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On Thursday, Israel was eliminated from the European Championship qualifying play-offs after losing to Iceland. In a surprising turn of events, Ukraine scored two late goals to secure a victory against Bosnia-Herzegovina.
In the 80th minute of the match, Israel’s top scorer Eran Zahavi missed a penalty that could have tied the score. This ultimately resulted in a defeat for Israel, as they succumbed to a 4-1 loss against Iceland. Zahavi had initially scored a penalty in the first half, giving Israel the lead.
Artem Dovbyk, Ukraine’s rising star striker, scored the game-winning header in the 88th minute to secure a 2-1 victory. This came just three minutes after Roman Yaremchuk had equalized the score, erasing Bosnia’s lead that was taken in the 56th minute.
On Tuesday, Ukraine will be competing against Iceland, who surprisingly made it to the quarterfinals in Euro 2016, for a spot in Euro 2024 in Germany.
The six play-off semi-finals were filled with major victories and no need for additional time in the evening.
Poland soundly defeated Estonia 5-1 while Wales triumphed with a 4-1 victory, preventing Finland from making a comeback to the finals following their successful debut at Euro 2020.
In the Euro 2004 tournament, Greece was a surprising victor. They scored four goals in the first half to secure a comfortable 5-0 victory over Kazakhstan. Prior to that, Georgia defeated Luxembourg 2-0.
The victors will compete in one-match elimination finals on Tuesday, which may result in a penalty shootout in order to finalize the lineup for the 24-team Euro 2024.
The matchups are: Wales will face Poland in Cardiff; Ukraine will play against Iceland in Wroclaw, Poland; and Georgia will take on Greece in Tbilisi.
Due to the Russian military invasion that began in February 2022, Ukraine has been prohibited from hosting international games within its own territory. As a result, these games must now take place in neutral countries.
For security purposes during the Gaza conflict, Israel, who was originally designated as the home team, faced off against Iceland on neutral grounds in Budapest, Hungary.
In other locations, playing at home proved to be crucial as only one of five teams, Bosnia, lost while playing in their own stadiums.
The 2024 European Football Championship is taking place in 10 cities across Germany, from June 14th to July 14th.
AP
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