England and Scotland remain on course for a strong World Cup qualifying campaign, whereas Republic of Ireland suffered an embarrassing defeat in the latest round of UEFA qualifying for 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Azerbaijan, Greece, Northern Ireland, Bosnia & Herzegovina plus Wales all sat out this round due to Groups A-E having five teams.
Group A
Serbia remain top of Group A after second half goals from Aleksandr Mitrovic and Filip Kostic completed their comeback in a 2-2 home draw against Portugal, after Diogo Jota’s brace had put the visitors ahead in Belgrade.
Republic of Ireland sit bottom after falling to a shock first-ever defeat to Luxembourg, as Gerson Rodrigues fired in a dramatic 85th minute winner from long distance in Dublin.
Group B
Sweden remain top after goals from Hans Augustinsson, Alexander Isak and Sebastian Larsson guided the Swedes to a comfortable away win over Kosovo in Pristina.
Daniel Carvajal struck a 92nd minute winner as Spain came from behind to win in Georgia, after Ferran Torres cancelled out Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s opener before Tornike Shengelia was red carded for the hosts in the 94th minute for a foul on Pedri.
Group C
Goals from Andrea Belotti and Manuel Locatelli sent Italy top as the Italians comfortably defeated Bulgaria away in Sofia.
Xherdan Shaqiri’s second minute strike ensured Switzerland dispatched Lithuania in Gallen as they drop to second on goal difference.
Group D
France climbed to top spot in this group as Ousmane Dembele’s opener plus Serhiy Malyi’s 44th minute own goal secured a hard fought away win in Kazakhstan.
Teemu Pukki’s 89th penalty sent Finland second as the Nordic country fought back for a 1-1 draw in Ukraine, after Aluisio Moraes had put the hosts ahead nine minutes earlier.
Group E
Belgium top the group from Czech Republic after Romelu Lukaku’s 60th minute strike rescued the Belgian Red Devils a draw in Prague, after Lukas Provod had put the hosts ahead just ten minutes beforehand.
Vitali Lisakovich netted a brace as Belarus twice came from behind to eventually defeat Estonia 4-2 in Minsk.
Group F
Kasper Dolberg and Mikkel Damsgaard both netted braces as Denmark ran riot in a 8-0 home win over Moldova, putting the Danes firmly top of Group F.
Comeback goals in 14 minutes from Aleksandar Dragovic, Christoph Baumgartner and Sasa Kalajdzic gave Austria a comfortable 3-1 home win over Faroe Islands, after Sonni Nattestad gave the visitors a 19th minute lead in Vienna.
Ryan Fraser’s 56th minute strike secured Scotland sit third after cancelling out Dor Peretz’s 30-yard rifled opener for Israel in Tel Aviv.
Group G
Ozan Tufan’s brace plus a 28th minute header from Leicester’s Caglar Soyuncu saw Turkey stay top of Group G as they thrashed Norway in Malaga, Spain.
Montenegro remain second on goal difference after thrashing Gibraltar 4-1 in Podgorica.
Goals from Steven Berghuis and Luuk De Jong saw Netherlands go third after cruising to a routine win over Latvia in Amsterdam.
Group H
Artyom Dzyuba’s brace saw Russia defeat Slovenia in Sochi in a top of Group H clash to cling onto top spot, despite Josip Ilicic pulling an eventual consolatory goal back for the visitors as all three goals came in a ten minute spell towards the end of the first half.
Croatia recovered from Wednesday’s shock defeat as Mario Pasalic produced a 40th minute winner to edge out Cyprus in a closely fought contest to put the 2018 runners-up into third.
Slovakia recovered from a shock two goal disadvantage at half time as early second half goals from David Strelec and Milan Skriniar secured a 2-2 home draw against Malta.
Group I
Harry Kane produced a goal then assist as England cruised to a comfortable 2-0 away victory in Albania to stay top in Group I.
Robert Lewandowski’s double plus a 88th minute strike from Karol Swiderski ensured Poland thrashed Andorra in Warsaw, putting the Poles up to second.
Hungary went third after comfortably dispatching San Marino 3-0 in Serravalle, of which two goals came from the penalty spot scored by Adam Szalai and Nemanja Nikolic either side of Roland Sallai’s 71st minute strike.
Group J
Serge Gnarby’s 16th minute winner clinched Germany a narrow win in Romania to keep them top of Group J.
Armenia continued their bright start to the group as Tigran Barseghyan and Khoren Bayramyan struck in the second half to seal victory over Iceland.
Aleksandar Trajkovski scored twice as North Macedonia thrashed Liechtenstein to send the Red Lynxes third.
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