Matchday 6 has come to a close in UEFA’s European Qualifiers with only four more games left for each country. After the first week kicked-off in the later half of 2014, the 53 nations split into nine groups have developed distinct leaders who will enter into the play-off stages. As of now, the leaders of each group are: Iceland, Wales, Slovakia, Poland, England, Romania, Austria, Croatia, and Portugal.
With only a few points between the first and second placed group leaders, new group leaders could challenge the top for a completely different list come the next four matchdays. Speculation aside, the competition so far has produced some outstanding moments. Here are some of the highlights from the top five matches during Matchday 6.
Poland 4-0 Georgia
Robert Lewandoski celebrates his second hat-trick of the competition. Photo: @Fernando__FCB | Twitter
Poland entered and left the stadium as favorites over Georgia after ending the game with a Lewandoski hat-trick in the span four minutes, the second fastest succession of goals in Euro history. His former Dortmund teammates, Błaszczykowski and Piszczek, set up the striker's second goal of the night with only minutes left in added time. Only Arif Erdem of Turkey scored three goals in succession faster. Three goals in three minutes against Northern Ireland in 2000.
The Polish skipper played the entire match which helped keep his side on top of Georgia. With his second hat-trick in the competition, Poland sit at the top of Group D with only Germany nipping at their heels.
Slovenia 2-3 England
Jack Wilshere's first and second goals for England also marked his debut goal for the three lions. Photo: @Sportskeeda | Twitter
England had a slow start after traveling to Slovenia, but Jack Wilshere’s powerful strikes in the second half gave England much needed life to dominate the match and maintain a flawless record in the group stage with six straight wins. Both goals mirrored each other with pure class. Lallana assisted both of Wilshere’s goals who powered them into the upper corner.
At the end of the match, England dominated statistically despite Slovenia managing to convert two goals. Phil Jones and Chris Smalling received a majority of the criticism from Roy Hodgson even though the England boss said a “victory is all the matters.” The defenders can thank Wilshere and Rooney for being able to connect so well in the Slovenian half.
Ireland 1-1 Scotland
Scotland put on a marvelous and comedic display before kick-off against Ireland. Photo: @massiveodds | Twitter
The second match in Group D, or the Group of Death with so much talent compiled into one group, resulted in a 1-1 draw between Ireland and Scotland. Two close neighbors have a huge rivalry between the them and will always produce a fantastic game to watch. They did not disappoint.
Ireland first took the lead after netting a goal that should have been called offsides. Stirring up enough controversy with that goal alone, Scotland equalized from a deflected ball off of John O’Shea’s back. Walking away with a point apiece, Scotland sit in third place with 11 points and Ireland trail closely in fourth with nine points.
Gibraltar 0-7 Germany
In a seven goal match Schürrle bagged three for a hat-trick. Photo: @GLtrends | Twitter
If there is one thing German football knows how to do well, it’s producing a bonanza of goals in matches. Their 7-0 win over Gibraltar was a perfect flashback to World Cup 2014 when they put seven past Brazil. Even the woman are playing out of their boots in Canada where they defeated the Ivory Coast by ten goals.
Schürrle’s hat-trick put the nail in the coffin after the Gib showed they would not go down without a fight in the first half. Gibraltar are lucky to have only let seven goals go past them, as it could have been a lot worse when they conceded an early penalty and allowed 30 shots.
Germany is only one point behind their Polish neighbors in Group D, and with every team producing strong results, it will be a tight race to the finish.
Wales 1-0 Belgium
Gareth Bale capitalized on a Belgian mistake to out Wales back in fron of Group B. Photo: BBCSport | Twitter
Wales have arguably pulled off the biggest upset in these set of matches after defeating Belgium by one goal. The Red Devils have recently been acknowledged as the second best country in the world from FIFA, but played as if they were facing Germany when traveling to Cardiff City.
Gareth Bale’s goal put Wales back in the lead of Group B. This was the first defeat the Belgian team has suffered since their exit from the World Cup last year. It also marks Wales first chance to enter a major tournament in over 57 years. A clearing header gone wrong was all Bale needed to put away the only goal of the match. His skills may lack in Spain, but when he puts on a Welsh shirt, he reverts back to his younger self from Southampton and Tottenham.
The continuous success from Wales in the European Qualifiers has earned them a top seeding spot for the 2018 World Cup.
