Cristiano Ronaldo nets hat-trick as Portugal thrash Luxembourg – World Cup Qualifiers round-up

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick as Portugal thrashed Luxembourg 5-0 in World Cup Qualifying Group A.

Ronaldo transformed two penalties contained in the opening 13 minutes earlier than finishing his 58th profession treble for membership and nation with a late header.

Bruno Fernandes and Palhinha additionally discovered the goal as Portugal moved a degree behind group leaders Serbia, who they host within the last spherical of matches.

Portugal’s victory units up a straight shootout with Serbia for first place after they beat Azerbaijan 3-1 in Belgrade.

Group I: Crowd bother in Albania and Wembley

Albania‘s World Cup qualifier towards Poland was briefly suspended after dwelling supporters threw objects at opposition gamers celebrating the opening objective in Tirana.

Karol Swiderski gave the Poles a 1-0 lead with 13 minutes of the Group I encounter remaining earlier than he and his team-mates have been pelted with plastic drinks bottles from the stands. Gamers left the pitch for greater than 20 minutes following the incident on the Air Albania Stadium.

Poland held on to their slender benefit when play resumed to climb above their hosts and transfer three factors behind group leaders England within the race to succeed in subsequent yr’s match in Qatar.

Earlier than the incident which prompted the prolonged delay, Poland midfielder Piotr Zielinski was additionally focused with an object from the gang.

Albania, who’re bidding to succeed in a World Cup finals for the primary time, journey to Wembley to face Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions subsequent month, previous to finishing their marketing campaign at dwelling to Andorra.

A forgettable night time on and off the pitch for the house facet leaves them 5 factors adrift of England and two behind Poland, with the play-offs showing to be their solely lifelike hope of qualifying.

Beneath-par England have been held to a irritating 1-1 draw by Hungary amid crowd bother at Wembley on Tuesday, that means a nervy penultimate qualifier with Albania awaits in November if they’re to safe computerized passage to the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

Hungary had been overwhelmed 4-0 by England final month however took the lead when Luke Shaw’s excessive boot allowed Roland Sallai to attain from the penalty spot (24) and a back-post end from John Stones (37) was required to drag the hosts degree.

Raheem Sterling headed towards a publish on the stroke of half-time as England started to seek out their stride however regardless of dominating the second interval and seeing good probabilities handed up by Sterling and Harry Kane – who was surprisingly substituted with quarter-hour to play – there was no method by way of for Gareth Southgate’s facet.

Earlier, Hungary supporters – who had been punished for racist abuse of England gamers when the perimeters met in September – booed the house facet taking a knee, held up a banner towards the gesture for equality, fought with police within the stands, and launched a flare after they scored. One arrest was made for a racially aggravated public order offence following feedback made in the direction of a steward.

Hungary had seen their very own possibilities of reaching Qatar diminish since dropping to England, with Albania beating them dwelling and away, however their draw at Wembley means Group I leaders England realistically must beat Albania at Wembley on November 12 earlier than their last group sport towards minnows San Marino.

Andorra received the battle of the underside two in Group I with a 3-0 victory in San Marino – their first away win in 16 makes an attempt and their biggest-ever worldwide victory.

Group F: Scotland set up Moldova showdown

Lyndon Dykes rescued Scotland with a dramatic late winner towards the Faroe Islands to place Steve Clarke’s facet inside 90 minutes of a World Cup qualifying play-off spot.

The Scots travelled to Torshavn on a excessive after a terrific 3-2 win over Israel at Hampden Park on Saturday, however the guests discovered all of it a little bit of a wrestle.

Nevertheless, however with 4 minutes of regular time remaining a cross from substitute Nathan Patterson got here off Dykes and ended up within the web and after what appeared like an eternity whereas Slovenian referee Matej Jug checked for handball, the objective was awarded for a vital 1-0 win.

Scotland want three factors from their last two Group F fixtures subsequent month, the primary of which is a visit to part makeweights Moldova earlier than the ultimate sport at dwelling to runaway group winners Denmark, who sealed prime spot to grow to be the third facet to succeed in Qatar 2022 with a 1-0 victory over Austria, sealed by Joakim Maehle’s second-half strike.

Elsewhere, Israel bounced again from Saturday’s last-gasp defeat to Scotland as Eran Zahavi and Mu’nas Dabbur struck to safe a 2-1 win over 10-man Moldova.

Group C: Northern Ireland hopes ended in Bulgaria

A nasty week for Northern Eire acquired worse on Tuesday night time as two crisp Todor Nedelev strikes noticed Bulgaria come from behind to win 2-1 in Sofia.

Conor Washington’s sixth worldwide objective had given Ian Baraclough’s facet a half-time lead as they appeared to have responded effectively to Saturday’s controversial 2-0 defeat in Switzerland which successfully ended World Cup qualifying hopes, however it all went mistaken after the break.

Bulgarian boss Yasen Petrov shuffled his pack at half-time and acquired the rewards, though Nedelev took the credit score as he beat Bailey Peacock-Farrell in superb vogue twice in 11 minutes to show issues round simply after the hour.

It made for extra frustration for Baraclough, who had lastly constructed some optimistic momentum final month however has seen issues unravel rapidly within the final week, the Qatar dream now definitively lifeless.

Elsewhere, Switzerland ended Bulgaria’s qualification hopes with a 4-0 victory in Lithuania.

Breel Embolo’s double and strikes from Renato Steffen and Mario Gavranovic secured the emphatic victory which moved the Swiss degree on 14 factors with Group C leaders Italy and out of the attain of Bulgaria, who sit in third on eight factors.

It means European champions Italy go into subsequent month’s assembly with Switzerland in Rome forward solely on objective distinction as the 2 sides battle it out for prime spot.

Group B: Sweden-Spain battle goes to the wire

Sweden climbed above Spain into first place in Group B with a 2-0 win over Greece, due to second-half strikes from Emil Forsberg and Alexander Isak.

Sweden’s win units up an exhilarating finale within the group, with the Swedes main Spain by two factors with two video games left for every, one among which is a gathering between the international locations in Spain on Matchday 10.

Group D: Pukki units Finnish report

Teemu Pukki turned Finland‘s report scorer by netting each objectives in a 2-0 win at Kazakhstan.

The Norwich striker’s double took him onto 33 worldwide objectives, another than Finland legend Jari Litmanen.

The victory leaves Finland third in Group D, a degree behind Ukraine, who drew 1-1 with Bosnia-Herzegovina, and 4 behind leaders France.