The final round of European World Cup qualifiers before the return of domestic football took place tonight, with another host of teams set to secure their place in next summer’s tournament.
England were playing Latvia, knowing that victory would give them safe passage across the Atlantic, while Spain, Portugal and Italy were also involved.
Cristiano Ronaldo and company were facing Hungary with a chance of qualifying for the main tournament, the Italians were hosting Israel, and La Roja faced Bulgaria at home.
Read on to see how the best events have developed across the continent.
Portugal falls short
Portugal was denied early qualification for the 2026 World Cup after conceding a dramatic late equalizer with Hungary 2-2 in Lisbon.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s brace in the first half seemed to have secured victory for Roberto Martinez’s team, who created a number of chances and twice hit the woodwork through Ruben Dias and Bruno Fernandes.
Hungary, who took an early lead through an Attila Szálai header, continued to threaten on the counter-attack, with Dominik Szoboszlai and Roland Szálai leading their attacks.
Their persistence was finally rewarded in stoppage time when substitute Daniel Lukacs crossed the right flank and sent a low cross which Szoboszlai headed home to stun the hosts.
The result means Portugal remains at the top of Group F, five points ahead of Hungary, but it must wait to secure its place in next summer’s tournament.
Spain is heading towards victory
Spain cruised to a dominant 4-0 win over Bulgaria in Valladolid to maintain their perfect start to 2026 World Cup qualifying.
Mikel Merino was the star of the night, scoring twice with powerful headers in both halves.
The Arsenal midfielder opened the scoring in the first half after meeting Robin Le Normand’s header, before doubling Spain’s lead with another timely run into the box to turn in Alejandro Grimaldo’s cross into the net.
Spain’s third goal came midway through the second half when Alex Garcia’s low pass was turned into his own net by defender Atanas Chernev.
The hosts completed the rout in stoppage time, with Merino tripped inside the box by Georgiev and Mikel Oyarzabal calmly dispatching the resulting penalty into the bottom right corner.
Italy offers no surprises
Italy secured its place in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers with a comfortable 3-0 win over Israel in Udine.
The first half did not provide much entertainment until the final moments, when Matteo Retegui won a penalty kick and scored after being fouled by Baltaxa inside the penalty area.
The striker confidently sent the penalty into the top corner to give Gennaro Gattuso’s side a deserved lead heading into the break.
Retegui struck again in the second half, holding on to substitute Turel before curling a stunning shot into the corner from outside the penalty area.
As the match entered stoppage time, defender Gianluca Mancini finished off the performance with a header from a corner kick taken by Federico Demarco to make the score 3-0.
The result leaves Italy behind group leaders Norway by three points with two matches remaining, although the Norwegians boast a superior goal difference.
Gattuso’s side then travel to Moldova knowing that although direct qualification may be difficult, their place in the qualifiers is now assured.
Complete World Cup qualifying results
Spain 4-0 Bulgaria
Türkiye 4-1 Georgia
Republic of Ireland 1-0 Armenia
Portugal 2-2 Hungary
Estonia 1-1 Moldova
Italy 3-0 Israel
Andorra 1-3 Serbia
Latvia 0-5 England
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