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Germany defeated Iceland 3-0 while England thrashed San Marino 5-0 as the two footballing powerhouses began their FIFA World Cup qualifying campaigns in style on Thursday. The FIFA World Cup will be held in Qatar in 2022 who have been criticised for their human rights record with the likes of Norwegian and German teams showing their protests before the start of their respective qualifiers.
However, it wasn’t a breezy start for former champions Spain who were held to a 1-1 draw by Greece at home. The contest though began on a promising note for Spain with Alvaro Morata firing them into the lead in the 32nd minute but then they ended up conceding a penalty for a harsh tackle by Inigo Martinez on Giorgos Masouras.
Anastasios Bakasetas made no mistake to bring his team to level terms by successfully converting the spot-kick.
Four-time world champions Germany took the lead as early as the second minute through Leon Goretzka against Iceland at the Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena in Duisburg. Five minutes later, Kai Havertz doubled their tally and Ilkay Gundogan made it 3-0 four minutes before the hour-mark.
At Wembley Stadium, it was easy-peasy for the former champions England as spanked San Marino with Dominic Calvert-Lewin finding the back of the net twice after James Ward-Prowse had given them the lead 14 minutes after the kick-off. Raheem Sterling also registered his name on the scoresheet while debutant Ollie Watkins capped off the night with a goal on debut in the 85th minute.
Poland had to come back twice from behind for an entertaining 3-3 draw with Hungary as Robert Lewandowski scored the equaliser in the 83rd minute of the tie. Scotland too had to come back twice for a 2-2 draw with Austria while Denmark beat Israel 2-0 in Tel Aviv.
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