Euro 2024 qualifiers: Swift Steffen hat-trick helps Swiss to 5-0 victory against Belarus

Euro 2024 qualifiers: Captain Granit Xhaka and substitute Zeki Amdouni added the other goals in the Group I game behind closed doors in Serbia.

Published : Mar 26, 2023 01:39 IST , NOVI SAD - 2 MINS READ

Switzerland’s Renato Steffen celebrates scoring their second goal.
Switzerland’s Renato Steffen celebrates scoring their second goal. | Photo Credit: REUTERS
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Switzerland’s Renato Steffen celebrates scoring their second goal. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Switzerland’s Renato Steffen scored a hat-trick inside the opening half-hour to lead his team to a 5-0 win over Belarus at the start of their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign on Saturday.

Captain Granit Xhaka and substitute Zeki Amdouni added the other goals in the Group I game behind closed doors in Serbia.

Steffen’s goals all came in a similar fashion, set up down the left-hand side of the Swiss attack, as he proved an effective poacher to complete his treble in 29 minutes.

The 31-year-old’s first goal came after four minutes with a tap-in at the back post, the second was a left-foot finish as goalkeeper Andrei Kudravets parried the ball to him in the 17th and the third was an easy touch from Ricardo Rodriguez’s cross.

Xhaka made it 4-0 just past the hour with a left-footed shot from outside the penalty area and Amdouni, on only his second appearance, sprinted onto Xhaka’s long pass and ahead of the defence to finish in style for the fifth three minutes later.

Belarus striker Vladimir Khvaschinski had hit the woodwork in the first minute at the Karadjordje Stadium, but that was as much as the hosts offered as they were thoroughly outplayed.

It was Switzerland’s first game since its 6-1 loss to Portugal in the last 16 at the World Cup in Qatar in December.

The Swiss next host Israel in Geneva on Tuesday when Belarus visit Romania in their second match of the Euro qualifiers.

European soccer’s governing body UEFA has banned Belarusian teams from playing at home due to the country’s role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a ‘special operation’.

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