France are heading back to the FIFA World Cup™, with Les Bleus booking their ticket after an emotional victory over Ukraine, while Norway brushed aside Estonia but then saw Italy snatch a last-gasp win away to Moldova.
Portugal could have joined the teams bound for the 2026 jamboree, but suffered defeat at the hands of Republic of Ireland, with Cristiano Ronaldo sent off in the second half.
Elsewhere, England extended their perfect record against Serbia, and Albania secured second spot in Group K, while Hungary and Iceland triumphed away to Armenia and Azerbaijan, respectively.
Group D
Iceland goals: Gudmundsson (20) Ingi Ingason (39)
Iceland leapfrogged Ukraine into second spot with a routine victory over Azerbaijan, who are now eliminated. The visitors hit the front when Isak Bergmann Johannesson played a terrific slide rule pass into the feet of Albert Gudmundsson, who controlled with his right foot and finished with his left. Their lead was doubled soon after, as the evergreen Johann Berg Gudmundsson, who was earning his 100th cap, crossed for defender Sverrir Ingi Ingason to head home.
France goals: Mbappe (55, pen & 83), Olise (76), Ekitike (88)
Kylian Mbappe guided France to the World Cup on an emotional night at the Parc des Princes, as the nation paid tribute on the 10th anniversary of the 2015 terrorist attacks on the city. After determined Ukraine resistance in the face of relentless Les Bleus pressure, Mbappe scored a textbook Panenka following Taras Mykhavko’s challenge on Michael Olise. From there, the floodgates opened with Bayern Munich’s Olise, Mbappe and substitute Hugo Ekitike all finding the net.
Group F
Hungary goal: Varga (33)
Hungary consolidated their position in second place in the Group F table with a narrow victory in Yerevan, with Armenia now out of contention. Marco Rossi’s side scored the only goal of the game when Dominik Szoboszlai clipped a ball into the box from the left flank and Barnabas Varga rose above his marker to glance a header away from Henri Avagyan in the Armenia goal.
Republic of Ireland goals: Parrott (17 & 45)
Troy Parrott was the hero as the Republic of Ireland moved within a point of second-placed Hungary, who they face away next, with victory over Portugal. The AZ striker got his first when he nodded in from close range. He then took Ireland into dreamland as he chased down a long ball, cut inside and fired into the bottom-left corner.
Portugal dominated the ball thereafter, but their task was made even more difficult just after the hour when Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off for an elbow on Dara O’Shea.
Group I
Norway goals: Sorloth (50 & 52), Haaland (56 & 62)
Estonia goal: Saarma (64)
Alexander Sorloth and Erling Haaland bagged braces to power Norway to the cusp of a first World Cup in 28 years. A superb Sander Berge cross facilitated the opener, before Julian Ryerson assisted back-to-back goals and David Moller Wolfe laid on another. Robi Saarma got a consolation toe-poke for Estonia following a glorious nutmeg. The result leaves Italy requiring a miracle to deny Stale Solbakken’s side winning the section.
Italy goals: Mancini (88), Esposito (90+3)
Italy maintained mathematic hope of pocketing the pool’s automatic ticket to North America. After spurning shots galore, late headers from Gianluca Mancini and Francesco Esposito grabbed Gennaro Gattuso’s Azzurri maximum points in Chisinau. Italy will nevertheless need to beat Norway by nine goals in their final game to avoid finishing second and going into the UEFA play-offs, where they lost to Sweden and North Macedonia in the race to reach the last two World Cups.
Group K
Albania goal: Asllani (67)
Albania nailed down their spot in the UEFA play-offs thanks to a narrow victory in Andorra and Serbia’s defeat to England. The first big chance of the night came when Albania captain Berat Djimsiti rattled the crossbar with a header on the brink of half-time. Albania finally broke through when Myrto Uzuni cut the ball back for Kristjan Asllani, who swept home a right-footed effort to secure the precious points.
England goals: Saka (28), Eze (90)
Already-qualified England extended their winning run to a seventh successive victory and are still to concede in the preliminary campaign. Bukayo Saka scored the opening goal in a celebratory atmosphere at Wembley with a clever first-time side-foot volley, with Thomas Tuchel able to reintroduce both Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden as second-half substitutes. Foden combined with another replacement, Eberechi Eze, for a late second. Serbia can no longer finish second, following Albania’s victory over Andorra.
What they said…
“You always have to appreciate the good times, it’s never easy, even though I can understand why people say it’s logical and natural for France to qualify. That was the goal, here at the Parc des Princes, in a rather heavy and tense atmosphere. The team responded very well after a somewhat difficult first half, with a dense defensive block. After that, we let loose and that made the difference. There’s a lot of pride.”
Didier Deschamps, France manager
We are very proud to be here. We tried to be as restrained as possible because it wasn’t the most important thing about the evening. We’re not going to spoil our enjoyment in the dressing room, but here, with the people, we had to use our common-sense and try to remember that the most important thing today was the commemoration.”
Kylian Mbappe, France captain
“It’s good, it’s a great achievement. Overall, I think we deserved to qualify. We didn’t necessarily play the best football, but we got the results our team deserved. The job is done. We’re thinking about what happened ten years ago, so we’re celebrating modestly. We’re happy, it’s a great achievement.”
Hugo Ekitike, France striker, speaking to TF1
How qualifying works
The first round will follow a familiar format, with 12 groups of four or five teams, and the section winners securing World Cup slots. The continent’s four remaining berths will then be settled in a 16-team UEFA play-off competition involving the 12 group runners-up and four best-ranked UEFA Nations League section winners.
