Both Scotland and Wales drew with their respective opponents in their World Cup qualifying ties this evening but Northern Ireland lost 1-0. Sammy McIlroy's men will be disappointed to have come away from Iceland with no points after they went down 1-0 this evening to a late goal from Thordur Gudjonsson. The Icelandic headed the ball into an empty net after keeper Roy Carroll came for a free-kick and missed it. This Northern Ireland's first defeat in their World Cup qualifying campaign and leaves them third in Group Three on four points.
Meanwhile, Scotland enjoyed an excellent 1-1 draw away to Croatia thanks to Kevin Gallacher's first international goal in three years. Croatia went ahead in the first 15 minutes courtesy of Alain Boksic but it only took the Scots nine minutes to equalise when a low cross from Cameron was side-footed home by Gallacher. Both teams had some excellent chances in the second half but the Scots held on for the draw which leaves them in top position in Group Six, five points ahead of Croatia.
Wales drew 0-0 away to Poland in Group 5, producing one of their best away performances in recent years to frustrate the Poles in Warsaw. Despite a barrage of criticism in recent weeks that would affect the hardest of players, the Welsh team gave a battling display tonight, ending Poland's 100% record in the group. Although Poland had them on the wire on numerous occasions, Wales had chances of their own, with Ryan Giggs and Gary Speed in particular giving the Poles several frights throughout the match.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
