Croatia are level on four points with Wales at the top of Euro 2024 Qualifying Group D after a 2-0 win in Turkey; Scotland are in control of Group A after Norway were held to a draw in Georgia; Switzerland and Romania are in charge of Group I; Belgium see off Germany in five-goal thriller
Tuesday 28 March 2023 23:19, UK
Croatia joined Wales on four points at the top of Group D after two first-half strikes from Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic gave the visitors an impressive 2-0 win in Turkey.
After being held to a 1-1 draw in Split by Robert Page's side last week, the World Cup bronze medallists got back to winning ways in Bursa.
Croatia's goals came from an unlikely source, with Kovacic having only scored three times for his country in his previous 91 appearances.
Georgia and Norway played out a 1-1 draw in Tbilisi in Euro 2024 Qualifying to leave Scotland in control of Group A.
A Scott McTominay double handed Steve Clarke's side a famous victory over Spain at Hampden Park, with Scotland three points clear at the top of the group and five ahead of Norway after two matches.
Stale Solbakken's outfit took the lead against Georgia through Alexander Sorloth's excellent opener but it was cancelled out by Georges Mikautadze on the hour mark.
Switzerland maintained their 100 per cent start in Group I as they cruised to a 3-0 win over Israel in Lancy, with goals from Ruben Vargas, Zeki Amdouni and Silvan Widmer.
Elsewhere in Group I, early goals from Nicolae Stancui and Andrei Burca set up Romania for a 2-1 win over Belarus in Bucharest, but the visitors kept battling and reduced the deficit through Vladislav Morozov four minutes from time.
Andorra lie above Belarus in the table, with Albert Rosas his country's hero as he salvaged a rare point for the principality after a 1-1 draw in Kosovo, shortly after Edon Zhegrova gave the hosts a 59th-minute lead.
Belgium battled to a 3-2 friendly win in Germany to make it two wins from two matches for new manager Domenico Tedesco, while piling pressure on the embattled Euro 2024 hosts.
With both teams eager to bounce back from their shock group-stage World Cup exits in December, it was Belgium who were the better side in Cologne, earning their first victory over the Germans since 1954.
Germany were completely outclassed in the first half, as Belgium attacked at will and took the lead with a superb five-pass move from deep in their own half as Yannick Carrasco, unmarked and with lots of space on the left, rifled home in the sixth minute.
Before the hosts had any time to recover, Belgium struck again after some more woeful German defending, with Kevin De Bruyne slipping the ball through to Romelu Lukaku to finish from inside the box.
The Belgium striker had also scored a hat-trick in their 3-0 win over Sweden in their opening Group F Euro 2024 Qualifier on Friday and he could have added another goal in the 20th minute when he rattled the bar with a powerful header.
Germany, who beat Peru 2-0 on Saturday in their first international since their World Cup exit in Qatar, earned a penalty on the stroke of half-time and forward Niclas Fullkrug converted for his sixth goal in six international matches.
Despite a livelier second half, the hosts conceded a third as De Bruyne finished from another swift Belgium move.
Serge Gnabry cut the deficit in the 88th minute but it was not enough to relieve the pressure on Germany boss Hansi Flick.
