A total of five qualifying games sent a handful of teams into the playoffs with surprisingly little fanfare. Italy scored eleven goals against Bulgaria in what was still a tight encounter, while Turkey sent Great Britain home with a 53-goal aggregate victory.
The 2023 World Cup qualifiers are being held in two phases with a European eye. First, the nine teams that will advance to the playoffs are selected, joining the eleven countries that did not secure a WC ticket from the current EC.
Austria crushed Finland by a convincing margin, even away from home. Sonja Frey and company close the game early. National team captain Herbert Muller may be happy with the changes in playing time for the younger guard after the break.
Slovakia and Barbora Lancs wreaked havoc with Latvia in similar fashion last time out, allowing just 38 goals over two games. Turkey were even worse in their expected double win, struggling for their 30 goals while Great Britain were close behind.
Italy have not played in a major championship and will have to resort to favorable draws for the least chance of World Cup matches in Denmark, Norway or Sweden. At least the team made the process short with Bulgaria and managed their lead from the away game.
Sweden had a familiar cast in Iceland’s center against Israel. In a dual meet on home island, Andrea Jacobsen (seven goals) and Haftis Renotudottir (35 save percentage) dominated the return.
WC qualification, match 2:2
Finland –Austria 28–35
Austria was also 72-50.
Latvia-Slovakia 17–43
Slovakia is 89-38 overall.
Israel –Iceland 24–33
And Iceland is 67-50 overall.
Turkey –UK 44-16
Turkey with an overall score of 83-30.
Italy– Bulgaria 33-29
Italy more with 59-48 overall.
Greece, Kosovo and Portugal and Ukraine have already passed the first qualifying round.
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