Euro 2020 Qualifiers Roundup: Republic of Ireland Face Playoff, Denmark Qualify & Sweden Cruise

Republic of Ireland will face a playoff in March to qualify for Euro 2020 after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Denmark in Dublin.

Needing a win at the Aviva Stadium to overhaul the Danes in Group D, the Irish came up short in their efforts despite a late rally – Matt Doherty’s goal five minutes from time only good enough to earn a point after Martin Braithwaite’s opener.

Joining the Scandinavians at next year’s finals will be group winners Switzerland, whose romping 6-1 win over Gibraltar sealed top spot. Arsenal’s Granit Xhaka was among the scorers at Victoria Stadium, captaining the side for the 90 minutes.

Here, 90min rounds up the action from all of the night’s qualification matches – which included wins for Sweden, Spain and another commanding performance from Italy.

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Mick McCarthy’s Ireland fought valiantly against a resolute Denmark side, but will now await the playoff draw on Friday with bated breath.

Martin Braithwaite’s goal 17 minutes from time was a real hammer blow to the Irish, and although Matt Doherty did level up proceedings, there was to be no last hurrah.

Elsewhere in the group, Switzerland took on pointless Gibraltar knowing that only a monumental collapse – against a side ranked 196th in the world – could see them miss out on automatic qualification. That notion was swiftly dismissed as Cedric Itten swiftly calmed any nerves on ten minutes.

Ruben Fargas and Christian Fassnacht ensured it was a lead the Swiss would not relinquish, before Loris Beniton, Xhaka and Itten wrapped up the three points in the closing stages. Despite their crushing defeat, Gibraltar still had a better evening than Armenia – who shipped a whopping nine goals against Italy.

The Azzurri ended qualifying with a 100% record as Ciro Immobile and Nicolo Zaniolo each struck a brace in Palermo. ​Chelsea playmaker Jorginho and four other Italians also got on the scoresheet, before Edgar Babyan got the only goal of the night for the eastern Europeans.

Finland likewise progressed from Group J, with the Huuhkajat going into their clash with Greece safe in the knowledge that they’d booked their place at the finals. They went down 2-1 in Athens in a result that had no meaningful impact on the standings.

Bosnia-Herzegovina’s 3-0 triumph away to Liechtenstein was equally meaningless in terms of qualification for the European Championships, Eldar Civic and Armin Hodzic both netting after the break to lift their nation up to fourth in the table.

Over in Spain, in-demand ​Napoli midfielder Fabian Ruiz struck his first goal at international level, whilst Gerard Moreno took his overall tally to three with a brace, having only broken his duck on Friday.

The 2010 world champions ran riot as they thrashed Romania 5-0 at the Wanda Metropolitano, Mikel Oyarzabal doubling his tally for La Roja after Adrian Rus had put through his own net.

They and Sweden will compete at the upcoming Euros, though that was assured before the pair’s final matches of Group J. Ex-​Manchester City forward John Guidetti rounded off the scoring in the latter’s 3-0 win over Faroe Islands, leaving them four points ahead of Norway.

​Bournemouth’s Joshua King hit the first for the Norwegians during a 2-1 defeat of Malta, whilst ​Crystal Palace hitman Alexander Sorloth collected their second of the night.

Here’s a full list of Monday’s results from across Euro 2020 qualifying:

​​Group D	​Gibraltar 1-6 Switzerland
​Group D	Republic of Ireland 1-1 Denmark
​Group F	Malta 1-2 Norway
​Group F	​Spain 5-0 Romania
​Group F	​Sweden 3-0 Faroe Islands
​Group J	​Greece 2-1 Finland
​Group J	​​Italy 9-1 Armenia
​​Group J	​​Liechtenstein 0-3 Bosnia-Herzegovina

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