Scotland – Denmark 4:2 (1:0)
Scotland won against Denmark 4:2 (1:0) and thus secured a direct ticket to the 2026 World Cup. With their late goals, Kieran Tierney (90+3) and Kenny McLean (90+9) gave Scotland a win against Denmark on Tuesday night and thus their first final appearance since 1998. Denmark had to take a detour through the European play-offs.
Denmark A draw is enough for direct qualification. But in the third minute Scott McTominay scored with an overhead kick for Scotland. The situation became interesting in the second half.
Robertson caused a penalty, which Rasmus Højlund (57th) converted. After the yellow-red against Rasmus Kristensen (61′), Scotland equalized to 2-1 through Lawrence Shankland (78′), Patrick Dorgu (82′) answered Denmark. Tierney ultimately became Scotland’s hero, and McLean dispelled all doubts with his goal from the halfway line.
Austria proved themselves in the final seconds
Michael Gregoritsch invited Austria to take part Football World Cup 2026 brought. The former Bundesliga professional’s goal (78th) saved team boss Ralf Rangnick’s team from a 1-1 (0-1) draw in the final against Bosnia-Herzegovina and thus victory in Group H. For Austria this was the first participation since 1998, the Bosnian team was able to advance through the play-offs.
Spanish missed a flawless qualifier: The European champions ultimately couldn’t get past a 2-2 (1-1) draw against Turkey. Dani Olmo (4) gave Spain an early lead, but Deniz Gül (42) and Dortmund’s Salih Özcan (55) turned the match around and scored the title holders’ first goals before Mikel Oyarzabal (62) equalized. Switzerland removed any final doubts about their qualification with a 1-1 (0-0) draw against Kosovo. Kosovo can now dream of its first World Cup participation in the play-offs.
Belgium made things clear from the start with a confident 7-0 (3-0) win against bottom side Liechtenstein and also progressed. Wales jumped into second place thanks to an impressive 7-1 win against North Macedonia. As winners of the Nations League, North Macedonia is still in the play-off round.
In March 2026, a total of 16 teams will compete for the last four European World Cup tickets in four mini tournaments with semifinal and final rounds. Group runners-up are Albania, Italy, Ireland, Czech Republic, Poland, Wales, Scotland, AustriaKosovo, Ukraine, Türkiye and Slovakia in the play-offs. There are also Nations League group winners Romania, Sweden, Northern Ireland and North Macedonia.
