Two squeeze through, Denmark crash out

Atakan Karazor’s Türkiye made it through to the FIFA World Cup 2026 with a 1-0 win over Kosovo in Pristina. The VfB captain was an unused substitute.

Ermedin Demirovic will also be heading to North America in a few months’ time. The VfB striker was once again in the starting XI against Italy and played until five minutes before the end of extra time, which finished 1-1. Bosnia-Herzegovina won the ensuing penalty shootout 4-1 to secure qualification.

Nikolas Nartey’s Denmark had their dreams dashed, however. They drew 2-2 with Czechia in Prague but went out 3-1 on penalties, as Nartey watched on from the bench.

Stuttgart trio feature in friendlies

Bilal El Khannouss scored in Morocco’s 2-1 friendly win over Paraguay and was substituted just after the hour mark.

Striker Jeremy Arevalo, meanwhile, came on in the 89^th minute of Ecuador’s friendly against Netherlands in Eindhoven, where his side got a 1-1 draw.

Luca Jaquez played the second half of Switzerland’s 0-0 draw in their friendly away to Norway.

U21s enjoy a good week

In qualifying for the 2027 European Under-21 Championship in Albania and Serbia, Germany and Spain secured important victories. With Finn Jeltsch in the starting line-up, the Germans won 2-0 in Greece to reclaim top spot in Group F. Noah Darvich was a late call-up to the squad but did not get onto the field. Chema’s Spain won their seventh qualifier 2-0 over Kosovo, with the VfB midfielder playing the first 79 minutes.