Already-qualified England complete their Euro 2024 qualification campaign away to North Macedonia on Monday evening.
Ahead of the Group C finale in Skopje, the PA news agency has looked at five of the main talking points.
England attempt to end year unbeaten
Gareth Southgate’s men have ultimately cruised to qualification from a potentially tricky pool, going unbeaten across 2023 in the process. England have not looked back since rebounding from their World Cup quarter-final defeat to France by winning at reigning European champions Italy, going on to qualify with two games to spare. They all but sealed a place in the top pot for next month’s Euro 2024 draw by beating Malta 2-0 on Friday, taking this year’s record to eight wins in nine matches in all competitions. Southgate says he wants to end the year on a high and wants to build momentum by going go undefeated all the way through to Euro 2024.
Final foreign assignment before the Euros
England face March tests against Brazil and Belgium in Wembley friendlies, with another couple of home matches lined-up as Southgate’s side fine-tune for their shot at glory in Germany. It means Monday’s qualifier in Skopje will be their final match on foreign soil until the Euros get under way in June, with Southgate saying it will be good to be in “a challenging environment because that’s what we’re going to be in next summer”. There will be 2,332 travelling fans at the sold out 32,000-capacity Tose Proeski Arena, which may also end up playing host to Southgate’s final qualifier as England boss.
How will Southgate juggle his selection?
Southgate has dealt with a disruptive build-up and saw his already absentee-hit selection compounded by five of his initial group withdrawing through injury. A further three players have been absent for periods for the meet-up due to personal reasons, with Kieran Trippier among those and leaving the camp on Sunday. It means England have travelled to Skopje with just 22 players and Southgate is having to balance load, fitness and freshness for a potential dead rubber that will see wholesale changes. Cole Palmer will be hoping to make his first start after making his debut off the bench on Friday. The Chelsea talent was a late call-up along with Ezri Konsa and Rico Lewis, who will be hoping to win their first cap in the Balkans.
Can back-up attackers impress?
Record goalscorer Harry Kane would love to have the chance to pad his stats in Skopje, but surely Southgate will use this opportunity to give Ollie Watkins a run out as number nine. No England striker has been able to nail down a position as back-to the skipper but the in-form Aston Villa striker has a great chance with Ivan Toney banned and Callum Wilson suspended. Jarrod Bowen is another that needs to grasp his opportunity if Southgate turn his way. Selecting the 26-year-old over Raheem Sterling is a show of faith but the five-cap forward has so far failed to take his West Ham performances onto the international stage.
Macedonian revenge mission
North Macedonia were blown away in June’s reverse fixture at Old Trafford, where they were a far cry from the side that had recently shocked Germany and Italy. Kane struck twice in a 7-0 annihilation that also saw Marcus Rashford and Kalvin Phillips get in on the act, but Bukayo Saka was the star of the show with his tremendous treble. Head coach Blagoja Milevski apologised to the nation in the post-match press conference and said on Sunday that he pledged to show a “new face” in the rematch. Given they held the Azzurri to a 1-1 draw in Skopje two months ago, it would be a shock if they are not vastly improved.
Neco Williams believes Armenia can do Wales a favour against Croatia and help them qualify for Euro 2024.
Wales’ automatic qualification hopes were taken out of their own hands on Saturday by a wounding 1-1 away draw to Armenia and Croatia’s 2-0 victory in Latvia.
Croatia will secure the second spot behind already-qualified Turkey by beating Armenia in their final qualifier on Tuesday.
But were Armenia to draw or win in Zagreb, that would leave the door open for Wales who would then take second place by beating Turkey at the Cardiff City Stadium on the same evening.
“Armenia are a top team,” wing-back Williams said of opponents who have damaged Wales’ qualification more than any other by taking four points from them.
“They have got some very good players and, hopefully, they can do a job on Croatia like they did against us.
“We still have a chance because you never know what’s going to happen.
“It’s not in our hands and we have got to wait for the other results. There’s a lot of luck in football, and hopefully it will be on our side.”
Wales lost 4-2 to Armenia at home in June and they were shaken again within five minutes of the Yerevan return.
Lucas Zelarayan, who had scored twice in Cardiff, punished some sloppy Welsh defending and Armenia appeared in control until the final seconds of the first half.
But Wales were gifted a lifeline when Nair Tiknizyan headed Connor Roberts’ long throw in to his own net.
Williams said: “It was a tough game, end to end, and a lot of running.
“Both teams were going for the win and probably at times it looked scrappy.
“As soon as the lads came in after the game you could feel that, frustration. No-one talked and it felt like a loss.
“But we take a point from it and all we can do now is focus on our last game against Turkey.
“If we get the three points there you never know what’s going to happen.”
The odds are that Wales will end up in the play-offs in March, the same route they negotiated to reach the 2022 World Cup by overcoming Austria and Ukraine.
Finland, Iceland, Poland and Ukraine are all potential opponents this time, although the fixtures will not be determined until after the final qualifiers across Europe.
“It could be something for us,” said Williams. “We did it for the World Cup and, if it does happen, we’ve still got a chance.
“If we don’t qualify through the group, do it that way.”
Daniel James admitted the early Zelarayan goal before a hostile Republican Stadium crowd had thrown Wales out of their stride.
James said: “They scored early and you know it’s going to be difficult because it’s a tough place to come.
“We dug deep and got back in the game, but we couldn’t get that second goal.
“We’ve just got to pick our heads up and get ready for the next game against a very good Turkey team.”
Central defender Chris Mepham will miss the Turkey game through suspension after picking up his third yellow card of the campaign in Yerevan.
Jason Knight has admitted the Republic of Ireland’s new generation must develop a ruthless streak if they are to fulfil their potential.
A difficult Euro 2024 Group B campaign drew to its seemingly inevitable conclusion on Saturday evening when a 1-0 defeat by the Netherlands in Amsterdam sent the Dutch through to next summer’s finals in Germany and Ireland home to lick their wounds.
Stephen Kenny’s men knew in advance of the game at the Johan Cruyff Arena that even the safety net of a play-off place via the Nations League had evaporated, and they were left to reflect upon home and away defeats by France, the Netherlands and Greece and a return of just six points at Gibraltar’s expense to show for their efforts.
Asked what lessons they had learned, Bristol City midfielder Knight said: “It’s fresh, but playing against Holland and France is about having a clinical edge.
“That’s been a large part of all the games we’ve been equal in: they’ve taken their chances and we haven’t. We defended well in large parts of all the games. Looking back briefly off the top of my head, we lacked a bit of creative spark and those goals when we needed to capitalise.
“The confidence is good. We’re playing some good attractive football at times. We’ve fallen on the wrong side of results against good teams. France and the Netherlands aren’t minnows of world football.
“There’s confidence within the group and definitely confidence we’ll turn it around.”
Knight, 22, is one of the flag-bearers for Kenny’s drastically overhauled squad which has seen the manager promote from the Under-21 ranks and promote a front-foot approach.
His efforts have met with limited success – Ireland have won just six of the 29 competitive games they have played under his charge, and that bottom line is perhaps the most potent weapon in the armoury of those calling for change.
Kenny is out of contract after Tuesday night’s friendly against New Zealand at the Aviva Stadium and his future will be decided at a meeting of the Football Association of Ireland’s board on November 28 when members consider a review of the campaign.
Whatever the outside noise, the 52-year-old’s players remain steadfastly behind him and Knight reiterated that message when asked about the future.
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He said: “Well, my view is that the manager is still here and we’re treating it as so. The manager has been great to me and the players. We want to be winning more games for him, but we’ll see what happens.”
Defeat in Amsterdam came courtesy of Wout Weghorst’s 12th-minute strike, although the game was not as close as the scoreline suggested and but for some less than effective finishing and the efforts of Republic keeper Gavin Bazunu, Ronald Koeman’s men could have had qualification tied up long before the final whistle.
Knight said: “We wanted a good performance and result, which ultimately we didn’t do. There were good parts to it. We just lacked a bit of creativity and cutting edge up top.
“There’s no doubt they’re a good team, but we can certainly be better in all aspects of our game, especially creating and scoring goals.”
Kieran Trippier has left the England camp due to a personal matter ahead of the Euro 2024 qualifier in North Macedonia.
Gareth Southgate’s side secured progress to next summer’s finals with two games to spare and Friday’s forgettable 2-0 win against Malta all but assured their spot among the top seeds in the December 2 draw.
England end their Euro 2024 qualification campaign and 2023 fixture calendar in Skopje on Monday night, when they will be unable to call upon Newcastle full-back Trippier.
The England account on X, formerly known as Twitter, said: “@trippier2 has departed the #ThreeLions camp, owing to a personal matter and will not travel to North Macedonia.”
Southgate has already been dealing with a string of an absentees and Trippier’s departure meant just 22 players trained during England’s final session on Sunday before flying out to Macedonia.
Southgate will be joined by Declan Rice at the press conference previewing the qualifier in Skopje.
Tottenham sacked manager Mauricio Pochettino on this day in 2019.
The sudden and unexpected decision came less than six months after the Argentinian had guided Spurs to the Champions League final.
Pochettino had been in charge for five-and-a-half years but paid the price for a poor start to the 2019-20 season.
He left Spurs 14th in the Premier League table after winning just three, and collecting only 14 points, from their opening 12 games of the campaign.
“Regrettably domestic results at the end of last season and beginning of this season have been extremely disappointing,” said chairman Daniel Levy.
“We were extremely reluctant to make this change. It is not a decision the board has taken lightly, nor in haste.”
Pochettino left Southampton to take over at Spurs in May 2014 and led them to the League Cup final in his first full season but lost to Chelsea.
They pushed Leicester for the title in 2016 but ultimately finished third. They were runners-up the following year and third again in 2018.
Their run to the Champions League final in 2019 included memorable wins over Manchester City and Ajax in the knockout stages but they were beaten by Liverpool in the showpiece in Madrid.
They also won only three of their final 12 Premier League matches of that season and it was the continuation of that form that eventually cost Pochettino.
His period in charge had also spanned Spurs’ move from their old White Hart Lane stadium to their new arena on the same site, with home games played at Wembley for 18 months.
Spurs wasted little time in replacing him, with his successor Jose Mourinho appointed the following day.
Pochettino returned to the game as Paris St Germain manager in January 2021, and after leaving the French club 18 months later he took charge at Chelsea this summer.
Kieran Trippier may be a long-standing member of Gareth Southgate’s England squad but given the level of competition at full-back, he is not taking his place at Euro 2024 as a given.
The Newcastle defender is now one of the senior men within Southgate’s ranks and has amassed 46 caps to date.
His only senior goal was the opener in the 2018 World Cup semi-final defeat to Croatia with his ability to play on either side of Southgate’s defence keeping him in and around the team ever since.
Despite his consistency for club and country, Trippier is now arguably in the strongest pool of full-backs available to England.
In recent times Kyle Walker, Reece James and Ben White have played at right-back – with the versatile pair of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Rico Lewis also in contention – while Luke Shaw, Ben Chilwell and Levi Colwill have operated on the left.
“I need to keep performing well for my club first,” he said of Euro 2024 selection.
“There are so many good full-backs in England at the moment, I need to focus on my own performances. Obviously I want to be there but I know I need to be playing at a high level to be successful.
“I’ve always believed in myself. I’ve always had challenges in my career. I’ve always been up against top right-backs for many years now and it’s just about believing in yourself.
“I think the demands on a full-back these days playing now is so much. You’ve got to get forward. You’ve got to go on the overlaps but ultimately, you’ve got to defend as well.
“I think there’s a big responsibility on full-backs the way we play in the Premier League now.
“I think you look at all the English full-backs, there’s incredible talent.”
Southgate has largely put faith in youth since taking the reins as manager in 2016, with Trippier now one of the elder statesmen in the current squad alongside fellow 33-year-olds Walker and Jordan Henderson.
He will be hoping to start again when England face North Macedonia in their final Euro 2024 qualifier on Monday night but, regardless of the changes made by Southgate, Trippier knows leadership does not necessarily come with age.
“It only seems like yesterday when I was first walking into camp, when Gary Cahill was here and Joe Hart and all the experienced players,” he added.
“Fast forward it to now, I’m one of the oldest so it just shows how quickly football goes.
“Even though I’m one of the oldest, we’ve got a lot of leaders in this room, you’ve got a lot of players playing at a high level.
“You don’t need to be 33 to voice your opinion or whatever it may be.
“We’ve got great characters and – the most important thing – a great togetherness in this squad.
“Everybody speaks whatever they need to speak and everybody listens. We’ve got a good, honest group here.”
England boss Gareth Southgate says he can “take far fewer gambles” with his Euro 2024 squad compared to the previous two tournaments.
Next year’s competition will see a return to relative normality after the delayed, Covid-impacted Euro 2020 and an unprecedented winter World Cup in Qatar.
Increased 26-man squads were introduced for both of those tournaments, but UEFA has confirmed the size of selections will return to 23 players in Germany.
“It makes it a different sort of thought process because you’ve had that leeway in the last couple of tournaments to take players that weren’t going to be fit for the first couple of games,” England boss Southgate said.
“Or a bit of cover in certain positions that you might or might not have needed.
“This time the physical conditioning of players is going to be really important. The ability for players to bat out six, seven games.
“We know having been to the end of two tournaments that physically the demands on that is far greater than we would have known had we not been through that experience, so we know that is a huge requirement.
“If you can only sort of take two for each position, players that are adaptable are helpful, players that can play more than one position are helpful.
“But equally players that are physically vulnerable we will have got to think very carefully about.”
The enlarged selection at Euro 2020 helped Southgate include Jordan Henderson and Harry Maguire. The former had not played since the February due to groin surgery and the latter missed six weeks with an ankle injury, returning to action in England’s final group game and going onto be earn a place in the team of the tournament.
As for Qatar, Southgate was able to include Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips despite a lack of fitness following groin and shoulder surgery respectively.
Asked if players needed to be fit to be on the plane to Germany, he said: “I wouldn’t say all 23.
“But we can take far fewer gambles than we were able to take for the last two tournaments where it was 26.”
Long-serving number one Jordan Pickford is sure to be a key part of the squad next summer and is away with England at a time when his club side are in the headlines.
It was announced in the hours before Friday’s 2-0 win against Malta that Everton had been deducted 10 points after being found to have breached Premier League financial rules.
“I haven’t spoken to Jordan about it,” Southgate said ahead of Monday’s final Euro 2024 qualifier away to North Macedonia.
“The rest at the minute is speculative, so we’ll just have to see as and when anything happens.
“He has coped really well with a couple of really difficult seasons at Everton, where they’ve been in the lower reaches of the league.
“So, if the ultimate decision is as has been said – I am guessing there will be some sort of appeal – then it’s a scenario he’s been through and actually been a really important player for.”
Thierry Anthony bagged a brace which assisted Bonaire to a 3-0 victory over Anguilla in their Concacaf Nations League Group A, League C encounter at the Raymond E. Guishard Stadium in The Valley, Anguilla on Saturday.
With the win, Bonaire moved to six points from three games, still three points behind leaders St Martin. The two will meet in the group finale on Tuesday, with Bonaire needing to win by a wide margin if they are to take top spot and promotion to League B.
Bonaire could not have asked for a better start, as they took the lead in a mere three minutes, as Anthony deflected a cross in from the right wing.
Anthony doubled Bonaire's lead three minutes later when he converted a penalty, after Jonathan Libania was taken down in the area.
Anguilla's defence did a nice job to deny Bonaire any further goals at that point, as they created several good chances.
At the other end, Anguilla also found some rhythm, but nothing that got past Bonaire's goalkeeper Denyor Cicilia.
Anthony was denied a hat-trick in the 64th when he was played in but was denied on the reaction save from Anguilla's custodian Jelanie Lawrence.
Anthony instead assumed the role of playmaker and crafted the third Bonaire goal by whipping in a cross from the right flank that was stabbed home by Freadyen Michiel in the 73rd to cap the win.
Germany slipped to a thrilling 3-2 defeat to Turkey as Julian Nagelsmann saw his side’s stuttering build up to Euro 2024 continue.
The 36-year-old lost his first game as Germany manager after Yusuf Sari’s second-half penalty won it for the visitors.
Kai Havertz gave the hosts an early lead in the friendly, but Ferdi Kadioglu and Kenan Yildiz gave Turkey a 2-1 half time advantage.
Niclas Fullkrug’s 10th goal in 12 games for his country levelled soon after the break at the Olympiastadion.
Hansi Flick was sacked just nine months before next year’s home European Championship with Nagelsmann attempting to pick up the pieces.
A win over the USA and a draw with Mexico in his first games last month would have given him food for thought.
His early tenure looked to be going well on Saturday when Arsenal’s Havertz, playing in an unfamiliar left-back role, opened the scoring after six minutes when he fired in from Leroy Sane’s cutback.
But Turkey, who have already qualified, refused to crumble and Yusuf Yazici and Yildiz went close, either side of Sane shooting wide for Germany.
Yazici had a shot blocked before Turkey levelled when Kadioglu rifled past Kevin Trapp after losing Sane and they went into the break ahead when Yildiz rammed in at the far post in first-half stoppage time.
Germany, without the injured Jamal Musiala, Emre Can and Christian Gunter, came out fighting in the second half and were level five minutes after the restart.
The hosts hit Turkey on the break and Florian Wirtz supplied Fullkrug to drill in low to equalise in Berlin.
But the visitors almost regained the lead immediately when Dortmund midfielder Salih Ozcan hit a post.
The relentless pace continued and captain Ilkay Gundogan had a shot blocked on the hour before Turkey took the lead for a second time.
A VAR check was needed to confirm a handball by Havertz in the area and Sari buried the penalty with 19 minutes remaining.
Serge Gnabry came close to a leveller with three minutes left but he was unable to get the final touch on Benjamin Henrichs’ cross.
France thrashed 10-man Gibraltar 14-0 in Nice for a record international win to close in on a top seed for Euro 2024.
Les Bleus had already qualified as winners of Group B, and showed no signs of letting up against Gibraltar – who scored an early own goal before defender Ethan Santos was shown a red card for a late tackle on 17-year-old debutant Warren Zaire-Emery.
Following the red card for Santos, who had put the ball in his own net after just three minutes, France were relentless, with Kylian Mbappe scoring a hat-trick, Kingsley Coman netting twice and substitute Olivier Giroud hitting a late brace.
Paris St Germain midfielder Zaire-Emery had set a new record as France’s youngest post-war debutant, aged 17 and 255 days.
France were soon on the offensive and raced into a 2-0 lead, both own goals, inside the first five minutes.
Jonathan Clauss got clear down the right and cut the ball back across the six-yard box where Santos stabbed it into his own net.
Before Gibraltar could regroup, they fell further behind.
As goalkeeper Dayle Coleing saved Antoine Griezmann’s shot, the rebound looked to have gone in off Aymen Mouelhi with Marcus Thuram close behind him. The Inter Milan forward was later credited with the goal.
France, aiming to seal their place as one of the five top seeds in Germany next summer, continued to press, with Mbappe firing over.
Zaire-Emery then clipped home a cross from Coman at the near post to become France’s second youngest international scorer after Maurice Gastiger in 1914.
The teenager took a blow to his ankle from Santos when tucking the ball home. English referee John Brooks was advised by VAR to take a review of the over-the-top challenge on the pitchside monitor, which resulted in a red card for the Gibraltar defender.
France were taking no risks with Zaire-Emery, who was swiftly substituted in the 20th minute and replaced by Youssouf Fofana.
On the half-hour mark, a VAR review saw France given a penalty for handball by Lee Casciaro. Mbappe knocked the spot-kick in off the post to make it 4-0.
It was relentless stuff from the hosts, who scored three more within as many minutes through Clauss’ powerful strike, then Coman knocked a loose ball in before Fofana drove a low shot under bewildered Gibraltar keeper Coleing.
Gibraltar made it to half-time without further damage and then held out through the hour mark despite soaking up plenty of pressure from France, who sensed the chance of a record win.
Adrien Rabiot shot home a loose ball in the 63rd minute, with Coman then getting his second for number nine.
Gibraltar’s heaviest loss was confirmed when substitute Ousmane Dembele added a 10th goal for France, who soon secured a record win when Mbappe knocked in an 11th from close range with 15 minutes left.
Olivier Giroud stepped off the bench to drill a low shot into the far corner – but after a lengthy VAR review and check of the monitor by the referee, the goal was ruled out for offside.
France, though, soon had a 12th when Mbappe clipped in a wonderful chip over a backpedalling Coleing from 30 yards to complete his hat-trick.
Giroud drilled the ball in after a chest down from Griezmann, which this time did count. The AC Milan forward swiftly rifled home another in stoppage time as France eclipsed Germany’s record European Championship qualifying win over San Marino in September 2006.
Wout Weghorst fired the Netherlands into the Euro 2024 finals as the Republic of Ireland’s dismal campaign ended with a whimper.
Burnley’s on-loan Hoffenheim frontman, whose winner in Dublin in September left Ireland with a mountain to climb, repeated the dose in Amsterdam to secure a 1-0 victory which was far more comprehensive than the scoreline suggested.
As a result, the Dutch secured second place in Group B behind France, who put 14 without reply past Gibraltar.
Stephen Kenny’s men, who have now won only six of the 29 competitive games they have played under his charge, barely laid a glove on a far superior side under the closed roof at the Johan Cruyff Arena on a night when they had hoped to bloody the nose of one of Europe’s traditional big guns.
Their feint hopes of securing a play-off berth via the Nations League were formally dashed on Thursday night by Slovakia’s 4-2 victory over Iceland with automatic qualification having slipped from their grasp long before.
Jamaica's senior Reggae Boyz Head Coach Heimir Hallgrimsson rued his team’s missed opportunities along with a lapse in concentration that proved their undoing, as they will have to overturn a one-goal deficit if they intend to progress to the Concacaf Nations League semi-final, as well as next year's Copa America, after they went down 1-2 to Canada in their opening quarter-final leg at the National Stadium on Saturday.
Jonathan David sent Canada in front in the 45+1, before Shamar Nicholson added to his rich Nations League scoring form, with a 56th-minute strike. However, poor defending by the Jamaicans allowed Stephen Eustaquio (86th) to notch the decisive goal and put Canada in the driver's seat heading into Tuesday's second leg at the BMO Field in Toronto.
"It was really hot, so the tempo understandably wasn't high. In a game like this it's about keeping focus, they lost focus, and we didn't punish them, and we lost focus, and they punished us. At this level when you don't take your chances you get hurt and that was the end result," Hallgrimsson said in a post-game interview.
Jamaica started the contest, which was pushed back from Friday due to inclement weather, spiritedly in bright sunny conditions, as they showed some degree of enterprise in the early exchanges and should have opened the scoring in 15th minute. This, as Leon Bailey breached Canada's defence, but dragged his left-footed effort wide of the target in a one-on-one situation with goalkeeper Milan Borjan.
Canada also had an early opportunity of their own through David, whose effort was kept out by Reggae Boyz captain Andre Blake in goal.
The Canadians continued their probe and almost broke the deadlock in the 32nd, as Cyle Larin was allowed time and space to release a right-footer from outside the 18-yard box, but Blake again proved equal to the task.
Canada used the channels well for the service and had a few more half chances but were still unable to break Jamaica's resistance.
Bailey should have put the Jamaicans in front in the 40th when he arrived at the far post to meet Bobby Reid's weighted corner, but the effort slammed into the left upright.
The Jamaicans later paid for that missed opportunity, as Larin turned his marker and played a pass inside for David to tap in.
Canada should have added another in stoppage time, when David produced a tidy run down left channel and found Larin, who had enough time and space to pick a spot from dead centre of the 18-yard box but steered right-footer wide.
The North Americans picked up where they left off on the resumption and almost doubled the lead four minutes in, but David's well-struck effort from almost 20-yards out was parried by Blake.
Jamaica came into their own and pulled level when a quickly taken freekick from Reid sent Nicholson in behind Canada's defence and the towering striker made no mistakes with a firmly struck effort. Though initially flagged offside, the goal stood via the VAR review.
From there, the contest remained evenly poised and could have gone either way in the latter stages, but it was Canada, who inevitably found the winner.
Richie Laryea’s dashing run down the right channel dragged Jamaica’s defence and opened up space for Eustaquio to sweep home the perfect cut-back pass from deep inside the 18-yard box.
Alvaro Morata admits he would swap any future goals for European glory with Spain.
The striker is happy to go the rest of the season without scoring if Spain win next year’s tournament.
They host Georgia in their final qualifier on Sunday, two points clear of Scotland at the top of Group A having already reached the tournament.
Morata scored a hat-trick when Spain routed Georgia 7-1 in September and the Atletico Madrid striker has 16 goals in 19 games for club and country this season.
But the former Chelsea hitman is prepared to have a drought if it meant success in Germany next year.
He told a press conference: “Hopefully I can score as many goals as possible, but if I have to go from here to the end of the season without scoring and win the European Championship, I’ll sign it right now.
“I have played many games in a row as a starter and that makes me confident.
“I feel good in my team, I feel good here and I am happy. There is a great work environment and that makes things easier.”
Spain beat Cyprus 3-1 on Thursday with Morata an unused substitute as Lamine Yamal scored his second goal for Spain.
The Barcelona youngster became his country’s youngest player and scorer in the demolition of Georgia two months ago.
“He’s 16 years old and he looks like he’s 27,” said Morata.
“I also think it’s something to congratulate all the people and coaches he’s had because the truth is that he’s a super-mature boy and already a reality for the Spanish national team and Barcelona.”
Victory would seal top spot with Scotland hosting Norway and boss Luis de la Fuente insisted they would not let the country down.
“We know that we cannot fail and disappoint the people who trust us, but in that responsibility we feel comfortable,” he said.
“The players always stand up and understand what it means to represent Spain.”
Stale Solbakken admits it was a “big blow” to lose Erling Haaland for Sunday’s dead-rubber Euro 2024 qualifier against Scotland at Hampden – but the Norway manager is confident the Manchester City striker’s injury is not a serious one.
The free-scoring forward withdrew from the squad on Saturday morning after damaging his ankle in the second-half of Thursday’s 2-0 friendly win over Faroe Islands.
“It’s a big blow for any team but we have played without him before, sometimes with success, sometimes without,” said Solbakken, speaking at Hampden on Saturday evening.
“We started the qualification when he was not ready for the first two games, but after that he has played every single game so it was unfortunate for us that he got the small knock on Thursday.
“It’s the movement in his foot that is the problem but it’s not a serious injury. Had it been a final, I don’t know (if he would have been fit to play).
“All parties agree it is probably a little too early (for him to play) but it is not a career-threatening injury.”
When asked why Haaland – a talisman for club and country – was risked in such a low-key match, Solbakken said: “It was his choice. He wanted to play 45 minutes to keep the momentum in a week where we were maybe not training as much. It was his decision.
“There were three players who have played many games and we had conversations with all three of them and Erling’s much preferred choice was to play 45 minutes.”
Many anticipated Sunday’s match being a qualification decider but Scotland’s 2-1 win in Oslo in June, when they scored two goals in the closing minutes to overturn Haaland’s penalty, has proved pivotal.
The Scots are already assured of a place in the finals in Germany and are six points ahead of third-placed Norway, who have only a slim chance of landing a play-off if results elsewhere go their way.
“It was probably the sorest defeat you will ever feel,” said Solbakken, recalling Scotland’s late turnaround in the summer. “I still wake up at night thinking about those last five minutes but that is life.
“If you look back now, those five minutes were very, very damaging. Otherwise the game tomorrow would have been a final. That speaks volumes.
“But we must congratulate Scotland on a great campaign. They have done really, really well, not only in this campaign but also in the years before that.
“They’ve played at a very high level and have also been good at bringing the margins on their side in tight games, which is very important in national football when there are so few games.”
Unless they manage to salvage a Euro 2024 place via a play-off, Norway’s run without major tournament football will extend to 26 years. The Scots ended a 23-year wait when they qualified for the Euros in 2021 and Solbakken feels his nation can draw inspiration from Steve Clarke’s resurgent side.
“Of course we can,” he said. “I think we are quite even. We always play very tight games against each other but they have been better than us with the small margins lately. We need to see if we can find that way too.”
Rob Page accepts that Wales’ Euro 2024 destiny might lie in the play-offs following their damaging draw with Armenia.
Wales needed a Nair Tiknizyan own goal on the stroke of half-time to give them a 1-1 draw in Yerevan, when Armenia were the most dangerous side for large parts of a low-quality contest.
Croatia are now favourites to take the second automatic qualifying spot behind Turkey, who travel to Cardiff for Wales’ last group fixture on Tuesday safe in the knowledge they will be playing in the finals in Germany next summer.
Having dropped points to remove automatic qualification from their own hands, manager Page said: “There’s a disappointed group in there, but we’ve got to pick ourselves up and finish on a high on Tuesday.
“Unfortunately it’s now out of our control. With a win, we’d all have been buzzing and looking forward to the game on Tuesday, and a win would have seen us qualify.
“It’s not materialised as we’d like, but that’s life and we have to get on with it.
“It’s about building momentum and, if it’s a play-off in March, it’s a play-off in March.
“If results go for us, we’ve still got an opportunity to qualify (automatically).
“We can only control what we can do, get the players in the right frame of mind, mentally and physically ready for Tuesday.”
Wales were beaten 4-2 by Armenia – ranked 95 in the world and 67 places below them – at the Cardiff City Stadium in June, and Page’s side were shaken again within five minutes of the Yerevan return.
Lucas Zelarayan, who scored twice in Cardiff, worked space on the edge of the area after Wales failed to clear a corner and slotted the ball into the corner of Danny Ward’s net.
Page said: “We got off to the worst possible start, we knew they were going to come out the traps fast. I’m disappointed with that.
“I thought we grew in the first half and scored at the perfect time.
“But the break came at a bad time for us because I thought we were growing in momentum.
“We got into some OK positions. Whether it was the final pass or the final ball, that final detail wasn’t quite right for whatever reason.
“We threw everything at it and both teams were going for the win.
“You could see by the changes we made. We took a wing back-off and put a winger on to try and get as many forward players on the pitch as we could.”
Wales had beaten World Cup semi-finalists Croatia last month to put them in control of the race for a top-two place.
But on a poor pitch that neither team were able to master, Wales did not remotely come close hitting the heights of that performance.
Reflecting on the contrasting two displays, Page said: “It’s not to say there were a lot of players who had off-days, but you do have that in transitions, you have inconsistencies.
“I’m not going to fault the players for their effort. Their effort, to a man, was commendable. They gave everything, like they always do.
“The pitch was heavy, like nothing we’ve seen back home, but it was the same for both sides.
“We’ll get them recovered, have a recovery session on Sunday and go through with the medical team who we’ve got available for Tuesday.
“We need to finish the campaign on a high. It’s important to have some momentum if there is a play-off in March.”
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