Africa
Yaoundé, grp 1: Cameroon 2-1 Gabon (Gabon were outplayed for much of the match, and the late consolation goal won't help much, though they did have a free kick streaking close to the goal in injury time. Cameroon firmly in the box seat.)
Code:
Group 1
Cameroon 4 2 1 1 4-2 7
-------------------------------------------
Gabon 4 2 0 2 6-5 6
Togo 4 1 2 1 2-4 5
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Morocco 4 0 3 1 2-3 3
Oct 10: Gabon vs Morocco, Cameroon vs Togo
Nov 14: Morocco vs Cameroon, Togo vs Gabon
Asia play-off
Riyadh: Saudi Arabia 2-2 (agg 2-2) Bahrain (Saudi Arabia scored first, but the visitors' Jaycee Okwunwanne put the visitors ahead on away goals just before half time Okwunwanne, better known as Jesse John, spent the four-year qualification period in Bahrain and has now moved to Belgium. The Saudis pushed on in the second half and got the winning goal in injury time, or so they thought...straight from the kick-off, four minutes over the ninety, Bahrain reached their target through Ismaeel Latif and now face New Zealand for a spot in South Africa, which the New Zealanders are apparently happy with.)
Europe:
Uherské Hradiště (yes, it's really called that), grp 3: Czech Republic 7-0 San Marino (and the Czechs missed a pen...)
Yerevan, grp 5: Armenia 2-1 Belgium (couple of sweet strikes gives the hosts a very rare win despite an injury time consolation. Belgian football really is a joke at present. Too reliant on Ivorian imports.)
Toftir, grp 7: Faroe Islands 2-1 Lithuania (the hosts took the lead twice, and only had it ripped away once, relegating the Baltic nation to basketball status once again.)
Valletta, grp 1: Malta 0-1 Sweden (a rather embarrassing match for the visitors, who had to rely on an own goal. Left back Behrang Safari seemed promising.)
Minsk, grp 6: Belarus 0-0 Ukraine (an enterprising start led to little, as both teams were disappointed with a draw. Belarus are eliminated, while Ukraine need to beat England at home to have a realistic chance.)
Vaduz, grp 4: Liechtenstein 1-1 Finland (18412-year-old Jari Litmanen scored a penalty half an hour into the second half, only for the Finns to let in an equaliser. Despite playing the last 15 minutes against ten men, Finland are out with a 1-1 draw in the Alps.)
Ramat Gan, grp 2: Israel 7-0 Luxembourg (too late to come up with a big win, will help if Israel somehow do manage to get second place though.)
Bucuresti, grp 7: Romania 1-1 Austria (a late equaliser keeps helping France, as no team are capable of putting pressure on them. Romania have two points from their four home games...and seven points away. Good statistic to carry to Belgrade next month, I suppose. They are, nevertheless, eliminated, as they can not get ten points and pass Norway on the runners-up list.)
Zenica, grp 5: Bosnia 1-1 Turkey (an early Emre goal off a rebound gave the Turks the advantage in the chase for second place, but a free kick from Sejad Salihović pegged things back midway through the first half. Bosnia held on for one point, which is more than enough considering the table situation - they just need a win in Estonia for play-off..)
Andorra la Vella, grp 6: Andorra 1-3 Kazakhstan (fight for fifth. Next.)
Podgorica, grp 8: Montenegro 1-1 Cyprus (earth-shattering match for fourth place and ranking points in the next qualifying...)
Tirana, grp 1: Albania 1-1 Denmark (despite spending almost an hour, Denmark, unlike many other teams in the group, breached the walls of Tirana through Bendtner - only to concede early through a decent Albanian move in the first half. Nevertheless, their home match against out-of-form Hungary should be enough to take them into first.)
Budapest, grp 1: Hungary 0-1 Portugal (all through qualifying, Portugal have left it late, but Pepe converted a free kick with a sharp header after just ten minutes to take them past Hungary in the table.)
Chisinau, grp 2: Moldova 1-1 Greece (An injury time equaliser sent the Greeks back on level pegging with Latvia, after they led the group fifteen minutes earlier.
Riga, grp 2: Latvia 2-2 Switzerland (Latvia held out for almost one half in their attempt to repeat their miracles in Israel, but somehow, Alexander Frei was fit and able to score the goal just before half time, but Latvia scored twice in the second half, only for a late twist to appear through Eren Derdiyok.)
Oslo, grp 9: Norway 2-1 FYR Macedonia (a failing Slav keeper was in a very benevolent mood, gifting the Norwegians two early goals through chaos in the box and a free kick. APOEL-based Boban Grnčarov poked in a late consolation ahead of his Champions League ventures which start next week.)
Glasgow, grp 9: Scotland 0-1 Netherlands (not your usual nil-nil match - posts shattered and a number of incorrect offside decisions denying the sides goals. £7m-man Eljero Elia eventually put in a bid for Netherlands to complete the qualifying undefeated. Scotland euthanised.)
Maribor, grp 3: Slovenia 3-0 Poland (club nomad Zlatko Dedič scored the first goal as Poland's hopes continue to plummet; the Slovenes are second in the group when taking out San Marinese results and should, on that basis, finish second. Köln's Novakovič settled the matter before half time.)
Belfast, grp 3: Northern Ireland 0-2 Slovakia (Norn Iron are rarely dejected by early goals, but with Stanislav Šesták converting a tap-in and Slovenia taking the lead, it seemed like the neighbouring republics would take the two top spots. Northern Ireland now need a win in the Czech Republic to challenge, given that Slovenia have a home gimme against San Marino left. The Slovaks could still be knocked into the play-offs despite a five-point lead, having Slovenia and Poland left on their fixture list.)
Caerdydd, grp 4: Wales 1-3 Russia (another match with an expected first-half goal turned around early in the second. However, Ignashevich and Pavlyuchenko prevented the Russians from dropping more points to make sure Russia appear in the play-off.)
Hannover, grp 4: Germany 4-0 Azerbaijan (Ballack calmed the hosts in the meeting with the Berti Vogts-coached side as he netted a penalty in the first fifteen minutes. Germany then found their way through the Azerbaijani defence, which has been decent so far, in the city where the earth shattered some twenty-odd years ago.)
Torino, grp 8: Italy 2-0 Bulgaria (Fabio Grosso making his first useful contribution since 2006. Iaquinta added another and the efficient Lippi machine marches on.)
London, grp 6: England 5-1 Croatia (can't say changing coaches hasn't worked. Penalties also useful, and Gerrard scored a goal which will no doubt be claimed to be minnow-bashing. Despite the demolition, Croatia should make the play-off with a win in Kazakhstan.)
Beograd, grp 7: Serbia 1-1 France (another early penalty. This one taken by the rather unfancied Wolves recruit Nenad Milijaš. However, Thierry Henry's word may be given slightly more weight given he's responsible for the equaliser - though Anelka produced the goal. With a home win against the Faroes the only thing required for play-off, France should manage this, and there is even a minuscule hope of direct qualification if a lot of results go their way.)
Merida, grp 5: Spain 3-0 Estonia (too much to hope for an upset here. Big fat Q after Spain.)
Code:
8 games unless stated
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
Denmark 15-4 18 Switzerland15-8 17 Slovakia 21-8 19
------------------- ------------------- -------------------
Sweden 9-3 15 Greece 13-7 14 Slovenia 13-4 14
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Portugal 10-5 13 Latvia 13-8 14 NornIron(9)13-9 14
Hungary 9-5 13 Israel 17-9 12 Czech Rep 15-6 12
Albania (9) 5-9 7 E Luxembourg 3-20 5 E Poland 19-11 11
Malta (9) 0-22 1 E Moldova 3-12 3 E San Mar(9) 1-44 0 E
10/10: DK-S, PO-HUN. 10/10: GR-LV, IS-MO, 10/10: SK-SN, CZ-PL
10/14: DK-HU, PO-ML, LU-SW. 10/14: GR-LU, 10/14: PL-SK, SM-SN,
SWE-ALB. LAT-MDA, SWI-ISR. CZ-NI.
Group 4 Group 5 Group 6
Germany 24-4 22 Spain 21-2 24 Q England 31-5 24 Q
------------------- ------------------- -------------------
Russia 17-4 21 Bos i Herc 21-7 16 Croatia (9)17-12 17
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Finland 11-12 14 E Turkey 11-8 12 Ukraine 14-6 15
Wales 6-9 9 E Belgium 10-18 7 E Belarus 15-11 10 E
Liech'stein 2-19 2 E Estonia 7-23 5 E Kazakhstan 11-22 6 E
Azerbaijan 1-13 1 E Armenia 5-14 4 E Andorra (9) 2-32 0 E
10/10: FI-W, LI-AZ, 10/10: AR-S, BE-TU 10/10: BLR-KAZ, UK-E
RU-G. 10/14: AZ-RU, ES-BO. 10/14: BO-S, 10/14: AND-UKR,
LIE-WAL, GER-FIN. EST-BEL, TUR-ARM. ENG-BLR, KAZ-CRO.
Group 7 Group 8 Group 9
Serbia 16-6 19 Italy 12-3 20 Netherlands17-2 24 Q
------------------- ------------------- -------------------
France 10-8 15 Rep Ireland10-6 16 Norway 9-7 10
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Austria 11-11 11 Bulgaria 10-6 11 Scotland 5-10 10 E
Lithuania 7-8 9 Cyprus 8-12 6 E FYR Macedon 5-11 7 E
Romania 9-12 9 E Montenegro 7-13 5 E Iceland 6-12 5 E
Faroe Is 4-12 4 E Georgia 4-11 3 E
10/10: F-FI, SR-R, 10/10: IR-IT, CY-BU,
A-LI. 10/14: F-A, MN-GE. 10/14: BU-GE,
LI-SR, R-FI. IR-MN, IT-CY.
At least in play-offs: Slovakia, Germany, Russia.
Can only make play-offs: Czech Republic, Northern Ireland, Poland, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Turkey, Croatia, Ukraine, Austria, Lithuania, Bulgaria.
Code:
Runners-up table
Russia 7 6 0 1 16-4 16
France 7 3 3 1 9-8 12
Slovenia 7 3 2 2 8-4 11
Croatia 7 3 2 2 11-11 11
Bosnia and Hercegovina6 3 1 2 15-6 10
Greece 6 3 1 2 9-6 10
Norway 8 2 4 2 9-7 10
Republic of Ireland 6 2 4 0 6-4 10
-------------------------------------------
Sweden 6 2 3 1 4-3 9
Norway have set the other teams a kind benchmark: realistically, every group should have two teams with more than 16 points (which, when taking away six against the bottom side, leaves 10 to finish ahead of Norway), with Portugal set to take 3 points against Malta,Slovenia against San Marino, Greece over Luxembourg, France over the Faroes and the Irish Republic to take one point at home against Montenegro. At least they didn't make it embarrassing for UEFA by having Portugal as worst runners-up.
South America
La Paz: Bolivia 1-3 Ecuador (Ecuador continue their good form with an early goal and then stonewalling against the group's muppets, who have a 14-33 goal difference in the 14 matches excluding the Argentina miracle. Ecuador should end on 26 points unless they're gifted something agsinst Chile in the final match. That'd set Argentina the task of getting four points from three games.)
Montevideo: Uruguay vs Colombia
Asunción: Paraguay vs Argentina
Puerto la Cruz: Venezuela vs Peru
Salvador de Bahia: Brazil vs Chile
Code:
Brazil 15 8 6 1 28-7 30
Chile 15 8 3 4 25-16 27
Paraguay 15 8 3 4 21-13 27
Ecuador 16 6 5 5 21-23 23
-------------------------------------------
Argentina 15 6 4 5 20-18 22
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Colombia 15 5 5 5 9-11 20
Uruguay 15 4 6 5 23-17 18
Venezuela 15 5 3 7 19-26 18
Bolivia 16 3 3 10 20-34 12 E
Peru 15 2 4 9 8-29 10 E
Remaining matches
Oct 10: ARG-PER, BOL-BRA, COL-CHI, ECU-URU, VEN-PAR
Oct 14: BRA-VEN, CHI-ECU, PAR-COL, PER-BOL, URU-ARG
CONCACAF:
Port of Spain: Trinidad and Tobago vs United States
San Salvador: El Salvador vs Costa Rica
Ciudad de México: Mexico vs Honduras
Code:
Honduras 7 4 1 2 14-7 13
USA 7 4 1 2 13-9 13
Mexico 7 4 0 3 11-9 12
-------------------------------------------
Costa Rica 7 4 0 3 9-12 12
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
El Salvador 7 1 2 4 7-10 5
Trinidad and Tobago 7 1 2 4 8-15 5
Remaining matches:
Sep 9: ES vs CR, ME vs HO, TT vs US
Oct 10: CR vs TT, HO vs US, ME vs ES
Oct 14: ES vs HO, TT vs ME, US vs CR
