LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - Luxembourg thumped Bosnia 4-1 on Thursday but fell short of a top-two finish in Group J after Slovakia beat Iceland 4-2, leaving both teams in the hunt for a place for Euro 2024 in the play-offs.
The home side took the lead after six minutes when Mathias Olesen's header flew into the top right-hand corner of Nikola Vasilj's goal.
Luxembourg extended the lead 20 minutes later after a penalty taken by Gerson Rodrigues following a foul by Amir Hadziahmetovic on Leandro Barreiro, after a VAR review, that caused the away crowd to throw flares onto the pitch.
The hosts' third came 10 minutes after the break, following an own goal from defender Nihad Mujakic from Dirk Carlson's rebounded cross. A late Renato Gojkovic goal gave the Bosnians some breathing space in added time before Rodrigues scored his second goal two minutes later.
Already-qualified Portugal topped Group J with 25 points after nine matches, while Slovakia is second with 19 points. Luxembourg and Bosnia still have a chance to go through the playoffs.
(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico City; Editing by Julien Pretot)
