Skinny win for France in Orange’s EC qualification group, assist Kökcü at Turkey
NOS Soccer–
France also won its third game in the qualification series for the 2024 European Championship. In Faro, Portugal, the group mate of the Netherlands could by no means convince against Gibraltar, but did win: 3-0.
France leads Group B with three wins. Greece is second with six points thanks to a 2-1 win over Ireland.
The Netherlands is third in the group after a defeat against France and a win over Gibraltar. The Netherlands will not play a qualifier this international period, but the Nations League final tournament.
Standings in Group B
| 1. France | 3-9 |
| 2. Greece | 2-6 |
| 3. Netherlands | 2-3 |
| 4. Ireland | 2-0 |
| 5. Gibraltar | 3-0 |
Olivier Giroud put France ahead as early as the fourth minute, but that proved no prelude to a gala performance by the World Cup finalist. Only in injury time of the first half did Kylian Mbappé make it 2-0 from a penalty kick.
Gibraltar also came out occasionally. Ayoub El Hmidi even got the fans in Faro on their benches when his shot from the center line went just over the goal.
After the break, France had plenty of chances to put Gibraltar on the rack. However, it did not produce more than an own goal by Aymen Mouelhi, who worked a Mbappé cross into the goal.
Simple win for England, Kökcü escapes with Turkey
In Group C, England had an easy night against Malta. The English won 4-0 thanks to an own goal, a fine long-range shot by Trent Alexander-Arnold and exploited penalties by Harry Kane and Callum Wilson.
Orkun Kökcü narrowly kept three points with Turkey in Group D in the away match against Latvia. The midfielder led Feyenoord to the title last season and was also important for his country with an assist for Cengiz Ünder’s 2-1.
That seemed to be the final score until Kristers Tobers scored the equalizer for Latvia in the 94th minute. Irfan Kahveci still gave Turkey the victory a minute later: 2-3.
