In UEFA Women’s World Cup qualifying there are a lot of routs. Half of the 10 matches played Tuesday involved scorelines of 3-0 or worse (most were worse, much worse), including Germany’s 11-0 thrashing of Faroe Islands. Scotland’s match against Albania was no different but for one feature: none of those other lopsided affairs had a goal this pretty.
Claire Emslie launched this gorgeous looping shot from the edge of the 18 to the top far corner of the goal to highlight Scotland’s 5-0 destruction of Albania on Tuesday at Saint Mirren Park to go joint top of Group 2 in World Cup qualifying.
WOW! Chan fhaic thu moran nas fhearr @emslie22 4-0 STUNNER! BEO/LIVE https://t.co/NJ3RkXg4ZG pic.twitter.com/b3K1x0Y0Lx
— BBC ALBA (@bbcalba) October 24, 2017
Emslie, a Manchester City forward, cut inside and ripped a shot that Albanian goalkeeper Marigona Zani could only watch go into the back of her net. The goal came at the end of the stadium with a sign reading “Family Section No Swearing Please,” though exactly zero families (or any fans for that matter) were seated nearby, which is a good thing because there probably would have been plenty of "Holy shit!" or "F*ck yeah!" exclamations following that goal.
Scotland is a favorite to advance to the World Cup from Group 2, but it won’t be straightforward. Scotland and Switzerland have six points through two matches while Belarus and Poland each have a win.
Also Tuesday, Iceland was unable to build on its surprise 3-2 win over Germany and drew Czech Republic 1-1, allowing Germany to reclaim top spot in what should be a great group to watch. The match of the day finished 1-0 to the Netherlands with Vivianne Miedema scoring a 93rd-minute winner against Norway.
That winning feeling #SamenSterk #NEDNOR pic.twitter.com/2XpgwVEqL5
— OranjeLeeuwinnen (@oranjevrouwen) October 24, 2017
Qualifying continues through November of next year, with the 2019 World Cup to be hosted by France. In total, nine of the 24 teams to compete at the Women’s World Cup will be from Europe, including seven group winners and one group runner-up, determined by a four-team playoff.
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