![]() ![]() Spain punched their ticket to the World Cup thanks to a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Sweden, with the lone goal courtesy of Alvaro Morata. The big question is, if Italy earn a penalty in March, will it be Jorginho, who missed in both group matches against Switzerland, stepping up to take it? Roberto Mancini’s side has yet to suffer defeat in this qualifying campaign, but drawing four of their eight games relegated them to second in the group behind Switzerland, which means they’re also headed to the playoffs. Just a few months after capturing the European crown and setting an international record with their 37-match unbeaten run, the Azzurri find themselves in serious danger of missing out on a second straight World Cup. Italy’s predicament is no less surprising. Portugal have turned into a team whose whole doesn’t add up to the sum of its parts.Ī squad with those four players, plus Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo and, oh by the way, Cristiano Ronaldo simply cannot miss out on a World Cup. But since then, he has struggled to adapt to the emergence of players such as Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Diogo Jota and Joao Felix. Santos deserves credit for guiding Portugal to the Euro 2016 crown, a tournament in which he adopted an ultra-pragmatic approach to overcome his squad’s limitations. Portugal’s fate will now be decided in the playoffs in March, and failure to reach Qatar would be truly remarkable, given the talent on hand. One manager very much under fire is Fernando Santos after Portugal suffered a stunning home defeat to Serbia, squandering automatic qualification. Here are some additional news and notes from European qualifying: ![]()
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