Ronaldo makes history; First European team to get World Cup ticket; Coach Kim Sang-sik regrets that Vietnam team did not win big

The first European team to qualify for the World Cup

On the morning of October 15, England defeated Latvia 5-0, thereby officially winning a ticket to the Americas next year.

Under the leadership of Thomas Tuchel, the "Three Lions" continued to show destructive form in the qualifying round when they won all 6 matches, scored 18 goals and did not concede any.

From the very first minutes, Kane, Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Saka constantly disturbed the Latvian defense. After a few missed chances, Gordon opened the scoring in the 26th minute with a beautiful shot after a long pass from John Stones. By the end of the first half, Kane doubled the gap, then scored from the penalty spot, giving England a 3-0 lead before the break.

In the second half, Latvia tried to attack but could not make much difference. Maksims Tonisevs' own goal made it 4-0 for England, before Eberechi Eze sealed the 5-0 victory with a delicate finish in the 86th minute.

With this victory, England became the first European team to qualify for North America next summer.

Ronaldo makes history

Also in the early morning of October 15, Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals in Portugal's 2-2 draw with Hungary in the European World Cup qualifiers.

Ronaldo's double against Hungary put him in history as the top scorer in World Cup qualifying with 41 goals, two more than former Guatemala striker Carlos Ruiz. Lionel Messi is third on the list with 36 goals.

In addition, CR7 also holds the record for most goals scored at the national level (143 goals), far surpassing the next person, Messi, with 114 goals. The captain of the Portuguese team needs 52 more goals to reach the 1,000 mark.

Qatar makes history in World Cup qualifiers

In the early morning of October 15, Qatar defeated UAE 2-1 to win a ticket to the world's largest football tournament at the national level.

Two goals from Miguel Pedro and Akram Afif in the 61st and 73rd minutes made Sultan Adil's goal in the 90+8th minute only a consolation goal.

Qatari football has entered a new page in history, when for the first time in history it qualified for a World Cup without being the host. The evenly matched squad including Afif, Almoez Ali,..., under the guidance of coach Julen Lopetegui is ready to create a surprise in the tournament taking place in the Americas next year.

In the remaining match in Asia, Saudi Arabia and Iraq held each other to a 0-0 draw. The 0-0 draw was enough to help Saudi Arabia qualify for the World Cup for the third consecutive time. Historically, the "Blue Falcons" have participated in the World Cup four times in a row (from 1994 to 2006).

Ivory Coast returns to World Cup after more than a decade

In the final match of Group F, Ivory Coast needed a win to maintain their top position, as they were only 1 point ahead of Gabon. Two goals from Franck Kessie and Yan Diomande helped the "Elephants" to participate in the biggest football festival on the planet for the first time since 2014.

A similar scenario occurred in Group B, Senegal also made no mistake in the final match to win a ticket to the World Cup. The big win over Mauritania helped the "Lions of Teranga" participate in 3 consecutive world championships.

Meanwhile, South Africa won the World Cup ticket in an unthinkable scenario. Before the match, Benin (17 points) had a chance to win a ticket to the World Cup in history. The West African representative needed to beat Nigeria (14 points) away to keep the top position in the group, while South Africa was in second place with 15 points and had no right to decide.

However, Benin disappointed when they were defeated 0-4 by the "Blue Eagles". Victor Osimhen shone brightly with a hat-trick, before Frank Onyeka sealed the victory.

Good news kept coming in, helping South Africa play brilliantly in the same match. The 2010 World Cup host defeated Rwanda 3-0 at home to take the top spot with 18 points and also a ticket straight to the Americas from Benin. Benin (17 points - goal difference 1) even dropped to 3rd place, behind Nigeria (17 points - goal difference 7) and no longer has any chance to participate in the biggest football festival on the planet taking place next year.

Coach Kim Sang-sik: It's a pity that the Vietnamese team didn't win big.

Speaking after the match, coach Kim Sang-sik expressed regret: "First of all, I would like to thank the fans for coming to the stadium to watch the match.

The bad weather conditions led to a bad pitch, which prevented the Vietnamese team from executing their game plan. I was very disappointed that we could not score many goals, despite creating chances. However, I was still happy that the team achieved their goal of winning.

Before the match, we trained the players on finishing exercises to help them play well in the opponent's third and make the most of their chances. However, the pitch greatly affects the way they play. The players need to do better in the final finishing stage. In the next training session, we will try to improve that."