Serbia qualify for first European Championship after Bulgaria draw

Updated: Nov 19, 2023, 12:09 pm

Serbia qualified for Euro 2024 following a 2-2 home draw against Bulgaria in their Group G qualifier on Sunday, as Montenegro lost 3-1 away to Hungary.

The Serbians began the day second in the group, two points ahead of Montenegro, and two points behind already qualified Hungary. One point would have guaranteed qualification even if Montenegro won in Budapest thanks to their head-to-head record.

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The home side opened the scoring in the 16th minute with a Milos Veljkovic header, but Bulgaria came back in the second half through goals from Georgi Rusev in the 59th minute and Kiril Despodov 10 minutes later.

Serbia found the equaliser in the 82nd minute as Srdjan Babic headed home from close range, to calm the nerves of the home fans.

Serbia have qualified for the European Championships for the first time since the country gained independence as a sovereign state in 2006.
Photo by ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP via Getty Images

In the other game Montenegro took the lead in the 36th minute through Slobodan Rubezic, but Hungary's Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai scored twice in two minutes in the second half and Adam Nagy grabbed an added time goal to make it 3-1.

Hungary finish atop the group with 18 points, while Serbia managed 14, and Montenegro finished third with 11 points meaning they cannot make the playoffs.