Lamine Yamal becomes youngest Spain player – and scorer – in rout of Georgia
Lamine Yamal crowned becoming the youngest men’s player in Spain’s history by scoring in his country’s 7-1 win against Georgia.
Yamal, aged 16 years and 57 days, came on as a first-half substitute in the Group A Euro 2024 qualifier, to break the record set by Gavi in 2021 when the Barcelona star was aged 17 years and 62 days.
The teenager, who also plays for the Catalan giants, was introduced shortly before half-time by manager Luis de la Fuente, replacing Dani Olmo who had just scored to hand Spain a four-goal advantage. And he capped off an historic evening when he converted Nico Williams’ cross with a fine left-footed finish in the 74th minute.
The strike bettered Gavi’s mark as Spain’s youngest scorer, which he set aged 17 years and 10 months in a 2-2 Nations League draw against the Czech Republic last June. In Friday’s qualifier, former Chelsea striker Álvaro Morata scored a hat-trick with Williams also on target.
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Spain moved up to second in Group A after their second win in three matches. Scotland are nine points clear at the top after their fifth straight qualifying victory, a 3-0 success against Cyprus in Larnaca.
Luxembourg boost hopes of shock finals spot
Luxembourg recorded their third victory in five Group J games as they beat 10-man Iceland 3-1, boosting their hopes of Euro 2024 qualification.
Maxime Chanot scored an early penalty for the hosts, awarded by the VAR for a foul on Leandro Barreiro Martins. The Iceland defender Hardur Magnusson was then sent off after picking up two yellow cards either side of half-time.
The teenage forward Yvandro Borges Sanches made it two with a chipped finish over Rúnar Rúnarsson in the 76th minute. Hakon Haraldsson struck back for Iceland 13 minutes later, but any hopes of a comeback were snuffed out as Danel Sinani immediately struck a third goal for Luxembourg.
Bruno Fernandes celebrates his winning goal for Portugal in Bratislava. Photograph: Vladimír Šimíček/AFP/Getty Images
The Red Lions – who have never qualified for a major men’s tournament – are level with Slovakia on 10 points after Portugal tightened their grip on top spot with a 1-0 victory in Bratislava. Bruno Fernandes got the only goal, finishing well from Bernardo Silva’s cross just before half-time.
Lukas Haraslin struck the post for Slovakia just before Fernandes’ goal, while Milan Skriniar headed just over the bar in the second half. In Group J’s other game, Bosnia and Herzegovina saw off Liechtenstein 2-1, with Edin Dzeko on target for the hosts.
Group D leaders Turkey needed a late equaliser from Bertug Yildirim to avoid a shock defeat to Armenia in Eskisehir. The Rennes striker scored with a long-distance rebound after a save from Ognjen Cancarevic. Armenia had taken the lead through Artak Dashyan soon after half-time, but could not hold on.
Croatia sit second, three points behind Turkey with two games in hand, after thrashing Latvia 5-0 in Rijeka. Bruno Petkovic opened the scoring with a superb free kick, then set up Luka Ivanusec before getting the third goal himself. Andrej Kramaric and Mario Pasalic added gloss with second-half goals.