidence and without any major deviations.

• Netherlands – Greece 3-0

The Netherlands also achieved an undisputed victory. Al Fattal beat Greece 3-0, taking six points from three matches. Martin de Roon, Cody Jacobo and Wott Wieghurst each scored goals in the first half. After that, the Dutch team, who advanced to second place in Group B thanks to their success, took things easy. For the Greeks, qualifying for the European Championship is still a possibility, but after the second defeat in a row, it is a little far away.

Group E: Albania is fighting for one point

• Czech Republic – Albania 1:1

League leaders Czech Republic could manage nothing more than a 1-1 draw at home at Prague’s Fortuna Arena against second-placed Albania – despite having more possession and a shots-on-target ratio of 12:1. Valaklak Cerny gave the Czechs the lead at the beginning of the second half with a shot into the far corner (56). However, this only lasted for 10 minutes. Then the minute struck for former GC player Nedim Bajremi: the American Sassuolo midfielder scored a stunning goal from long range to level the score – with Albania’s first and last shot on target.

2. Embarrassment is hardly avoided. After a shock 2-3 defeat to Moldova, Poland returned to winning ways, but only with a lot of effort and luck. Against the Faroe Islands national team, Warsaw took a 0-0 lead in the second half, which led to booing whistles. Fernando Santos’ side improved in the second half, but only took the lead in the 73rd minute thanks to a handy penalty kick by Robert Lewandowski, which was awarded after a video review. 10 minutes later, the Barcelona striker made it 2-0 with a brilliant individual performance. The workers’ victory was real.

Group G: Serbia loses to Hungary

A quick double goal put Hungary on their way to victory over Serbia. After an own goal by Atilla Salai in the 10th minute, the visitors were 0-1 behind, but Barnabas Varga and Willy Orban turned the score around in two minutes (34/36). Hungary narrowly won the first match in Group G and are now at the top of the standings. As the second-placed team, Serbia is still on course for the finals in Germany.

Group H: Slovenia is heading towards qualification

• Slovenia – Northern Ireland 4:2

At half-time in Group H, Slovenia can continue to dream of a second participation in the European Championship. Thanks to a 4-2 win in a tough match against Northern Ireland, the Slovenians are in third place, but are level on points with second-placed Denmark (4-0 against San Marino). Finland leads the standings (1-0 against Kazakhstan) with 12 points. Zan Sellar, who works for Logano, was not used in Slovenia.