In Nice, France beat Gibraltar, a team of ten players, 14-0 to secure their biggest-ever international victory and set a new record in the European Championship qualifying round.
Les Bleus, having already won Group B, showed no signs of faltering against Gibraltar, who had a nightmare start thanks to an own goal from defender Ethan Santos, who was sent off in the 18th minute for a late tackle on Warren Zaire-Emery, a teenage French debutant.
With a hat-trick from captain Kylian Mbappe, two goals from Kingsley Coman, and a late brace from substitute Olivier Giroud, France was unstoppable, scoring seven goals in each half.
At 17 years and 255 days, Zaire-Emery became the youngest player to debut in France after the war. He scored the first goal in the 16th minute, making the score 3-0.
After a VAR review, Santos was given a red card for an excessive tackle on Zaire-Emery’s ankle as he was tucking the ball in at the near post. The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder was then replaced.
Giroud, an AC Milan striker, started the match on the bench and had one effort disallowed for offside by VAR. He then scored two goals in the closing minutes to help France surpass Germany’s 13-0 victory over San Marino in September 2006 and create a new national record.
With a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands, the latter guaranteed their spot at Euro 2024 as runners-up in the group.
After 11 minutes of play in the Johan Cruyff Arena under the covered roof, Wout Weghorst scored the game’s lone goal.
Because of their superior head-to-head record against Greece, it was sufficient to guarantee Ronald Koeman’s team second place.
Romania secured their place in the finals of Group I at Felcsut, Hungary, by defeating Israel 2-1.
Israel took an early lead through a header from Eran Zahavi, but George Puscas quickly leveled things up, and Ianis Hagi’s goal in the second half was sufficient to put Romania ahead.
Despite being held to a 1-1 draw by Kosovo in Basel, Switzerland advanced as well.
At St. Jakob-Park, Ruben Vargas gave the Swiss the lead early in the second half. However, Muhamet Hyseni, a Kosovo substitute, equalized late on.