Czech Republic overcome Kosovo scare to secure their passage

The Czech Republic joined England in qualifying from Group A for next summer’s Euro 2020 finals but did it the hard way by coming back from a goal down to win 2-1 against Kosovo.

Sheffield Wednesday striker Atdhe Nuhiu had given Kosovo a 50th-minute lead in Plzen. But goals after 71 and 79 minutes by Alex Kral and Ondrej Celustka took the home side through. The Czechs could pip England to top spot but would have to win their final game in Bulgaria on Sunday and make up a deficit of 24 goals.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick, the 55th of his career, took him to 98 international goals and led

Portugal to a 6-0 home win over

Lithuania to keep them on course to finish second in Group B behind already-qualified Ukraine. Pizzi, Goncalo Paciencia and Bernardo Silva were Portugal’s other scorers.

Serbia remain a point behind Portugal following a 3-2 home win over Luxembourg as Fulham forward Aleksandar Mitrovic scored twice in the first half to put them in charge. Gerson Rodrigues pulled a goal back before Nemanja Radonjic restored Serbia’s two-goal advantage. A second Luxembourg goal by David Turpel made for a nervous final 15 minutes in Belgrade. In the final round of fixtures on Sunday, Portugal visit Luxembourg while Serbia meet group winners Ukraine at home.

France and Turkey both qualified from Group H following the latter’s 0-0 home draw with Iceland in the early game. France went top of the group after a 2-1 home win against Moldova who took the lead through Vadim Rata after just nine minutes in Paris. Raphael Varane equalised before an Olivier Giroud penalty with 11 minutes remaining sealed the win.