Seven Foals were able to celebrate wins in their second World Cup qualifying matches with their respective national sides on Sunday. Ramy Bensebaini and Algeria will face Botswana in an AFCON qualifier tonight (21:00 CEST).
Germany
With Matthias Ginter and Florian Neuhaus in their ranks, Germany won their second World Cup qualifier. Die Mannschaft narrowly beat Romania 1-0 thanks to a goal from Serge Gnabry (16’). Ginter played the full 90 minutes, while Neuhaus was subbed on in the closing minutes.
Next up, Germany will face North Macedonia, their third opponents in Group J (March 31st, 20:45 CEST). Die Mannschaft currently top their group with six points, just ahead of Armenia (also 6 points) on goal difference. North Macedonia are in third, followed by Romania (both 3 points), Iceland and Liechtenstein (both 0 points).
Switzerland
Yann Sommer, Nico Elvedi and Breel Embolo all started for Switzerland, while Denis Zakaria began on the bench. The match kicked off 15 minutes behind schedule, due a goal needing to be rebuilt after it was deemed to be too short. Switzerland didn’t need long to get off the mark, with Embolo setting up Xherdan Shaquiri in the second minute. Zakaria was also able to feature, coming off the bench in the 65th minute. In the end, it remained at 1-0 for the ‘Nati’ in their final World Cup qualifier this international break. They currently sit in second behind Italy (both 6 points) on goal difference. Next up, Switzerland will face Finland in a friendly on March 31st (20:45 CEST).
Austria
Austria also won their second WC qualifier, beating the Faroe Islands 3-1. Stefan Lainer (Photo: imago images/GEPA pictures) was in the starting XI, while Valentino Lazaro was not included in the squad. The Faroe Islands opened the scoring through Sonni Nattestad in the 19th minute, before Austria turned the game in their favour. Lainer redirected a header into Aleksander Dragovic’s path, as he turned in the equaliser (30’). Christoph Baumgartner and Sasa Kalajdzic then added two more before the break to put Austria firmly ahead (37’, 44’).
With the win, Austria now sit in second in Group F (4 points), behind Denmark (6). They have a chance to overtake the current group leaders when they face the Danes this Wednesday (20:45 CEST).
Algeria
Ramy Bensebaini and Algeria will face Botswana in their final AFCON qualifier tonight (March 29th, 21:00 CEST). Algeria drew 3-3 with Zambia last Thursday, however, Bensebaini was not involved as he was not permitted to travel to the game. Borussia’s left-back will be able to feature tonight. Algeria are currently top of Group H with 11 points, ahead of Zimbabwe (8), Botswana and Zambia (both 4 points). Algeria are therefore guaranteed to finish either first or second in their group.
