World Round-up: San Marino win! SAN MARINO WIN!
San Marino won a football match, plus some other stuff happened over the first two days of the international window!
Last night, I attended the UEFA Nations League Group A4 match between Serbia and Spain in Belgrade.
It is not often one gets to see the new European champions in their first match back in action, so I was going to dedicate a large section of this round-up to that match; delving into how Spain coped with the hostile atmosphere, how Serbia dealt with the challenge and the crumbling joy that is the Rajko Mitić Stadium.
But f*ck that, because San Marino won a competitive international football match! Let’s get into it!
I repeat, San Marino win!
It finally happened. For the first time since a 1-0 win in Serravalle over Liechtenstein in 2004, San Marino won a game of football.
They did it, with a 1-0 win, in Serravalle, over Liechtenstein!
But this win trumps even that of the one 20 years ago, a mere international friendly, because this time, it was a competitive fixture, the first match in Group D1 of the UEFA Nations League.
The goal came early in the second half, when a ball floated into the box was not dealt with by the Liechtenstein defence, and Nicko Sensoli lived up to his name by nicking in ahead of the goalkeeper to prod San Marino in front.
San Marino held on for their first ever competitive win in over three decades of trying, sparking wild celebrations on the pitch and in the 1000-strong crowd. 19-year-old Sensoli, on his competitive debut, was not even born the last and only previous time San Marino notched a win!
A maiden three-point haul for Roberto Cevoli’s men even takes them top of the group ahead of Gibraltar vs Liechtenstein on Sunday. San Marino’s next match in the group will be away in Gibraltar in October.
Having scored in five of their seven previous fixtures, notably against Denmark and Finland, plus earning a draw with Saint Kitts and Nevis, the signs that something special was about to happen were there.
But you knew that, and I don’t know why I’ve written about the match, because you definitely took my advice… didn’t you!?
That was the only match in League D to be played so far, while in League C, Sweden and Slovakia’s attempts to leave Azerbaijan and Estonia in their Group C1 dust got off to a positive, yet clunky, start.
In Baku, it took Sweden over an hour to get the breakthrough against Azerbaijan, but two quickfire Alexander Isak goals and a penalty from Viktor Gyökeres spared their blushes before a consolation from Renat Dadashov.
Estonia held out for 70 minutes in Tallinn before Tomáš Suslov got the only goal of the game for the visitors who reached the Euro 2024 Round of 16.
In Group 3, it was all about the early goals at Windsor Park as Paddy McNair and Dan Ballard gave Northern Ireland a 2-0 lead after 16 minutes against Luxembourg, while Belarus and Bulgaria played out a forgettable 0-0 draw in Hungary.
Champions lack cutting edge
Over the years, plenty of top teams have come unstuck in the cauldron of the Red Star Stadium. In 2024, we can add Spain to that list, as the new European and Olympic and reigning Nations League champions could not find a way past Serbia as they drew 0-0 in Group A4.
Spain were without Rodri, Unai Simón and Álvaro Morata, but other than that Luis de la Fuente’s squad was pretty much at full strength. They pushed and probed their hosts, but Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams and Dani Olmo all lacked cutting edge in the final third.
Credit must go to Serbia who soaked up pressure diligently and came close to orchestrating a few successful counterattacks. They best chance of the game went their way; late in the first half Luka Jović somehow skewed his shot wide from point-blank range with just David Raya to beat.
The Orlovi were without several of their key men, including Nemanja Gudelj, Filip Kostić, Dušan Vlahović, Aleksandar Mitrović and Sergej Milinković-Savić, either through injury or their decision not to play while Dragan Stojković remains in charge.
While each player was roundly cheered and applauded, Stojković - known as “Piksi” - was booed and jeered by the home fans who clearly agreed with those players that the man who has failed to get a win at two successive tournaments should have been replaced over the summer.
However, after putting on a defensive masterclass, Stojković risked a half-hearted wave to the crowd as he made his way towards the tunnel at full-time. In response, instead of abuse, he received a smattering of applause and shouts of, “Bravo, Piksi!”
In the same group, Denmark have gone top after late Patrick Dorgu and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg goals ensured a 2-0 win over Switzerland.
In Group A1, there was heartbreak for Scotland in their first match in League A, as they battled back from 2-0 down to level at home to Poland, only for a 97th-minute winner from Nicola Zalewski to give the visitors a 3-2 win.
The other match in the group brought the statisticians out in force, as Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 900th career goal as Portugal beat Croatia 2-1 in Lisbon, with the other two goals in the match courtesy of Diogo Dalot, who scored at both ends.
Drama from the off in Asia’s Third Round
If all goes as expected, three teams will finish the week on six points and three will be stuck on zero.
Well, idiot who predicted that it absolutely would go as expected, Group C in the Third Round of World Cup qualifying in Asia had some surprises for you!
Japan did get an expected victory over China, but the margin was the eye-catching part; The Samurai Blue scored five second half goals - with two from Takumi Minamino - to win 7-0.
The teams supposed to challenge them for top spot, however, did not have the best of starts to the round.
Having dominated the chances despite being reduced to 10 men in the second half, Australia conceded an 89th-minute own goal to hand Bahrain victory in Gold Coast, after a cross deflected off Harry Soutar and caught Mat Ryan out at his near post.
Then, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia surprisingly dropped points at home as well. After falling behind to Ragnar Oratmangoen’s goal for Indonesia, they got an equaliser through Musab Al-Juwayr on the stroke of half-time, but could not find the breakthrough in the second half.
The shocks kept coming in Group B, as South Korea were held at home to a 0-0 draw by Palestine. The Palestinians will face a now-under pressure Jordan next up, after the Asian Cup finalists conceded a stoppage time equaliser to draw 1-1 at home to Kuwait.
But it’s advantage Iraq early on, as the 1986 qualifiers beat Oman 1-0 at home thanks to star striker Aymen Hussein.
In Group A, it’s advantage United Arab Emirates who stunned Asian champions Qatar to come from a goal down at half-time in Al Rayyan to win 3-1. The rest of the group went according to the form book, as Iran and Uzbekistan ground out 1-0 home wins against Kyrgyzstan and North Korea, respectively.
Venezuela suffer on high as Argentina roll on
Venezuela’s hopes of reaching the World Cup for the first time and finally removing the tag of only CONMEBOL nation not to qualify were dealt a huge blow as they were thrashed 4-0 by Bolivia.
In their seventh match, Bolivia doubled their goal tally in qualification to earn just their second victory. Ramiro Vaca, Carmelo Algarañaz, Miguel Terceros and Enzo Monteiro found the back of the net as Venezuela found the going tough in El Alto.
Not the first team to suffer when playing at altitude, Venezuela are now just three points clear of the Bolivians, who are occupying the play-off spot. Failure to get anything from a home tie with Uruguay at the weekend will have them looking over their shoulders.
World Cup and Copa América champions Argentina made light work of Chile in Buenos Aires, running out 3-0 winners to ensure they will still top the table after matchday seven concludes tonight. Alexis Mac Allister, Julián Alvarez and Paulo Dybala got on the score sheet.
Back to the basement of the world rankings, and the 2026 World Cup journey is over after one match for both the Cook Islands and American Samoa, who were beaten in the OFC First Round semi-finals in Apia, Samoa.
Cook Islands came into their match with Tonga ranked 14 places higher, but Tonga controlled proceedings to take a 3-1 win.
Then on Samoan soil, Samoa scored twice in the second half to gain an important 2-0 win against their rivals American Samoa.
Tonga and Samoa will now meet in Monday’s final for the right to move onto OFC Round 2.
Which result has shocked you the most so far in September’s international window, and who has been the most impressive side? Let me know…
Anthony Tomas is a football writer and commentator, who writes for Flashscore and World Soccer Magazine.