PARIS – The Czech Republic, Sweden and Türkiye secured their places at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after impressive qualifying campaigns, becoming the latest European teams to book their tickets to the global showpiece.
Four-time champion Italy failed to qualify for a third straight World Cup after getting beat in a penalty shootout with 10 men at 66th-ranked Bosnia and Herzegovina in the European playoffs on Tuesday.
Czech Republic qualified with a penalty shoot-out victory over Denmark after their play-off final finished level at 2-2 on Tuesday.
Elsewhere, Viktor Gyokeres sent Sweden to the World Cup as he netted a dramatic late winner to hand his country a 3-2 win over Poland in their European play-off final on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Türkiye ended a 24-year wait to qualify for the World Cup by beating Kosovo 1-0 in their playoff final on Tuesday, sealing a return to football’s biggest stage for the first time since 2002 when they reached the semi-finals.
The match went to spot-kicks after Denmark twice fought back through Joachim Andersen and Kasper Hogh to cancel out Pavel Sulc and Ladislav Krejci’s goals for the hosts, AFP reported.
With the match locked at two-apiece the Arsenal striker forced the ball over the line after a frantic goalmouth scramble with just two minutes remaining to qualify Sweden for the finals in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
They join the Netherlands, Japan and Tunisia in Group F.
Earlier, Anthony Elanga and Gustaf Lagerbielke had twice given Sweden the lead before Nicola Zalewski and Karol Swiderski hit back for Poland.
After missing out on the last edition in 2022, it is a return to football’s global showpiece tournament for Graham Potter’s side after eight years away.
After a disastrous qualifying campaign, Sweden qualified for the play-offs thanks to topping Group C1 in the Nations League.
For Poland, it was the first time they have failed to reach a World Cup finals since 2014.
The Swedes began in slightly nervous fashion in front of the fans in Stockholm as the Poles controlled the early tempo.
The breakthrough then came in spectacular fashion in the 20th minute as Yasi Ayari backheeled into the path of the onrushing Elanga who thrashed the ball home left-footed via the crossbar.
The visitors nearly levelled five minutes later as Swiderski’s swivelling volley from inside the box forced a fine one-handed save from Kristoffer Nordfeldt low down to his left.
Jakub Kaminski then worked the Swedish goalkeeper from the resulting corner with a tame effort from the edge of the box as Poland started to turn the screw.
Polish pressure told on 33 minutes as Nordfeldt failed to deal with Zalewski’s curling effort after the 24-year-old had picked the ball up in space and cut in from the left.
Sweden were on the ropes since taking the lead with Poland targeting, in particular, their right flank.
The next goal was to come from that side of the pitch, however, it was in favour of the embattled hosts as Zalewski chopped down Elanga near the right touchline to concede a free-kick in a dangerous position.
Celtic’s Benjamin Nygren whipped in a teasing inswinger with his left foot and centre-half Lagerbielke ghosted in at the near post to nod past a stranded Kamil Grabara one minute before the interval. It was just Sweden’s second shot of the half.
Poland’s leading goalscorer Robert Lewandowski cut an frustrated figure on his 165th cap, and the Barcelona forward blazed over early in the second period when he might have been better flighting a cross in the box.
But his grimace soon changed to a relieved smile in the 55th minute when Zalewski snuck onto a Matty Cash cross at the back post and his miscued attempt to control the ball fell perfectly for Swiderski to tap home the leveller.
Both Potter and his Polish counterpart Jan Urban shuffled their packs midway through the second half in a bid to find the decisive goal that would seal their side’s spot in the World Cup.
Just as a further 30 minutes seemed inevitable, the otherwise-quiet Gyokeres popped up to bundle across the line from close range at the end of a sequence of play which included a Grabara save from Lucas Bergvall and a Besfort Zeneli shot which came back off a post.
