Austria hit back for late draw against Scotland as France thrash South Africa
Scotland let slip a 2-0 lead but extended their unbeaten run to eight games in a 2-2 draw with Austria in Vienna.
Steve Clarke’s side, still awaiting a date for their World Cup playoff against Ukraine, went ahead when Grant Hanley headed John McGinn’s corner against the crossbar before Jack Hendry nodded in the rebound.
Scotland doubled their lead early in the second half when McGinn met Kieran Tierney’s low cross from the left with a firm first-time shot beyond the goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann. Austria pulled a goal back 15 minutes from time through the substitute Michael Gregoritsch’s angled header, and were level seven minutes later when Alessandro Schöpf punished lax defending to fire into the corner from 18 yards.
McGinn told Sky Sports: “It keeps the momentum going. We wanted the win but we’ve kept the unbeaten run going. That’s unbeaten with six wins, so we can’t grumble with that.”
In Belfast Northern Ireland were beaten 1-0 by Hungary, whose winner came on 55 minutes when Roland Sallai intercepted Niall McGinn’s back pass and rounded Bailey Peacock-Farrell to score.
Elsewhere, the Netherlands and Germany drew 1-1 in Amsterdam. Thomas Müller’s well-struck goal just before half-time was cancelled out by Steven Bergwijn’s equaliser on 68 minutes. In Oslo, Joshua King scored a hattrick and Erling Haaland scored twice as Norway thrashed Armenia 9-0.
France extended their winning run to seven matches as Kylian Mbappé scored twice and record-chasing Olivier Giroud also struck in a 5-0 victory against South Africa in a friendly in Lille.
The world champions, who have not lost since they were knocked out of the European Championship in the last 16 by Switzerland on penalties last year, were never troubled by a team they had not faced since the 2010 World Cup.
That year France exited the finals after an infamous off-field meltdown in which the players went on strike but Didier Deschamps’s side were businesslike on Tuesday with Wissam Ben Yedder and Matteo Guendouzi adding late goals.
South Africa finished with 10 men after Khuliso Mudau was shown a straight red card for a fierce challenge on Lucas Digne with six minutes left at Lille’s Pierre Mauroy stadium.
Àlvaro Morata scored a first-half double and the substitute Pablo Sarabia added two goals after the break as World Cup contenders Spain overwhelmed Iceland 5-0 in an international friendly in A Coruna. The Juventus forward Morata was the only player remaining in the starting lineup from Saturday’s 2-1 friendly win over Albania in Barcelona.
Morata opened the scoring on 36 minutes with a right-footed shot and made it 2-0 from the penalty spot three minutes later after Dani Olmo was fouled by Birkir Bjarnason in the penalty area, with Spain dominating the first half but also squandering opportunities.
Yéremy Pino added a third in the 47th from close range, the 19-year-old’s first goal for Spain, with Morata then replaced in the 58th. Sarabia headed in a fourth in the 61st, moments after he had come on, and made it 5-0 in the 72nd with Marcos Alonso providing his second assist of the night.
The Spain coach Luis Enrique said: “What we have been breathing for some time is the sense of improvement and the future looks promising.”