France slips after Sweden loses to Kosovo again

France suffered a minor setback in their World Cup qualifying campaign, as the two-time world champions and 2022 runners-up drew 2-2 with Iceland.

Viktor Pálsson put Iceland ahead in the 39th minute in Reykjavik when he headed home after France failed to deal with a free kick inside the penalty area.

Christopher Nkunku equalized in the 63rd minute when he raced from the left side and fired a low shot into the bottom right corner.

Jean-Philippe Mateta then completed the conversion five minutes later, converting Magnes Aklioch’s cross to score his first international goal at the age of 28.

However, this was not the decisive moment, as Kristian Hellinsson responded two minutes later with a brilliant finish at the end of a brilliant move for Iceland.

The French team maintained its lead in Group D, three points ahead of Ukraine, which beat Azerbaijan 3-1. Iceland is another three points behind in third place.

While France slipped Germany beat Northern Ireland 1-0 through Nick Voltimadi’s header in the first half. Slovakia leads Group A on goal difference, which beat Luxembourg 2-0.

Belgium now holds the leadership of Group J after A Winning over Wales 4-2. The team leads by two points after North Macedonia drew 1-1 with Kazakhstan.

Sweden 0-1 Kosovo

Sweden’s hopes of qualifying for the World Cup are in vain after losing to Kosovo for the second time in the qualifiers.

John Dahl Tomasson’s men were beaten 2-0 in Pristina last month, and their performance was not much better in Gothenburg, where Vesnik Aslani put Kosovo ahead with a close-range shot in the 32nd minute.

Alexander Isak and Viktor Gjukeris endured a very frustrating evening as Sweden were held to a goalless draw for the third match in a row, leaving them bottom of Group B, six points behind second-placed Kosovo with two games to play.

Switzerland leads the group with 10 points after a goalless draw with Slovenia.