08 October 2017
Saturday night saw France, Switzerland and Morocco all take huge steps towards World Cup 2018 qualification, with Juve players all playing a key part in the victories.
In UEFA World Cup qualifying Group A, France beat Bulgaria away by one goal to nil, with Juve’s Blaise Matuidi scoring the game’s only goal in the third minute. The result means France remains in top-spot by one point ahead of Sweden, and Les Bleus will guarantee their plane ticket to Russia if they can beat Belarus at home in their final game on 10 October.
Onto Group B, and Switzerland ran riot in Basel, demolishing Hungary 5-2. After goals from Granit Xhaka, Fabian Frei and a brace from Steven Zuber, Juventus’ Stephan Lichtsteiner put the cherry on the cake by scoring goal number five. The result means that the Swiss stay top of the group, but face a huge game on the last matchday when they travel to second place Portugal who are just three points behind.
Finally, in CAF World Cup qualifying Group C, Medhi Benatia’s Morocco defeated Gabon 3-0 as a hat-trick from Khalid Boutaib did the damage. Benatia played the majority of the match, being substituted in the 81st minute with the Moroccans holding a strong lead. Morocco lead the way, and will qualify for the next stage provided that they don’t lose away to the Ivory Coast, when CAF World Cup qualifying gets back underway on 6 November.
Tonight, there is just the one Bianconeri representative in action, as Wojciech Szczesny’s Poland host Montenegro. Any result other than a defeat will ensure that Poland have booked their place in Russia next summer.
