BRATISLAVA, March 26 (Reuters) - Kosovo twice came from behind to beat Slovakia 4-3 away in a thrilling playoff semi-final on Thursday and ensure a decisive home clash against Turkey on Tuesday for a World Cup place
The Balkan nation have only been playing international football since 2014 and have never qualified for a major tournament, but are now one game away from a place in the finals in Canada, Mexico and the U.S starting in June.
They will host Turkey at home in Pristina on Tuesday for a place in Group D at the World Cup where Australia, Paraguay and the United States await.
Slovakia took a sixth minute lead as fullback Martin Valjent headed home from a corner but Kosovo equalised with their first effort on goal via a smart finish on the turn by Veldin Hodza.
Slovakia, whose only previous World Cup appearance was in 2010, were back ahead on the stroke of halftime as Lukas Haraslin’s free kick from out on the left wing evaded everyone to creep into the goal.
It took all of 60 seconds into the second half for Kosovo to pull level again with Fisnik Asllani before Florent Muslija’s free kick crept in at the near post to see them go ahead 3-2 on the hour mark.
Kreshnik Hajrizi crashed home Kosovo’s fourth from point blank range, snapping up a loose ball in the 72nd minute and they kept the hosts at bay until four minutes intostoppage time when David Strelec handed Slovakia a brief glimmer of hope before the final whistle confirmed their elimination.
Turkey won the other European playoff Path C semi-final earlier on Thursday with a 1-0 home win over Romania in Istanbul.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
