EURO 2024 QUALIFIERS ROUND-UP: Mateo Kovacic bags a brace as Croatia beat Turkey 2-0, while Switzerland continue their strong form with a 3-0 win over Israel
- Mateo Kovacic bagged a brace on Tuesday as Croatia beat Turkey 2-0
- Wales still lead Croatia in group D after their 1-0 win against Latvia
- Switzerland continued their excellent recent form with a 3-0 win over Israel
Croatia midfielder Mateo Kovacic’s double secured a 2-0 win away to Turkey in their Euro 2024 qualifier on Tuesday as they leapfrogged the hosts and moved up to second spot in Group D.
Wales, who beat Latvia 1-0, lead the group on four points on goal difference from Croatia with Turkey third with three.
Kovacic left Turkey goalkeeper Mert Gunok motionless when he scored from close range in the 20th minute following a failed attempt by the defence to clear the ball.
Kovacic scored again just before halftime as he tapped home a rebound after Gunok saved Mario Pasalic’s effort.
In another blow for the hosts, Turkey captain Hakan Calhanoglu had to come off in the 36th minute due to an injury.
Mateo Kovacic bagged a brace for Croatia on Tuesday as they beat Turkey 2-0
Turkey’s talismanic captain Hakan Calhanoglu went off injured in the first half
Switzerland beat Israel 3-0 to continue their strong form, with Ruben Vargas bagging the opener
EURO QUALIFIER RESULTS
Georgia 1-1 Norway
Scotland 2-0 Spain
Turkey 0-2 Croatia
Wales 1-0 Latvia
Kosovo 1-1 Andorra
Romania 2-1 Belarus
Switzerland 3-0 Israel
Switzerland 3-0 Israel
Switzerland continued their convincing start to the Euro 2024 qualifiers with a 3-0 home win over Israel on Tuesday on the back of a 5-0 success away against Belarus at the weekend.
Ruben Vargas put them 1-0 ahead at halftime and Zeki Amdouni and Silvan Widmer added two more goals soon after the break at the Geneva Stadium for a six-point haul from their opening two games in Group I.
Vargas took advantage of hesitation in the Israeli defence to volley the ball home for the opening goal in the 39th minute.
The Swiss then added two quick goals when the match resumed as Amdouni, pounced on a parry by goalkeeper Omri Glazer to score in the 48th minute and Widmer headed home four minutes later.
Switzerland were awarded a penalty in the 28th minute when Cedric Itten went down under a challenge from Neta Lavi but after a lengthy VAR check the referee overturned his own decision.
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