Fans might have been a bit disappointed about the club season getting broken up by such an early international break, but the Euro 2016 qualifiers didn’t disappoint on Sunday. There were a handful of great games to go along with one truly shocking upset, while the world champions were tested as well.
Euro 2016 qualifying scores: Portugal stunned by Albania
Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports
Albania pulled off the biggest result of the day, winning 1-0 away to Portugal. The Portuguese were without their biggest star, Cristiano Ronaldo, and struggled to create without him. The winner came from Albania striker Bekim Balaj, who scored a great volley from 12 yards in the 52nd minute, the game's only goal. There was another big, but less stunning upset in Greece, where the hosts lost to Romania despite playing up a man for most of the second half.
There were three big comebacks from a goal down, resulting in 2-1 wins with late winners. The least surprising and dramatic was Denmark's home win over Armenia, capped off with a winning goal by Thomas Kahlenberg. The Republic of Ireland were bailed out late by Aiden McGeady's goal away to Georgia, while Northern Ireland put themselves in brilliant position to qualify by grabbing a late winner away to Hungary.
Scores
Georgia 1-2 Ireland
Hungary 1-2 Northern Ireland
Denmark 2-1 Armenia
Germany 2-1 Scotland / Full recap
Gibraltar 0-7 Poland
Faroe Islands 1-3 Finland
Greece 0-1 Romania / Full recap
Portugal 0-1 Albania
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