Dominant Denmark stay perfect
France take control of Group D, Portugal overcome Ronaldo’s absence to beat Azerbaijan Governing body itself could technically be partly culpable
ROME, Sept 8, (AP): The way Antoine Griezmann and Karim Benzema linked up together for France, the injured Kylian Mbappé was hardly missed.
Griezmann scored twice and was set up by Benzema both times in a 2-0 win over Finland that put the defending World Cup champions in control of their qualifying group for the 2022 tournament.
Also, European Championship semifinalists Denmark extended their perfect start by dominating Israel 5-0, and Memphis Depay and Erling Haaland each had hat tricks as both the Netherlands and Norway, respectively, won in routs.
Denmark have scored 22 goals and conceded none.
With his 39th and 40th goals for France, Griezmann matched Michel Platini for third place on the team’s all-time list behind only Thierry Henry (51 goals) and Olivier Giroud (46).
Baktiyor Zainutdinov equalized five minutes into stoppage time for Kazakhstan in a 2-2 draw at Bosnia and Herzegovina.
SOCCER
France lead Group D with 12 points ahead of Ukraine (5), Finland (5), Bosnia (3) and Kazakhstan (3).
Five players scored as Denmark beat Israel to put the Danes on the verge of securing a place at the 2022 World Cup with barely half of the qualifying games played.
After reaching the semifinals at the European Championship, the Danes now have a perfect record of winning all six of their World Cup qualifying games so far without conceding a goal. One more win could secure a spot at next year’s tournament in Qatar.
Israel came into the game in second place in Group F but the closest they came to scoring was when Eran Zahavi put the ball in the net early on, only for it to be ruled out for offside. Otherwise, Israel didn’t record a shot on target.
Yussuf Poulsen got Denmark going in the 28th minute with a goal on the rebound after Israeli goalkeeper Ofir Marciano failed to hold Mikkel Damsgaard’s volley. Three minutes later, Denmark captain Simon Kjaer headed in his team’s second goal from a free kick, before goals from Andreas Skov Olsen and Thomas Delaney.
Andreas Cornelius capped the win with a fifth goal in stoppage time, Denmark’s 22nd in just six qualifying games.
Denmark lead the group by seven points from Scotland, which beat Austria 1-0 to move up to second in the group.
Depending on results elsewhere, Denmark could guarantee first place and a qualifying spot in their next game - Oct. 9 against Moldova. Denmark beat Moldova 8-0 in their previous meeting.
Scotland managed a win in Vienna thanks to a 30th-minute penalty from Lyndon Dykes, awarded for a foul on Che Adams following video review. Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon kept his team ahead with a superb save to deny Christoph Baumgartner at a corner in the 79th. The Austrian crowd booed the team at the final whistle.
Finishing second in Group F would give Scotland a playoff spot and a shot at reaching their first World Cup since 1998.
The Faeroe Islands beat Moldova 2-1.
Portugal overcame the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo to comfortably defeat Azerbaijan 3-0 and take the lead in their World Cup qualifying group .
Bernardo Silva, André Silva and Diogo Jota scored a goal each to give Portugal a two-point lead over Serbia,
which conceded late in a 1-1 draw at Ireland in the other Group A match. The away victory gave Portugal 13
points from five matches.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic gave Serbia the lead in Dublin with a 20th-minute header off a corner kick but the hosts equalized with an 87th-minute own-goal by defender Nikola Milenkovic.
Ronaldo was serving a suspension for accumulation of yellow cards. He was released from the squad after netting his 110th and 111th goals in Portugal’s 2-1 win over Ireland last week, becoming the men’s all-time top scorer in international soccer. He had been tied with former Iranian striker Ali Daei at 109 goals.
Bernardo Silva opened the scoring from inside the area in the 26th minute by flicking the ball into the top corner with the outside of his left foot. André Silva, playing in Ronaldo’s position up front, added to the lead from close range five minutes later, and Jota sealed the victory with a header in the 75th.
In the final minutes of the match, some fans entered the field and took photos with Portugal midfielder Bruno Fernandes.
Winless Azerbaijan stayed in last place in the group with one point from five matches. They host Ireland in the next round in October.
Serbia will next visit Luxembourg, which are also Portugal’s next opponents. Luxembourg are third in the group with six points from four matches.
Depay’s hat trick led the Netherlands to a 6-1 rout of Turkey, while Haaland also scored three in Norway’s 5-1 win over Gibraltar. Montenegro and Latvia drew 0-0. The Netherland lead on goal difference ahead of Norway as both teams have 13 points, followed by Turkey (11), Montenegro (8), Latvia (5) and Gibraltar (0).
Croatia proved they can win without Luka Modric as they beat Slovenia 3-0 in their fight for a World Cup qualifying spot.
Real Madrid midfielder Modric missed all three of Croatia’s games during the international break with a thigh injury, but the 2018 World Cup runners-up have emerged with two wins and a draw.