Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa booked their place at the World Cup with victories in their play-off finals
Anthony Elanga of Sweden celebrates victory over Poland. Inset: Yoane Wissa's DR Congo beat Jamaica in extra-time
Anthony Elanga of Sweden celebrates victory over Poland. Inset: Yoane Wissa's DR Congo beat Jamaica
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Newcastle United stars Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa are celebrating World Cup qualification success this morning after their respective countries made it to this summer's finals in Canada, Mexico and the USA.
Sweden and DR Congo won their play-off matches on Tuesday night to book their place among the 48 teams competing in June and July, but it was agony for Sandro Tonali and Italy, who lost their tie with Bosnia & Herzegovina on penalties.
Both Elanga and Wissa started for Sweden and DR Congo respectively, with Elanga opening the scoring for the Swedes in their 3-2 win over Poland.
The United winger struck a perfect left-foot shot into the top corner from the edge of the box to give Graham Potter's side the lead, with further goals from Gustaf Lagerbielke andf Arsenal's Viktor Gyokeres giving the Swedes the win despite replies from Nicola Zalewski and Karol Swiderski.
Afterwards, Elanga, who played 70 minutes before being replaced by Tottenham's Lucas Bergvall, posted a celebratory video on Instagram, saying: "World Cup? We'll be there! Yes sir, see you in June."
Wissa's DR Congo were taken to extra-time by Jamaica in their play-off, but won through after a late goal from Burnley's Axel Tuanzebe.
Wissa played the opening 90 minutes in what was a fitness boost for United head coach Eddie Howe, but was replaced by Brian Cipenga at the start of extra-time.
Taking the social media, Wissa issued an emotional statement, which included: "Today we have just realized how difficult things are to achieve without hard work and perseverance. Breaking a negative spiral, breaking a wheel much bigger than ourselves, has been the most important and trying test in our history.
"We will never play the same way again, we will never sing this national anthem the same way again. We are not perfect, but we have been mocked, ridiculed, humiliated, but we have always faced adversity head-on.
"Thank you to the previous generations, because we are your children, you shaped us, you fought for better conditions and for us to focus on our football. This victory is also yours. This victory is global."
DR Congo also featured former Newcastle defender Chancel Mbemba, while ex-United midfielder Isaac Hayden started for Jamaica.
Sweden will now play in Group F, alongside the Netherlands, Japan and Tunisia, while DR Congo feature in Group K with Portugal, Uzbekistan and Colombia.
There was heartbreak for United midielder Sandro Tonali, who couldn't prevent Italy from crashing out on penalties to Bosnia & Herzegovina. The Italians led through Moise Kean's first-half goal, but after Alassandro Bastoni was sent off, the home side equalised through Haris Tabakovic, the game went to spot-kicks.
Tonali stepped up to score his effort from 12 yards, but with Pio Esposito and Bryan Cristante missing, the Italians failed to qualify for their third successive World Cup finals.
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