Sweden secured their spot in next year's Women's European Championship finals in Switzerland with an emphatic 6-0 win over Serbia, completing an 8-0 aggregate victory. The match, played in Stockholm before a crowd of 12,378, saw Sweden dominate with a four-goal burst in the first half.
Filippa Angeldahl opened the scoring with a 16th-minute penalty, followed by goals from Kosovare Asllani and Stina Blackstenius, who netted twice before the break. Hanna Bennison and Anna Anvegaard added further goals in the second half to complete the rout. The Swedes celebrated their qualification with a tribute to Caroline Seger, who recently retired after 240 caps for her country.
Norway also progressed comfortably, winning 3-0 at home to Northern Ireland for a 7-0 aggregate victory. Finland followed suit, overcoming Scotland 2-0 at home after a 0-0 draw away, securing their place in the tournament.
Meanwhile, in Teplice, Portugal edged out the Czech Republic 2-1 in the second leg, winning 3-2 on aggregate, thanks to two goals from Diana Silva. Poland also triumphed with a 1-0 win over Austria, with Ewa Pajor scoring the only goal of the match to secure a 2-0 aggregate victory.
Belgium secured a 2-1 win at home against Ukraine to seal a 4-1 aggregate success, while Wales made history by qualifying for their first major tournament. In a tense match in Dublin, Wales defeated Ireland 2-1 to win 3-2 on aggregate.
Hannah Cain converted a penalty in the 50th minute to give Wales the lead, and Carrie Jones added another goal in the second half. A late goal from Anna Patten was not enough to deny the Welsh team a historic victory.
The results of these playoff matches rounded out the teams that will compete in the Women's European Championship next year, with Sweden, Norway, Finland, Portugal, Poland, Belgium, and Wales all securing their places in the prestigious tournament.
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