Another round of European World Cup qualifiers saw several teams close to securing qualification.
Scotland were looking to maintain their unbeaten record against Belarus, while the likes of Denmark, Greece, Netherlands and Croatia were in contention.
With the tournament now only a few months away, it was important for the teams to get points and avoid unnecessary mistakes.
Read on to see how the best events across the continent unfolded on Sunday evening.
Dutch delight
The Netherlands took another step towards qualifying for the 2026 World Cup with a 4-0 win over Finland in Amsterdam. Ronald Koeman’s side stunned their visitors with a ruthless first-half performance, and Cody Jacobo’s late goal capped a dominant evening for the Orange.
It only took eight minutes for Donyell Malen to open the scoring after Memphis Depay’s smart pass. Depay then turned in the assist again nine minutes later, delivering a perfect free-kick for Virgil van Dijk to head home and double the lead.
Depay made it 3-0 from a penalty kick in the 38th minute after Robert Tinio handled Malen’s ball inside the area.
After the start of the second half, Reynders and Dumfries came close to scoring, while Weghorst had the goal disallowed for offside. The Netherlands achieved victory in the 84th minute when Xavi Simons passed the ball to Jacobo, who fired a thunderous shot into the top corner.
Denmark dominates
Denmark continued its strong performance in the qualifiers with a 3-1 victory over Greece in Copenhagen.
The hosts got off to a bright start when Rasmus Hoglund fired a left-footed shot into the bottom corner after 21 minutes.
Joachim Andersen doubled Denmark’s lead shortly before the end of the first half by heading in from close range after a Mikkel Damsgaard corner kick caused chaos in the Greek penalty area.
Damsgaard then turned goalscorer himself in the 41st minute, slotting home a clever pass from Viktor Froholt to make it 3-0 before half-time and effectively put the contest to bed.
Greece’s performance improved after the break and they got one goal through Christos Tzoulis, who headed Fotis Ioannidis’ pass into the top corner from the middle of the area.
No problems for Croatia
Croatia continued its bid to qualify for the 2026 World Cup by defeating Gibraltar 3-0 in Rijeka.
The home side took control early when Tony Froke opened the scoring in the 30th minute, rising high to head home Marko Pasalic’s cross into the top right corner.
Despite their possession, Croatia were unable to increase their lead before half-time and wasted a chance to double their lead early in the second half when Gibraltar goalkeeper Jaylan Hankins saved a Lovo Majer penalty.
Their pressure finally paid off in the 78th minute, as Luka Sučić calmly scored a left-footed shot from close range to make it 2-0.
Moments later, Martin Ehrlich added a third, curling a corner kick from Madjer into the top corner to seal a comfortable win.
Full results
Scotland 2-1 Belarus
Denmark 3-1 Greece
Netherlands 4-0 Finland
Lithuania 0-2 Poland
San Marino 0-4 Cyprus
Romania 0-0 Austria
Faroe Islands 2-1 Czech Republic
Croatia 3-0 Gibraltar
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