Germany ease past Hungary to reach last 16 at Euros, Albania hold Croatia
STUTTGART
Jamal Musiala and Ilkay Gundogan scored as hosts Germany became the first team to qualify for the last 16 of Euro 2024 on Wednesday after beating Hungary 2-0 in Stuttgart while Albania snatched a stoppage time equaliser for a stunning 2-2 draw against Croatia.
Musiala struck for the second game running midway through the first half, much to the anger of Hungary players who felt a foul should have been awarded in the build-up to the goal.
Gundogan grabbed his side’s second on 67 minutes as Germany eased to a second successive win in Group ‘A’, making sure they will progress to the knockout phase at least as one of the best third-placed sides.
Julian Nagelsmann’s men can wrap up the top spot when they play Switzerland in Frankfurt in their final group fixture on Sunday.
Hungary are staring at elimination after back-to-back defeats and must beat Scotland if they are to stand any chance of reaching the last 16.
In Wednesday’s other fixture, Klaus Gjasula proved both hero and villain for Albania, bagging the added time leveller after having earlier netted an own goal that saw Croatia go 2-1 up in the Group ‘B’ clash at the Volksparkstadion.
The two countries now have a single point after their opening two matches and are left effectively needing to win their last group games on Monday if they are to progress into the knockout stage.
Albania had taken an early lead but the Croats scored twice in the space of two minutes to revive their hopes in a match full of twists and turns and played to a backdrop of ear-splitting noise.
Andrej Kramaric grabbed a 74th minute equaliser and then followed an own goal from Gjasula 120 seconds later as an increasingly dominant Croatia, who lost 3-0 to Spain in their opening game, clawed their way back.
They had pounded away at the Albania goal in the second half after looking anxious and frustrated at halftime as their unfancied opponents went into the break ahead.
Qazim Laci’s 11th minute header had Albania in an early lead before Gjasula sidefooted into the net with five minutes of additional time already played for a dramatic conclusion to the contest.
Portugal win opener, Turkey beats Georgia
On Tuesday, Portugal beat the Czech Republic 2-1 to claim a Euro 2024 debut victory but they needed to come from behind with a 92nd-minute winner from youngster Francisco Conceicao.
Earlier in the section’s other clash, Turkey bested Georgia 3-1 in a pulsating match in Dortmund.
Roberto Martinez’s Portugal qualified at a canter with a 100 per cent record, but only just scraped victory in Leipzig in their first match, under driving rain.
