Turkey, Netherlands, and Norway fight for top spot in Group G
A single point separates first-placed Turkey and fourth-placed Norway in group G in European World Cup qualifiers.
Turkey leads the scramble
Turkey has a slender lead of one point over its rivals in group G. Meanwhile, Netherlands, Montenegro, and Norway all have seven points apiece and are placed second, third, and fourth in the group respectively.
Latvia comes fifth with four points and Gibraltar is rooted at the bottom with no points to their name.
The group winners will qualify directly for the World Cup next year in Qatar. Meanwhile, the second-placed team will play in playoff rounds to qualify for the World Cup.
All six teams from group G play today in the World Cup qualifiers match.
Group favorites, Netherlands play second-placed Montenegro. The Dutch drew their previous game against Norway away from home in their previous game. Meanwhile, Montenegro also drew their previous game with Turkey, away from home.
Elsewhere, Norway plays fifth-placed Latvia away from home. Haaland is in a free-scoring form for his club but, he has scored only one goal in the qualification campaign. Norway would very much want their superstar striker to fire on all cylinders today.
Meanwhile, table-toppers Turkey plays bottom-of-the-table Gibraltar away from home. Gibraltar is yet to win a game in the qualifying campaign. Whereas, Turkey is yet to lose a game. They are unbeaten in four matches. Burak Yilmaz has been on red hot form for the Turks in the qualifying campaign. The French league champion has scored four times for his country in as many games. On the contrary, Gibraltar as a whole has scored two goals in their matches.
The lead at the top is very slender. All the teams at the top face potential banana skin in their respective fixtures. As a result, first place is up for grabs. Therefore, an exciting Saturday night is awaiting football fans around the world.
Fixtures
Latvia vs Norway – 4th of September, 9.30 PM ( IST )
The Netherlands vs Montenegro – 5th of September, 00.15 AM ( IST )
Gibraltar vs Turkey – 5th of September, 00.15 AM ( IST )