A majestic Spain thrashed Turkey 6-0 away in World Cup qualifying on Sunday, and Mikkel Merino scored a hat-trick, and Germany defeated Northern Ireland 3-1 to start their bid.
As a result of Arsenal’s midfielder Merino’s first professional hat-trick, World Cup champions Spain won their second biggest-ever away win in Konya, taking the title in the central Turkish city of Konya.
Ferran Torres scored the visitors’ other goal after the Barcelona playmaker Pedri Gonzalez opened the scoring after six minutes and finished the scoring.
Merino’s strikes were exceptional, with his best one coming after a strong team move and his best second coming after a confident finish with a Pedri assist. A curling shot into the top corner by him was the third and final part of his triple.
Nico Williams’ withdrawal from the Spanish team’s performance on the night was the only minor issue, but Luis de la Fuente’s team are already top of Group E with six points from two games.
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The first hat-trick of my career came from Merino, who said, “I’m very happy for winning, to pick up six points, to do it in this way, and to score three goals, which is unusual.”
The group winners will advance to the play-off stage while the runners-up will advance to the finals.
Georgia and Turkey share the lead with three points, with the latter scoring twice in Tbilisi on the heels of goals from Georges Mikautadze, Nika Gagnidze, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the latter of whom defeated Bulgaria 3-3.
After falling to Slovakia on Thursday to win their opening qualifier, Germany was under pressure, and it didn’t get there until the final quarter of their home match against Northern Ireland in Cologne.
Before half-time, West Bromwich Albion’s Isaac Price scored an equalizer for the hosts after Serge Gnabry gave them an early lead.
The home fans’ dissatisfied with Julian Nagelsmann’s team, but David Raum’s cross was finally turned in by substitute Nadiem Amiri on 69 minutes.
Liverpool’s star, playing in his hometown, then took the lead with a stylish free kick to seal Germany’s first Group A victory.
Wirtz told Germany’s RTL network, “We knew it was a catastrophe (in the) last game and we wanted to do things better.
We can definitely build on it because it was a strong performance.
After Tomas Rigo’s late goal earned them a 1-0 victory in Luxembourg, they both now have three points, while Slovakia leads the way with six.
Depay is a historical moment in Dutch history.
Memphis Depay’s double earned him a career-high two goals in the Netherlands’ 3-2 victory over Lithuania in Group G.
Depay, who is currently playing for Corinthians in Brazil, scored his 51st and 52nd international goals to move clear of Robin van Persie, who had shared first place with him in the Oranje on the opening half-century of goals.
Before Quinten Timber netted the second goal for the Netherlands in Kaunas, the 31-year-old turned in Cody Gakpo’s cutback for the opener.
Before the break, Edvinas Girdvainis headed home the equalizer for the team that was 143rd in the world after Gvidas Gineitis pulled one back and pulled one back for them.
Depay, however, saved the Netherlands by crossing a Denzel Dumfries cross just before the hour mark.
With a game in hand, Ronald Koeman’s side are now 10 points ahead of Poland in terms of goal difference and have ten points after four games.
Matty Cash, captain Robert Lewandowski, and Jakub Kaminski scored for Poland in Chorzow, where they lost 3-1 to Finland, who are three points adrift in third place.
At Anderlecht’s stadium in Brussels, Belgium defeated Kazakhstan for a second straight 6-0 victory in Group J.
Kevin De Bruyne now leads Romelu Lukaku in goals scored by Kevin De Bruyne, who also scored two goals.
Nicolas Raskin and Thomas Meunier also scored the goals, with Jeremy Doku of Manchester City scoring the other two.
North Macedonia won their fifth game 5-0 over Liechtenstein, which puts them on top with 11 points overall, one point ahead of Belgium, which still has a game to play, and Wales.
