Spain, Portugal, Croatia: The favourites did not show any weaknesses on their way to the 2024 European Football Championship and all scored victories in the qualifiers.

Coach Stefan Kuntz had to accept a setback with the Turkish national team, but at least scored a late goal in the 1:1 (0:0) against Armenia. Turkey thus remains first in qualifying Group D for the time being.

World Cup bronze medallist Croatia is close on Turkey’s heels, with a superb 5-0 (3-0) win over Latvia with a goal by Andrej Kramaric (68th) bringing the team to within three points of Turkey. With the advantage that Croatia has played two games less than the competition. Bertug Yildirim (88th) saved the point for Kuntz’s team. The third-placed Armenians had taken the lead through Artek Daschjan (49th).

Spain may not be first in Group A, but they still had every reason to celebrate: In their 7:1 (4:0) win in Georgia, the former European champions impressed with their playful brilliance – and also had a record debutant in their luggage. At the age of only 16 years and 57 days, Lamine Yamal became the youngest Spanish international in history, and that was not all: The FC Barcelona attacker promptly scored a goal (74th minute). Three-pointer Alvaro Morata (22nd, 40th, 66th) was happy to leave the big stage to Yamal.

The 3-0 win over Cyprus was the fifth victory in the fifth qualifying match – with a goal difference of 12:1, Scotland is clearly on course for the Euro. And: Steve Clarke’s flawless team had also beaten Spain in March (2:0).

Portugal have been just as impressive in qualifying for the European Championship so far. Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. won the top match of Group J in Slovakia 1-0 (1-0) and are clearly ahead of Slovakia with five wins from five matches (15-0 goals). The match-winner for the 2016 European champions was not Ronaldo, however, but Bruno Fernandes (43rd), who scored on his 29th birthday on a pass from Bernardo Silva.