Major League Soccer was well represented in UEFA European Championship qualifying on Saturday, with the Chicago Fire’s Shaun Maloney and Scotland drawing 1-1 at Robbie Keane’s Ireland and Sporting Kansas City forward Krisztian Nemeth helping Hungary to a 1-0 win against D.C. United’s Markus Halsti and Finland.
Maloney played a huge role in Scotland’s equalizer, collecting Ikechi Anya’s pass at the top of the box and firing a shot that deflected off of Irish defender Seamus Coleman and found the bottom corner for an own goal in the 46th minute. Keane came on in the 74th, but the LA Galaxy Designated Player couldn’t help Ireland to the win, leaving the hosts in fourth-place in Group D, one point behind third-place Germany, who play at Gibraltar later on Saturday.
Nemeth played the second half for Hungary, which got an 82nd minute goal to win 1-0 at Finland. Halsti went the full 90 for the hosts, who fell seven points behind Hungary for third place in Group F with the result.
On Sunday, NYCFC forward Adam Nemec went the full 90 up top in his Slovakia's 2-1 win over Macedonia. The win kept Slovakia perfect with 18 points through six rounds, and atop of Group C by a gap of three points over second-place Spain.
The top two teams from each of the nine groups and the best third-place finisher automatically qualify for Euro 2016 in France, while the remaining eight third-place teams will advance to a playoff for the four remaining spots.
Crossing continents, things didn’t go so well for the Seattle Sounders’ Marco Pappa, Real Salt Lake’s Elias Vasquez and Guatemala on Friday night. Both players went the full 90 as Guatemala started their World Cup qualifying campaign with a disappointing scoreless draw at home against Bermuda in a match that was delayed when the stadium’s lights went out in the 85th minute. Guatemala will play the decisive second leg of their two-legged qualifying series on Monday at Bermuda.
