Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa booked their place in the World Cup with victories in their play-offs.
Newcastle United stars Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa are celebrating World Cup qualification this morning after their countries reached this summer’s finals in Canada, Mexico and the USA.
Sweden and DR Congo won their quarter-finals on Tuesday night to book their place in the 48-team competition in June and July, but it was heartbreaking for Sandro Tonali and Italy, who lost to Bosnia and Herzegovina on penalties.
Elanga and Wissa both started for Sweden and DR Congo respectively, with Elanga opening the scoring for the Swedes in their 3-2 win over Poland.
The United winger hit an accurate left-footed drive into the top corner from the edge of the box to give Graham Potter’s side the lead, with further goals from Arsenal’s Gustaf Lagerbielke and Viktor Gyokeres giving the Baswedes victory despite replies from Nicola Zalewski and Karol Swiderski.
Afterwards, Elanga, who played 70 minutes before being replaced by Tottenham’s Lucas Bergvall, posted a video of the celebration on Instagram, saying: “World Cup? We’ll be there! Yes, sir, I’ll see you in June.”
Wissa’s DR Congo were taken to extra time by Jamaica in their play-off, but prevailed after a late goal from Burnley’s Axel Tuanzebe.
Wissa played the first 90 minutes of what was a warm-up for United head coach Eddie Howe, but was replaced by Brian Cipenga at the start of extra time.
Taking to social media, Wissa gave an emotional statement, which included: “Today we have just realized how difficult things are to achieve without hard work and patience. Breaking the bad wheel, breaking the wheel bigger than us, has been the most important and trying test in our history.
“We will never play the same way again, we will never sing this national anthem the same way again. We are not perfect, but we have been ridiculed, ridiculed, humiliated, but we have faced adversity head on.
“I thank the previous generations, because we are your children, you created us, you fight for better conditions and for us to focus on our football. This victory is also yours.
DR Congo also fielded former Newcastle defender Chancel Mbemba, while former United player Isaac Hayden started for Jamaica.
Sweden will now play in Group F, along with the Netherlands, Japan and Tunisia, while DR Congo is in Group K with Portugal, Uzbekistan and Colombia.
There was heartbreak for United midfielder Sandro Tonali, who was unable to prevent Italy falling on penalties to Bosnia & Herzegovina. The Italians took the lead through Moise Kean’s goal in the first half, but after Alassandro Bastoni was sent off, the home side equalized through Haris Tabakovic, and the game went to kick-off.
Tonali rose to score his effort from 12 yards, but with Pio Esposito and Bryan Cristante absent, the Italians failed to qualify for their third consecutive World Cup.
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