4 takeaways from Thursday’s World Cup qualifying

A big step forward was taken on Thursday for several countries wishing to book their tickets for this summer’s World Cup. A quick reminder: 42 teams out of 48 are already participating in the largest edition of the tournament ever, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. That’s why Thursday’s games were so important. Now all eyes are on Tuesday, when the last six places will be reserved. Here are the takeaways: 1. Turkey puts the world (and the United States) on alert Of all the teams remaining in UEFA qualifying, Turkey might be the one most other teams want to avoid at the World Cup. Young playmakers Arda Guler (Real Madrid) and Kenan Yildiz (Juventus) power a young Turkish attack with veteran midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu (Inter Milan) pulling the strings. Guler contributed to the goal in Turkey’s 1-0 win, scored by left-back Ferdi Kadioglu (Brighton). Turkey went 4-1-1 in UEFA qualifying but found themselves in the playoffs as they were paired with powerhouse Spain, who won Euro 2024. But now the Turks are one game away from cementing their place for the summer. If it qualifies for the World Cup on Tuesday against Slovakia, Turkey will join World Cup Group D with the United States, Australia and Paraguay. The Turks – who beat the United States last fall in a friendly – ​​could be the favorites to win this group. 2. Italy moves closer to qualification Italy have failed to qualify for the last two World Cups, which is surprising after winning Euro 2020 between two of the tournaments. There was plenty of tension heading into these qualifiers, which saw the Italians take on Northern Ireland on Thursday. Manager Gennaro Gattuso’s team won 2-0 thanks to goals from midfielder Sandro Tonali (AC Milan) and striker Moise Kean (Fiorentina). Italy will now face Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday with a chance to not only make the World Cup, but also try to return to their place among the world’s elite. As well as missing the 2022 and 2018 tournaments, their struggles date back to 2010 and 2014, failing to advance from their group on both occasions. The Azzurri’s last World Cup knockout match was in 2006, beating France on penalties. 3. Double drama in overtime; Gyokeres shines for Sweden Penalty shootouts are always high-stakes theater, and we were fortunate to be able to settle two matches from the spot. In the match between Wales and Bosnia and Herzegovina, there were many highlights before we even got to the penalty shootout. In the final moments in Cardiff, 40-year-old striker Edin Dzeko scored from a corner to level the score at 1-1 in the 86th minute. This preceded a spectacular goal from Daniel James (Leeds United), who opened the scoring for Wales in the 51st minute. But from the penalties, Bosnia-Herzegovina took the advantage. They missed their first penalty but converted the next four, while Crystal Palace’s Brennan Johnson and Nottingham Forest’s Neco Williams missed theirs for Wales – effectively dashing any hopes of a Welsh return to the big stage. In Prague, Ireland looked to be in control of their World Cup dream, with the team leading 2-0 in the first half. But Czechia had other plans, as the hosts scored their first goal four minutes later before captain Ladislav Krejci (Wolves) equalized in the 86th minute. Once the match reached penalties, Ireland were again unable to close it out. The Irish led 3-2 after three attempts, but missed two consecutive penalties while the Czech Republic converted their last two attempts to advance. Sweden qualified for this round thanks to their performance in the UEFA Nations League, in which they had two elite strikers, Liverpool’s Alexander Isak and Arsenal’s Viktor Gyokeres. Isak is out for these matches due to injury, so it was Gyokeres’ time to shine – and he did. Gyokeres scored a hat trick against Ukraine, giving Sweden a 3-0 victory in Valencia, Spain. Sweden have qualified through Path B of the UEFA qualifiers to face Poland next Tuesday with a trip to the World Cup on the line. It will be a big match of strikers with Gyokeres facing Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski, who scored for Poland in their 2-1 win over Albania. 4. Valiant effort from New Caledonia In a tournament that already features several rookie countries (Jordan, Cape Verde and Curacao), it was heartening to see another team with high hopes and a small population attempt to reach the World Cup. New Caledonia – a South Pacific island nation with a population of just 265,000 – gave it their all against Jamaica in the semi-final of the FIFA intercontinental qualifiers hosted in Mexico. Wrexham striker Bailey-Tye Cadamarteri’s 18th-minute goal gave Jamaica (who were trying to reach their first World Cup since 1998) the only goal of the game, setting up a date with DR Congo next Tuesday with a World Cup berth on the line. Hats off to New Caledonia, who would be the lowest-ranked nation (150th) to ever compete in a World Cup. world. The team had not played a competitive match since October but still made things interesting against a more formidable Jamaican team. 4 ½. And then The final six places for the 48 World Cup teams will be determined on Tuesday. Four of the remaining places will be European teams. The other two places will be up for grabs between four intercontinental nations (Bolivia, Iraq, DR Congo and Jamaica). Here is the full schedule of Tuesday’s matches: The winner of this match will join Group B (co-host Canada, Qatar and Switzerland). The winner’s matches will be played in Toronto (vs. Canada), Los Angeles (vs. Switzerland) and Seattle (vs. Qatar). The winner between Sweden and Poland will join the Netherlands, Japan and Tunisia in Group F. These matches will be played in Monterrey, Mexico (vs Tunisia), Houston (vs Netherlands) and Arlington, Texas. (against Japan). The winner of the Turkey-Kosovo match on Tuesday will join the United States, Paraguay and Australia in Group D. These matches will be played in Vancouver (against Australia), Santa Clara, California (against Paraguay) and Los Angeles (against the United States). The winner of the Denmark-Czechia match will join co-hosts Mexico, South Africa and South Korea in Group A of the World Cup. These matches will be played in Guadalajara (against South Korea), Atlanta (against South Africa) and Mexico City (against Mexico). The winner of the Iraq vs. Bolivia match will join France, Senegal and Norway in Group I. These matches will be played in Foxborough, Massachusetts (vs. Norway), Philadelphia (vs. France) and Toronto (vs. Senegal). The winner of the DR Congo vs Jamaica match will join Portugal, Uzbekistan and Colombia in Group K. The matches will be played in Houston (vs Portugal), Guadalajara (vs Colombia) and Atlanta (vs Uzbekistan).