Danes, Swiss through to finals
PARIS: Denmark and Switzerland secured spots at Euro 2020 at the expense of the Republic of Ireland on Monday.
Ireland needed to beat Denmark in Dublin to clinch qualification for next year’s 24-team European Championship finals, but Matt Doherty’s late header was only enough to earn Mick Mccarthy’s men a 1-1 draw at the Aviva Stadium.
A closely fought contest, low on technical quality, swung the visitors’ way when the unmarked Martin Braithwaite stuck out a boot to divert a Henrik Dalsgaard cross into the net on 73 minutes.
However, Ireland scored a late equaliser to draw 1-1 in Copenhagen in June and they repeated the feat here as Wolverhampton Wanderers right-back Doherty headed in an Enda Stevens cross with five minutes left.
Needing to win, the home side then threw everything at their opponents in the dying moments, but Denmark held on to clinch second place in Group D behind Switzerland. “We had opportunities but I am not going to criticise the lads,” Mccarthy said. “They have been brilliant. We lost one game out of eight. I am very proud of them. We can beat anyone in the play-offs.”
The Danes, European champions in 1992, can now look forward to playing at home during the finals, with Copenhagen one of the 12 host cities chosen for the tournament.
Switzerland secured top spot with a 6-1 away win against minnows Gibraltar as Cedric Itten
Liechtenstein
Spain Sweden
Greece Malta Ireland
Italy Gibraltar scored twice. Skipper and Arsenal outcast Granit Xhaka netted their final goal.
FINNS LOSE
Having wrapped up a historic first qualification for a major tournament three days earlier, Finland lost 2-1 to Greece in
Athens despite Norwich City striker Teemu Pukki giving them a first-half lead with his 10th goal in eight international games.
Bosnia and Herzegovina finish fourth in the group despite a 3-0 win in Liechtenstein, but they will have another chance to qualify via the play-offs next March.
Having already qualified as runners-up in the same group, Sweden defeated the Faroe Islands 3-0, while Norway, who go into the play-offs, won 2-1 in Malta.
FINAL ROUNDS
The final automatic qualifying berth will be decided on Tuesday as Wales host Hungary with the winner going through from Group E, while a draw in Cardiff could allow Slovakia to pip both of them by beating Azerbaijan.