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Lviv (Ukraine) (AFP)
Ukraine failed to do better than a home draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina (1-1) on Tuesday in Lviv on day eight of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers and remain in second place in Group D behind France.
This result puts France in a comfortable position ahead of the past two days, as the Ukrainians, who now have 9 points and one more match, are three lengths behind the Blues, and are still top of the group by 12 units.
France, who this week were eliminated from qualifying for the final stage of the League of Nations, host Kazakhstan on November 13 and travel to Finland on November 16. Winning one of these two matches would be enough for Didier Deschamps’ men to qualify for Qatar.
Served well and alone in front of the goalkeeper, West Ham striker Andriy Yarmolenko was the first to open the scoring in the 15th minute for Ukraine at the Lviv Arena. In 77 of this balanced match, the Bosnians returned to parity thanks to a superb shot from Anil Akhmedodzic (Malmo FF) into the left corner of the Ukrainian goal, forcing the two teams to share the tie points.
A little earlier, Finland, victorious (2-0) in Kazakhstan with two goals from Timo Pukki, remained in the race to qualify.
With two matches left, the Finns (8 points) can still sportily threaten the first place of the Blues, just like Ukraine, while Bosnia and Herzegovina remains in fourth place with 7 points.
On the other hand, the Kazakhs are eliminated in last place with 3 points.
© 2021 AFP
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