Euro qualifiers wrap: Switzerland top Group D after hitting Gibraltar for six
Switzerland topped Ireland’s qualification group with an easy 6-1 win away to Gibraltar in their final match last night, with Cedric Itten scoring twice.
The Swiss went ahead after 10 minutes through Itten, from Ruben Vargas’s cross. Vargas himself headed the second from Loris Benito's centre and Christian Fassnacht added the third seven minutes later.
Gibraltar pulled one back in the 74th minute when Reece Styche stabbed in. But Benito added the Swiss fourth, before Itten grabbed his second. Granit Xhaka rounded off the rout.
Last night’s Group F and J action was academic, but there were big wins for Spain and Italy.
Gerard Moreno bagged a brace as Spain thumped Romania 5-0 to secure a pot-one seeding for Euro 2020.
Spain made a blistering start, creating a series of chances before Fabian Ruiz opened the scoring in the eighth minute.
Villarreal forward Moreno doubled the home side’s lead with a well-placed header in the 33rd minute before making it 3-0 10 minutes later.
Moreno's cross was deflected in by the boot of Adrian Rus for the fourth, before Mikel Oyarzabal made it 5-0 just before the end.
The victory means unbeaten Group F winners Spain will be among six seeded nations when the finals draw is made on November 30.
Italy will join them after completing a ten-wins-from-ten qualifying record with a 9-1 destruction of Armenia.
Ciro Immobile and Nicolo Zaniolo scored two apiece as seven Italians got among the goals.
It was 4-0 not long after the half-hour, with Immobile's brace, Zaniolo, and Nicolo Barella accounting for the goals.
Armenia held out for the next half-hour before the floodgates opened between the 64th and 81st minutes - Zaniolo, Alessio Romagnoli, Jorginho (from the penalty spot), Riccardo Orsolini, and Federico Chiesa scoring in quick succession, as Edgar Babayan got a meager consolation for the away side.
Elsewhere, Lionel Messi converted an added-time penalty as Argentina salvaged a 2-2 draw against their South American rivals Uruguay in a friendly in Tel Aviv.
Three days after marking his return from a three-month international ban by scoring the winner against Brazil, Messi once again underscored his value to his country.
He floated a precise 63rd-minute free-kick from which Sergio Aguero headed home to cancel out Edison Cavani's 34th-minute opener for the home side.
And after Luis Suarez put Uruguay back in front from a set-piece, Messi's persistence paid off after Martin Caceres had been harshly penalised for handball in the box.
