England lose perfect qualifying record US rout Honduras to revive WC qualifying campaign
Favorites build big leads in their groups
WARSAW, Poland, Sept 9, (AP): England’s perfect record in World Cup qualifying vanished after conceding a stoppagetime equalizer in Poland, while Italy, Germany, Spain and Belgium all won on to build big leads in their groups on the road to Qatar.
Harry Kane’s 41st goal for England - a 30-meter pile driver - was canceled out when Robert Lewandowski crossed for Damian Szymanski to head home in the second minute of injury time in a 1-1 draw in Warsaw.
England’s five-match winning run in qualifying ended, leaving Denmark as the only nation with a 100% record so far. Still, England hold a four-point lead with four games remaining and should have no problem getting to next year’s World Cup.
Italy shouldn’t, either, after dispatching Lithuania in a 5-0 win to open up a six-point lead in their group. The recently crowned European champions extended their record unbeaten run to 37 games.
No country has a bigger lead than Belgium, which won 1-0 in Belarus to move nine points clear and to the brink of securing first place.
Spain’s lead is smaller - four points over Sweden - in a significant night in Group B. While Sweden were losing 2-1 at Greece, Spain won 2-0 at Kosovo though they have played two more games than their closest rivals.
Germany beat Iceland 4-0 away and extended their lead to four points over Armenia.
It was billed as a head-to-head between Kane and Lewandowski, two of the world’s top strikers, and both delivered in the draw between England and Poland.
Kane scored perhaps his best goal for England when he collected the ball in space in a central area before taking another touch and smashing a swerving shot into the bottom corner. He moved into fifth place on England’s all-time list, 12 goals behind No. 1 Wayne Rooney’s 53.
Lewandowski failed to score in a match for the first time this season but he did play a major role in Szymanski’s first goal for Poland.
England’s lead in Group I was trimmed to four points because Albania beat San Marino 5-0 to move into second place, a point above
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Poland. Hungary beat Andorra 2-1 and are in fourth place, a point behind Poland.
Italy fielded a new-look attacking lineup and they fired the team to their first victory since winning Euro 2020.
Moise Kean scored twice and Giacomo Raspadori had his first Italy goal - and forced an owngoal - as the European champions moved into a 4-0 lead by halftime. The two 21-year-olds were playing because Ciro Immobile, Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Chiesa were missing.
Giovanni Di Lorenzo also scored his first goal for Italy, early in the second half.
Switzerland are still in range in second place in Group C despite a 0-0 draw against Northern Ireland, because they have two games in hand over Italy.
Switzerland forward Haris Seferović had a penalty saved by goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell.
Spain’s win in Kosovo, courtesy of goals by Pablo Fornals and Ferran Torres, was marked by protests by the home fans over Spain’s nonrecognition of the country.
Some of the nearly 1,000 fans at the Fadil Vokrri Stadium in Pristina displayed banners criticizing Spain’s stance not to recognize Kosovo’s 2008 independence from Serbia.
Germany are showing signs of further progress under new coach Hansi Flick.
Serge Gnabry, Antonio Rüdiger, Leroy Sané and Timo Werner scored to see off Iceland in Group J and ensure Flick’s record is three wins from three games since taking over from Joachim Löw.
Noah Frick’s late goal earned tiny Liechtenstein a 1-1 draw in Armenia, which lost round in second place. North Macedonia and Romania failed to take advantage of Armenia’s slip-up as they played to a goalless draw in Skopje.
SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras, Sept 9, (AP): Antonee Robinson and Ricardo Pepi scored their first international goals after a halftime change in formation, Brenden Aaronson and Sebastian Lletget added late goals and the United States revived their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 4-1 win over Honduras on Wednesday night.
U.S. captain Christian Pulisic joined the lengthy American injured list, limping off in the 60th.
Brayan Maya put Honduras ahead in the 27th minute of a one-sided first half as the Catrachos dominated before a horn-blowing full house at Estadio Olimpico Metropolitano.
Robinson scored in the 48th minute and Pepi, starting in his international debut, in the 75th. Aaronson scored off a slick pass from Pepi in the 86th, and Lletget added his eighth international goal in the third minute of stoppage as Catrachos fans cheers turned to boos and whistles.
Criticized for waiting too long to insert substitutes on Sunday against Canada, U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter injected Robinson, Lletget and Aaronson to start the second half for John Brooks, George Bello and Josh Sargent.
Following a counter led by Pulisic, Lletget’s cross was redirected in front by Pepi, and Robinson volleyed from 7 yards for his first goal in 15 international appearances.
Pulslic needed treatment after a challenge, then fell to the ground after trying to sprint on a dribble. He was replaced by Cristian Roldan and joined Sergio Dest, Gio Reyna and Zack Steffen with injuries.
The 18-year-old Pepi put the U.S. ahead in the 75th off a cross from DeAndre Yedlin, another sub.
Pepi became the 65th player to appear for the U.S since the October 2017 loss at Trinidad and Tobago ended a streak of seven straight World Cup appearances and the 42nd under Berhalter.
Aaronson, who scored his first goal in Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Canada, added his goal on a counter off a feed from Pepi.
‘We can decide not to play in it’
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Mexico lead the North and Central American and Caribbean with seven points, followed by Panama, Canada and the U.S. with five each. Honduras and El Salvador have two each, and Jamaica none.
Following draws at El Salvador and at home against Canada, the U.S.are in decent shape after three of the 14 matches. Qualifying resumes in October.
The U.S. won for just the third time in 34 road qualifiers in which they conceded first (five draws).
Moya scored when he redirected a cross from Diego Rodríguez past goalkeeper Matt Turner after Brooks failed to make a tackle upfield.
Bello, making just his fourth international appearance, left Moya unmarked.
Atiba Hutchinson and Jonathan David scored in the first 11 minutes and Tajon Buchanan added a second-half goal in Canada’s 3-0 victory over El Salvador in.
Canada improved to 1-0-2. El Salvador dropped to 0-1-2.
The 38-year-old Hutchinson opened the scoring in the sixth minute, cutting to the near post and beating several
FIFA unveils biennial World Cup plan as UEFA threatens boycott
defenders to knock it in. Hutchinson earned his 88th international cap, one behind Julian de Guzman’s team record.
David struck on a header in the 11th, his 16th goal in 19 games for Canada.
Mexico got a 76th-minute goal from Jesus Corona in a 1-1 draw at Panama, which went ahead on Rolando Blackburn’s 28th-minute goal . ... Costa Rica was held to a 1-1 draw by visiting Jamaica. Jimmy Marín scored in the third minute for the hosts and Shamar Nicholson tied the score in the 47th.
NYON, Switzerland, Sept 9, (AP): FIFA detailed its plan for reshaping international soccer around playing the men’s World Cup every two years despite European opposition that could lead to a boycott.
Joined by retired greats, FIFA unveiled the proposal Thursday but the pushback from Europe was immediate as UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin confirmed it could launch a boycott by its teams which have dominated soccer’s marquee event since Brazil won in 2002.
“We can decide not to play in it,” Ceferin said in an interview with British daily The Times.
About 80 former internationals including World Cup winners went to Qatar for two days of FIFA-hosted talks and emerged with consensus for playing the tournament twice as often.
“We all agreed with the new proposal of the calendar,” said Brazil great Ronaldo, who went to four World Cups and won twice. He described FIFA’s proposal as “just amazing.”
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Still, European soccer leader Ceferin said “as far as I know, the South Americans are on the same page” with resisting FIFA’s plan.
“So good luck with a World Cup like that,” Ceferin told The Times in the latest UEFA vs. FIFA fight since 2016 when he and Gianni Infantino were elected to the respective presidencies.
Infantino and his allies have since 2018 floated the idea of a biennial World Cup which European soccer has viewed as a commercial and competitive threat to its club and national team events. Arsene Wenger has led the project since FIFA hired the former Arsenal coach last year to be its director of global development.
Details floated in recent media interviews and briefings were finally presented Thursday from Qatar in an overall plan to shape the schedule of international games from 2024. The FIFA-managed calendar mandates when clubs must release players to national teams. More top-level tournaments and fewer qualifying games are the priority with a biennial men’s World Cup the key takeaway.