World Cup European Qualifiers results: France held by Ukraine, Portugal defeat Azerbaijan

The first Matchday of the 2022 World Cup European qualifiers turned to be an action-packed affair with some surprising and equally intriguing results. While world champions France were forced to settle for a draw in the game against Ukraine, Portugal managed a close-edged victory over Azerbaijan to begin their group A campaign without losing any points. 

World Cup European Qualifiers results: France denied win by Ukraine

France boasted of in-depth attacking options with the likes of Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Anthony Martial among others in the ranks. But the attacking threat could not turn out fruitful for the 2018 World Cup winners as they were forced to share the spoils in the opening Matchday. 

Antoine Griezmann scored from a beautiful curling shot to bag the lead for Les Blues, bringing up his 34th goal with the national team. With the goal, he became the fourth-joint highest top scorer for the country, tied equally with David Trezeguet. Serhii Sydorchuk equalised in the second half after a shot inside the penalty box landed past the post after taking a massive deflection from defender Presnel Kimpembe.

And the frontline of Kylian Mbappe, Griezmann, Olivier Giroud and Kingsley Coman could not bag the lead any further, with the game ending in a draw. With the stalemate, France sit fourth in the Group D World Cup European Qualifiers table, with the other three teams also bagging a point each. This could be one of the biggest World Cup European Qualifiers highlights going ahead in the competition.

World Cup European Qualifiers highlights: Portugal triumph over Azerbaijan

Maksim Medvedev's own goal in the 37th minute turned out to be the decision-maker as the European champions went on to clinch an all-important three points from the game. A sensational performance from Azerbaijan star Shahruddin Mahammadaliyev kept the Portuguese threat at bay with Cristiano Ronaldo denied on several occasions in the first half. 

Azerbaijan appeared to fight back in the second half as they troubled the Portuguese on a couple of occasions. However, they failed to equalise in the game with Portugal extending their record World Cup qualifier winning streak to 10 games. Portugal occupy the second spot in the Group A World Cup European Qualifiers table, only next to Serbia.

World Cup European Qualifiers results: International fixtures results on March 24

Serbia 3-2 Republic of Ireland

Finland 2-2 Bosnia and Herzegovina

Belgium 3-1 Wales 

Estonia 2-6 Czech Republic 

Turkey 4-2 Netherlands

Gibraltar 0-3 Norway

Latvia 1-2 Montenegro

Slovenia 1-0 Croatia

Malta 1-3 Russia

Cyprus 0-0 Slovakia

World Cup European Qualifiers live stream

SonyLIV has been mandated with the task of World Cup European Qualifiers live stream. Besides, Sony Sports Network is also the broadcast partner in the Indian subcontinent for the event. The live scores and other major developments will be updated regularly on the social media pages of the two teams. 

Image courtesy: France Twitter