World Cup play-offs: Viktor Gyokeres hat-trick sends Sweden through as Kosovo keep World Cup dream alive
Graham Potter’s Sweden took one win from qualifying for the World Cup after Viktor Gyokeres scored a hat-trick in the 3-1 play-off semi-final against Ukraine.
The Arsenal striker had not scored in the 2026 qualifiers ahead of Thursday’s game in Valencia, Spain.
But Gyokeres headed home the match ball after scoring in the sixth and 51st minutes and then completed the treble with a penalty in the 73rd minute.
Sweden will face Poland in the play-off final on Tuesday, March 31. While Sweden came from behind and beat Albania 2-1, master striker Robert Lewandowski (37) will be among the scorers.
Kosovo, ranked 77th in the FIFA world rankings, will play its first match in this summer’s tournament if it beats Türkiye in Pristina on Tuesday, after coming from behind twice and defeating Slovakia 4-3.
Türkiye defeated Romania 1-0, with Brighton full-back Ferdi Kadıoğlu scoring the only goal of the match in Istanbul.
As Denmark beat North Macedonia 4-0 in Copenhagen, all four goals came in the second half, with Brentford’s Mikkel Damsgaard scoring the first goal and Arsenal midfielder Christian Norgaard scoring the fourth.
In the race to qualify for the World Cup, Northern Ireland’s World Cup dream was defeated 2-0 by Italy, while Wales went to extra time against Bosnia-Herzegovina, which ended 1-1 after 90 minutes.
While the Republic of Ireland took the Czech Republic 2-0 ahead in Prague, the home team fought to equalize and take the match to extra time.
More to follow.
