Spain beat France. English Draw Keeps Qualification in the Balance.

 

Results and Analysis (Most Recent First):

Montenegro 1 : 1 England

England took an early lead through Wayne Rooney in the sixth minute. 14 minutes from time. Dejan Damjanović leveled for Montenegro after some six yard ping-pong.  The Montenegrans remain the surprise group leaders with 14 points to England’s 12.

The two sides clash again at Wembley in what may decide who qualifies and who heads to the play-offs.

England will remain favourites but this poor performance will allow their excitable tabloid press more chance for cynicism.

France 0 : 1 Spain

The World Champions recovered from their hiccup against Finland with a pulsating win in Paris. There were plenty of chances and plenty of great passing football to enjoy from two great sides.

Pedro scored the decisive goal on the hour mark before France were reduced to ten men after a second booking for Juventus Paul Pogba.

Spain take over the lead of the group with France second. However, the latter will be a team to avoid in the play-offs.

N Ireland 0 : 2 Israel
Belgium 1 : 0 Macedonia
Wales 1 : 2 Croatia
Malta 0 : 2 Italy

Two late Croat goals stunned Wales and ended their World Cup hopes in Cardiff.

A Gareth Bale penalty put Wales ahead but goals from Dejan Lovren and Eduardo Da Silva turned the Group into a two horse race.

In the same group, Belgium beat Macedonia and tie the Croats on 16 points, well ahead of the pack.

Chelsea’s Eden Hazard scored just after the hour for a rising Belgian side.

Israel are real contenders after a 0-2 win in Belfast. Lior Refaelov and Eden Ben Basat scored in the last 13 minutes against Northern Ireland. They are locked with Portugal on 11 points one behind Russia who have two games in hand. Israel still have to travel to Russia but this group ends with Portugal v Israel on the last day. Second place may come down to that.

Italy won as expected in Malta with Mario Balotelli on the mark twice. Italy eased away from Bulgaria and Denmark who drew earlier.

Germany 4 : 1 Kazakhstan
Rep of Ireland 2 : 2 Austria
Poland 5 : 0 San Marino

Germany are running away with Group 3 after taking a three goal lead in the first half through Marc Reus, Mario Götze and Ilkay Gündogan. The far more Germanically named Heinrich Schmidtgal scored Kazakhstan’s consolation. Reus added a late fourth.

Austria scored in stoppage time to rescue a vital draw.  Martin Harnik opened for the Austrians but Stoke City’s Jonathan Walters replied before half time. A come from behind win in Dublin would have taken the Irish into second place, two ahead of Sweden who didn’t play. David Alaba broke Irish hearts though with a late equaliser. Sweden, Austria and Ireland are all on eight points. Leaders Germany have twice that.

Poland’s win over minnows San Marino was expected but will not revitalise Poland’s World Cup campaign. With Ukraine, they end the day on eight points from five but will need a Montenegro meltdown and that late equaliser for the Montenegrans did not help.
Netherlands 4 : 0 Romania
Serbia 2 : 0 Scotland

The Dutch now hold a seven point lead at the top of Group 4 after an easy win over Romania, coupled with Hungary’s draw with Turkey. An opener from Rafa van der Vaart and two from Robin van Persie, the second a penalty, paved the way for a 3-0 win. Lens added a fourth to complete the spectacle.

Scotland’s campaign is over after two goals from Filip Đuričić gave Serbia the win. The Serbs still trail Croatia by six and are unlikely to catch them or Belgium beat Macedonia.

Denmark 1 : 1 Bulgaria

This was one of the games that really mattered with huge repercussions for Denmark who started the day at 4-5 and Bulgaria whose games/points tally was 5-9. The Danes needed the win to close the gap on the second place visitors with Italy looking a good bet to top the Group unless Bulgaria could win.

Disaster struck for the home side when Stanislav Manolev gave Bulgaria the lead in 51′ before Denmark were awarded a penalty.

Liverpool’s Daniel Agger converted it twelve minites later to the relief of the home crowd at Copenhagen’s Parkenstadion.

The result was a chance missed for the Danes but Bulgaria still have to visit Italy, so second place is still wide open.

Denmark host Italy but that apart, have a very easy run in. Italy are now cruising to first place.

Ukraine  2 : 1 Moldova

In Odessa Andrei Yarmolenko and Evgen Khacheridi scored vital goals in the second have to keep Ukraine in with a small chance of catching Montenegro or England for second place in the group. Molodovan Alex Suvarov gave them a late scare.

Ukraine now have eight points from five games. England and Montenegro had 11 and 13 respectively from five before they kicked off today. They drew and second place looks distant for Ukraine.

Turkey 1 : 1 Hungary

This was the last chance saloon for the Turks in Group 4 who started the day in fourth, trailing opponents Hungary and Romania in second and third by four points. With no goals in the first hour, time was ticking on Turkey’s World Cup hopes. However Galatasaray’s Buruk Yilmaz scored a vital opener in the 63rd for Turkey.

More drama followed immediately though and the Turks were unable to preserve their lead. Ferencvaros Daniel Böde ensured the lead lasted all of eight minutes. Turkey still trail second place Hungary by four but the Magyars have bottom sides Estonia and Andorra to play at home. Points there will put second place out of Turkey’s reach.

Meanwhile, the Dutch thrashed Romania in the same group. Romania and Hungary will slug out second place here.

Estonia 2-0 Andorra
Azerbaijan 0-2 Portugal

It took until the 64th minute before Zenit St Petersburg’s Bruno Alves relieved Portugal’s angst in Baku. Hugo Almeida added a second but the Portuguese win was triggered by a red card to Azerbaijan’s Rauf Aliyev ten minutes after half time.

The Portuguese move to 11 points three ahead of Israel in the battle for second place. Israel later beat Northern Ireland in Belfast. Russia have 12 points and do not play today.

Chicago Fire’s Joel Lindpere scored the second for his country as Estonia gained only their second win over still pointless Andorra whose goal difference in six losses is now -17. They anchor Group 4 which is led by the Dutch.

Armenia 0-3 Czech Rep

The Czech Republic started the day with a 0-3 away win in Armenia. Italy, Bulgaria and Denmark lie ahead of them but this keeps the Czech’s remote hopes alive and the sides above them Bulgarian and Denmark meet later. This could be one of the groups where four teams remain in contention until late.

In African Qualification, Bob Bradley’s Egypt struggled to a 2-1 win at home to Zimbabwe at the Borg El Arab Stadium. They needed an 88th minute penalty by Mohammad Trika.

Preview Article: France/Spain and Mexico/USA. What More Could a Football Fan Want From a Day?

All European Results

Armenia 0-3 Czech Rep
Estonia 2-0 Andorra
Azerbaijan 0-2 Portugal
Turkey 1 : 1 Hungary
Ukraine  2 : 1 Moldova
Denmark 1 : 1 Bulgaria
Serbia 2 : 0 Scotland
Netherlands 4 : 0 Romania
Germany 4 : 1 Kazakhstan
Rep of Ireland 2 : 2 Austria
Poland 5 : 0 San Marino
Belgium 1 : 0 Macedonia
Malta 0 : 2 Italy
Wales 1 : 2 Croatia
France 0 : 1 Spain
Montenegro 1 : 1 England