The football players of North Macedonia sensationally won in Palermo 1-0 over the reigning European champions Italy and advanced to the finals of the World Cup playoffs at the expense of the favorite. The striker Aleksandar Trajkovski decided the setting in the second minute.
The Italians lost at home in the World Cup qualifiers for the first time in history and will also be missing for the first time at the second World Cup in a row.
North Macedonia will challenge Portugal on Tuesday in the fight for promotion, which managed 3: 1 with Turkey at home. Wales is also in the final after a 2: 1 win over Austria, with two-time stars star Gareth Bale shining.
The Italians only drew in the previous two qualifying matches and could not even make it against a large outsider. The four-time world champions shot the opponent 32: 4 and won 16: 0 at the corners, yet in the end Trajkovski fired from twenty meters and sent the ball exactly to the bar.
The Macedonians thus followed up on the shocking victory in the qualifying group in Germany and approached their first participation in the world championship. To advance to Qatar, he must succeed in Portugal, which, after scoring Otavia and Jota, led to a clear triumph over Turkey.
In the 65th minute, however, Yilmaz reduced and the striker Lille could even equal in the 83rd minute, but failed to score. In the end, Nunez added insurance and the Portuguese defeated the Turks in the sixth duel in a row.
Wales has approached the first participation in the World Cup since 1958 as captain and biggest star of the Bale team. Real Madrid’s 32-year-old striker made his first match since February 15, yet he was a key player again.
In the 25th minute, he hit with a show shot from a direct kick and after a change of sides he added a second shot with a cross shot. Austria reduced Davies by its own goal, but nothing has changed since the “Dragons” victory.
Wales have not lost at home 17 matches. He still has to wait for the opponent and the final date of the playoffs, because the semifinals of Scotland with Ukraine have been postponed to June due to the Russian military invasion of Ukraine.
Semifinals of the playoffs to advance to the World Cup:
Group A:
Wales – Austria 2: 1 (1: 0)
Goals: 25th and 51st Bale – 65th own Davies.
Group C:
Italy – North Macedonia 0: 1 (0: 0)
Branka: 90. + 2 Trajkovski.
Portugal – Turkey 3: 1 (2: 0)
Branky: 15. Otávio, 42. Jota, 90.+4 Nunez – 65. Yilmaz.
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