Turkey 0-0 Iceland: Hosts qualify for Euro 2020 after tense draw
- Published
Merih Demiral (centre) cleared a late Hordur Bjorgvin Magnusson header off the line
Turkey held on to draw with Iceland and clinch a place at Euro 2020, a result which also means France have qualified.
Iceland had to win in Istanbul to keep alive their chances of automatic qualification after their surprise run to the 2016 quarter-finals.
They frustrated Turkey for much of the game before Hordur Bjorgvin Magnusson almost scored in a tense finish.
But a point was enough for Turkey to progress with a game to spare, while Iceland can qualify via the play-offs.
Turkey went closest in the first half as captain Burak Yilmaz headed over from a Zeki Celik cross, before Yilmaz's centre clipped the Iceland crossbar early in the second half.
But the hosts were restricted to long-range efforts, with Cengiz Under's deflected strike after an hour the game's first shot on target.
Ozan Tufan twice tried his luck from outside the box, the first effort going narrowly over and the second held by goalkeeper Hannes Por Halldorsson.
But it was Iceland who threatened late on when Gylfi Sigurdsson's late corner found defender Magnusson and his back-post header was cleared off the line by Merih Demiral, with Jon Dadi Bodvarsson being denied from the rebound.
France later came from behind to beat Moldova and go two points clear at the top of Group H, with Turkey four points clear of third-placed Iceland.