On Monday (10/10/2016) matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualification from UEFA zone, France snatched a victory against the host Netherlands by 1-0. With the help of Andre Silva and Christian Benteke’s hat-trick respectively, Portugal and Belgium outclassed their opponents in Faroe Island and Gibraltar. Benteke created a history by scoring the fastest goal in a competitive international match.
In the Group A encounter, hosts Netherlands suffered a defeat against the Euro 2016 runner up France by 1-0. World’s most expensive footballer Paul Pogba scored the only goal of the match for France in 30 minutes through a powerful shot from 30 yards distance. Netherlands goalie Maarten Stekelenburg failed to save that shot as the ball entered the net after deflecting from his hands.
In the other Group A matches, hosts Belarus drew with 10-man Luxembourg by 1-1 while another hosts Sweden beat Bulgaria by 3-0.
Luxembourg went down to 10-man at 43rd minutes of the match after Dirk Carlson was shown second yellow card in this match. Earlier in the match, Carlson was shown the first yellow card in 13 minutes of the match. Hosts Belarus broke the deadlock in 80 minutes with the help of Pavel Savitskiy’s header as the hosts took 1-0 lead over the visitors. 5 minutes later, visitors equaled the scoreline of the match with Aurelien Joachim’s free-kick which entered into the goal after deflected from Mikhail Gordejchuk’s body.
Hosts Sweden clinched a 3-0 victory against Bulgaria. The 3 goals scorers for Sweden were Ola Toivonen (39′), Oscar Hiljemark (45′) and Victor Lindelof (58′).
In the Group H encounter, Belgium outplayed the hosts Gibraltar 6-0 with the help of Benteke’s hat-trick. Benteke created a history by scoring the fastest goal in competitive international match at just 7 seconds as Belgium took 1-0 lead in the match. In the 19 minutes, Axel Witsel scored Belgium’s second goal in this match. Benteke scored his 2nd goal of this match on 43 minutes as Belgium took 3-0 lead at the end of the first half.
In the 6 minutes of the second half, Dries Mertens extended the lead for Belgium to 4-0. Benteke completed his hat-trick in this game at 56 minutes. Eden Hazard scored the 6th goal for Belgium at 79 minutes. With this victory, Belgium also clinched third straight clean sheet victory in the ongoing WC qualification.
In the other Group H match, hosts Bosnia-Herzegovina defeated Cyprus by 2-0 with the help of Edin Dzeko’s brace (70’ and 80’).
In the same group match, Greece won against the hosts Estonia by 2-0. In the 2 minute, Greece took an early lead with Vasileios Torosidis’s header. In the 61 minutes, Konstantinos Stafylidis strengthen Greece’s victory in this match with a goal from free-kick.
In the Group B clash, hosts Faroe Islands suffered a big defeat against the Euro 2016 champion Portugal by 6-0 with the help of Andre Silva’s hat-trick. Andre Silva (12′, 22′ and 37′) completed his hat-trick in the first half as he was also the first 3 goal-scorer for Portugal in this match. Cristiano Ronaldo scored the 4th goal for Portugal in this match at 65 minutes from just outside the box. Joao Moutinho (90’+1′) and Joao Cancelo (90’+3′) extended the lead for Portugal in the injury time of the match.
In the other Group B matches, Switzerland beat the hosts Andorra by 2-1 while Hungary beat the hosts Latvia by 2-0.
Switzerland opened the scoreline in 19 minutes through Fabian Schar’s penalty goal. In the 77 minutes, Admir Mehmedi made 2-0 for Switzerland. Alexandre Martinez Palau scored for Andorra in 90 minutes of the match but failed to save his team.
Hosts Latvia lost against Hungary by 2-0 with the goals from Adam Gyurcso (10′) and Adam Szalai (77′).
Brief Scores:
Group A
Netherlands 0 – 1 France
Belarus 1 – 1 Luxembourg
Sweden 3 – 0 Bulgaria
Group B
Faroe Islands 0 – 6 Portugal
Andorra 1 – 2 Switzerland
Latvia 0 – 2 Hungary
Group H
Gibraltar 0 – 6 Belgium
Bosnia-Herzegovina 2 – 0 Cyprus
Estonia 0 – 2 Greece
Group Standings after the end of Round 3
Group A
| Position | Team | Matches | Won | Drawn | Lost | GD | Points |
| 1 | France | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | +4 | 7 |
| 2 | Sweden | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | +4 | 7 |
| 3 | Netherlands | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | +2 | 4 |
| 4 | Bulgaria | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -5 | 3 |
| 5 | Belarus | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -3 | 2 |
| 6 | Luxembourg | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 1 |
(Note: GD = goals differences)
Group B
| Position | Team | Matches | Won | Drawn | Lost | GD | Points |
| 1 | Switzerland | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | +4 | 9 |
| 2 | Portugal | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | +10 | 6 |
| 3 | Hungary | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 4 |
| 4 | Faroe Islands | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -4 | 4 |
| 5 | Latvia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 3 |
| 6 | Andorra | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -8 | 0 |
(Note: GD = goals differences)
Group H
| Position | Team | Matches | Won | Drawn | Lost | GD | Points |
| 1 | Belgium | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | +13 | 9 |
| 2 | Greece | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | +7 | 9 |
| 3 | Bosnia-Herzegovina | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | +3 | 6 |
| 4 | Estonia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 3 |
| 5 | Cyprus | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -7 | 0 |
| 6 | Gibraltar | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -13 | 0 |
(Note: GD = goals differences)