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Hungary bought the ticket to the final of the European Championship in the playoffs and will face Germany, among others. North Macedonia is for the first time, ends the curse of the Scottish final.
In Final A, Hungary trailed against Iceland on Thursday (November 12, 2020) until shortly before the end of the game and still won in a dramatic final phase. Gylfi Sigurdsson (11th minute) gave Iceland the lead, but Loic Nego (88th) and Dominik Szoboszlai (90th + 2) changed the game in favor of Hungary.
Next summer Hungary will participate in a final of the European Championship for the fourth time. In Group F, Hungary will be the last opponent of the German team in the preliminary round on June 23 in Munich. Before that, the team surrounding goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi, who had made a mistake when Sigurdsson conceded, had to deal with defending champions Portugal and world champions France.
The end of the Scottish curse
In the final of Playoffs C, Scotland beat Serbia 5: 4 on penalties. First Kenny McLean converted the fifth penalty for Scotland, then Serbian Aleksandar Mitrovic missed on the fifth attempt. This also ends the curse of the Scottish finals – the last time you participated in the 1998 World Cup, you were always a spectator at the big tournaments.
As a reward, duels with Croatia, the Czech Republic and archrival England await in the final of the European Championship.
Slovakia prevails against Northern Ireland
Slovakia have also qualified for the finals, for the second time in a row. The Slovaks with Bundesliga players Peter Pekarik (Hertha BSC) and Ondrej Duda (1. FC Köln) won 2: 1 (1: 1, 1: 0) after extra time in Northern Ireland and face Spain in Group E of EM. Sweden and Poland. Juraj Kucka (17th) and Michal Duris (110th) ensured the victory.
Premiere for North Macedonia
In the D playoff final, North Macedonia, number 65 in the world rankings, beat Georgia 1-0 (0-0) in Tbilisi on Thursday night. Goran Pandev, 37, of Italian first division club FC Genoa scored the winning goal (minute 56), which ensured the “Red Lions” their first appearance in a major tournament.
Even before the game, coach Igor Angelowski had said: “We are happy to be in the final, but we do not plan to stop there.” Apparently his players had been listening carefully, but the plan worked. At the EURO (June 11 to July 11, 2021), North Macedonia will play in Group C against the Netherlands, Ukraine and Austria.
Just under a month ago, the two teams met in the Nations League C-League and were separated 1: 1 for the second time in the second game. In the playoff semifinals, Georgia beat Belarus 1-0 and North Macedonia 2-1 Kosovo.
Groups at a glance
EURO 2020 group division
| Group A (Rome / Baku) | Group B (Saint Petersburg / Copenhagen) |
|---|---|
| Turkey | Denmark |
| Italy | Finland |
| Welsh | Belgium |
| Switzerland | Russia |
| Group C (Amsterdam / Bucharest) | Group D (London / Glasgow) |
| Netherlands | England |
| Ukraine | Croatia |
| Austria | Scotland |
| North macedonia | Czech Republic |
| Group E (Bilbao / Dublin) | Group F (Munich / Budapest) |
| Spain | Hungary |
| Sweden | Portugal |
| Poland | France |
| Slovakia | Germany |
Those: sportschau.de
