Some of the Euro 2024 qualifying results on Friday night raised a lot of eyebrows.
International football returned with a bang on Thursday and Friday’s action did not disappoint.
Here’s your roundup from qualifying Euros on 24 March.
France 4-0 Netherlands
Ronald Koeman made the worst possible start in charge of the Netherlands after a 4-0 defeat to France.
Antoine Griezmann – hitting headlines this week for succeeding Hugo Lloris as captain – opened the scoring just two minutes into the Stade de France, with Dayot Upamecano adding another soon after.
With Orange footing, kilian mbappe — who received the armband — grabbed Les Bleus’ third with only 21 minutes on the clock. Koeman responded by turning to his bench and introducing Wat Weghorst for Kenneth Taylor before the break.
Although the Netherlands managed to stem the tide after the interval, Mbappe found the net late on with a superb strike, taking down a few defenders before heading into the far corner.
Upamecano scored a penalty in stoppage time after handling the ball, although Mike Magnan saved Memphis Depay’s spot kick to end a miserable evening for the Netherlands, whose 20-match unbeaten run under Louis van Gaal ended their was usurped at the first attempt by the successor. ,
Gibraltar 0-3 Greece
Elsewhere in Group B, Greece secured a 3–0 regular season win in Gibraltar.
Goals from Giorgos Masouras, Manolis Siopis and Anastasios Bakasetas helped Gus Poyet’s side to victory in the Algarve.
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Czech Republic 3-1 Poland
Similarly to Koeman with the Netherlands, Fernando Santos endured a miserable first game in charge of Poland.
Goals from Ladislav Krejci and Tomasz Kavankara saw the Czech Republic race into a sizeable lead with only three minutes left at the Fortuna Arena.
Jan Kuchta added the hosts’ third just after the hour mark, with Damien Simanski scoring a consolation for the visitors in the latter stages.
Moldova 1-1 Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands were denied a crucial win in the last and Moldova were left with just one point in Group E’s second game.
Mads Boe Mikkelsen broke the deadlock midway through the first half and the visitors led for most of the evening, only for Ion Nicolascu to score a penalty just minutes into the Stadionul Zimbru.
Austria 4-1 Azerbaijan
Ralf Rangnick’s Austria made an impressive start to Euro 2024 qualifying by eliminating Azerbaijan.
Two goals from Manchester United midfielder Marcel Sabitzer and one from Michael Gregoritsch saw Berchen move up three.
Emin Makhmudov pulled one back for Azerbaijan before Christoph Baumgartner quickly restored Austria’s three-goal cushion in Linz.
Sweden 0-3 Belgium
Unlike some of Europe’s other new managers, Domenico Tedesco enjoyed the perfect start with Belgium after tearing Sweden apart in Stockholm.
Romelu Lukaku headed in a superb cross from Dodi Lukabakio to give the Red Devils the lead, and added a second just after the break by squeezing the ball in at the near post.
A stunning run from Johan Bakayoko set up Lukaku for the third as the Inter striker stole the show on a night that saw Zlatan Ibrahimovic make his return for Sweden.
Bulgaria 0-1 Montenegro
Montenegro left it late to defeat Bulgaria on the opening night in Rajgrad.
Nikola Krstovic’s strike 20 minutes from time put the two sides apart, with the hosts paying for their wastefulness with 63% of possession.
Serbia 2-0 Lithuania
Serbia bounced back from World Cup disappointment with a 2–0 win against Lithuania in Belgrade.
Star men Dusan Tadic and Dusan Vlahovic got the goals as the Eagles won comfortably on home soil.