After a 2-2 draw with Bulgaria in their last European Championship qualifying match on Sunday, Serbia confirmed their place at Euro 2024.
Additionally, Hungary defeated Montenegro 3-1, with midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai scoring two goals to lead the way.
For Serbia to get to the tournament in Germany the next year, they needed a draw or Montenegro to lose against Hungary.
In the 17th minute, center defender Milos Veljkovic gave Serbia the lead, and in the 59th, Georgi Rusev, a replacement, tied the score for Bulgaria.
Kiril Despodov gave the visitors the lead after ten minutes, but Srdjan Babic tied the score eight minutes remaining to guarantee Serbia’s place in the European 2024 tournament as the seventeenth team to qualify.
In order for Montenegro to have any chance of joining Germany, they had to defeat Serbia in addition to defeating the Hungarians, who had qualified with remarkable ease.
After 36 minutes, Slobodan Rubezic gave Montenegro the lead. However, Dominik Szoboszlai of Hungary equalized the score with two goals in three minutes in the second half, and Zsolt Nagy completed the victory in extra time.
Hungary scored eighteen points to win Group G. Montenegro finished third with 11 points, while Serbia was second with 14.
The Serbs place second in Group G, one point behind Hungary, who eliminated Montenegro’s chances of qualifying with a 3-1 victory in Budapest.
Hungary’s victory against Bulgaria on Thursday guaranteed them a spot. Violence erupted throughout the match as local supporters and police battled in Sofia’s streets over the national soccer union’s administration.
From each of the ten groups, only the top two competitors go on. Three more slots will be decided in a playoff based on Nations League results. Germany, the host, is automatically qualified.
