Four-times World Cup winners Italy clinched a place at the 2014 finals in Brazil after coming from a goal down to beat the Czech Republic 2-1 and win Group B yesterday.
The Netherlands also qualified with Robin van Persie scoring the goals in a 2-0 away win over Andorra in Group D.
In Turin, a Giorgio Chiellini header and Mario Balotelli’s penalty early in the second half cancelled out Libor Kozak’s 19th minute opener for the visitors and moved the Italians on to 20 points, seven ahead of second-placed Bulgaria with two games to play.
Balotelli’s 54th minute winner capped a typically eventful night for the striker, who missed three easy first-half chances and was lucky to only be booked for a foul on Tomas Sivok.
Michal Bilek’s spirited Czech Republic side were unlucky not to get at least a point against Cesare Prandelli’s unconvincing Italy as their night finished on a sour note when Daniel Kolar was sent off for a silly foul on Balotelli in the last minute.
The result means the Czechs remain on nine points and are staring elimination in the face. They have slipped into fourth place behind Denmark who won 1-0 in Armenia and moved on to 12 points to stand one point behind Bulgaria who beat Malta 2-1.
The Czechs must win their last two games away to Malta and Bulgaria next month to have any chance of a play-off place.
Van Persie’s stinging shot from outside the area in the 50th minute opened the scoring for the Dutch and four minutes later he scored with a tap-in after a defensive blunder.
The win in Andorra-la-Vella against a defensive home side put the Netherlands on 22 points and beyond the reach of their group rivals after Romania earlier lost 2-0 at home to Turkey.
It is the 10th time the Netherlands have qualified for the World Cup finals. They were runners-up in 1974, 1978 and at the last tournament in South Africa in 2010.
France secured at least a play-off spot when they came from behind to beat Belarus 4-2 away.
Franck Ribery cancelled out Egor Filipenko and Timofei Kalachev’s goals with two second-half strikes before substitute Samir Nasri and Paul Pogba found the back of the net.
France are level with Group I leaders Spain on 14 points but the world champions are likely to finish top as they have a game in hand and a superior goal difference.
Third placed Finland are out of the running as they have nine points with one game left.
Germany battled to a 3-0 away win over a rugged Faroe Islands side to maintain their predictable progress towards the finals.
Per Mertesacker gave them a 1-0 half-time lead but the clear Group C leaders then had to wait until the last 20 minutes for further goals when Mesut Ozil converted a penalty won by Thomas Mueller, who scored the third goal himself.
Germany’s seventh win in eight games left them on 22 points, five clear of Sweden, who beat Kazakhstan earlier in the evening.
The Germans next host Ireland before finishing off away to Sweden and need two points from the two games to guarantee top spot.
England stay top
England edged closer to the finals after a scrappy 0-0 draw in Ukraine left the Group H leaders in pole position to secure a ticket to Brazil with two matches to play.
A point from an untidy match which featured few goalscoring chances after a hectic opening 10 minutes moved England on to 16 points, one ahead of Ukraine and Montenegro with Poland two points further back.
Unmarked Ukraine defender Artem Fedetskiy wasted his side’s best opening after 73 minutes when from six metres out he headed straight at keeper Joe Hart from a corner.
Frank Lampard then almost capped his 100th England appearance with the winner when his stooping header crept past a post in stoppage time.
England welcome Montenegro to Wembley on October 11, the same night Ukraine host Poland.
In the concluding fixtures four days later, England host the Poles with Ukraine away at San Marino and Montenegro playing Moldova.
Group A
Macedonia 1
Kostovski 84;
Scotland 2
Anya 60; Maloney 89;
Wales 0
Serbia 3
Djordjevic 8; Kolarov 39; Markovic 5;
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Belgium | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 2 | 22 |
| Croatia | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 17 |
| Serbia | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 10 | 11 |
| Scotland | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 8 |
| Macedonia | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 7 |
| Wales | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 19 | 6 |
Group B
Armenia 0
Denmark 1
Agger 73 pen;
Red card: Haroyan (A) 73.
Italy 2
Chiellini 51; Balotelli 54 pen;
Czech Rep. 1
Kozak 19;
Red card: Kolar (CR) 89.
Malta 1
Herrera 77;
Bulgaria 2
Dimitrov 9; Gargorov 59;
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Italy | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 5 | 20 |
| Bulgaria | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 6 | 13 |
| Denmark | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 10 | 12 |
| Czech Rep. | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 9 |
| Armenia | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 9 |
| Malta | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 18 | 3 |
Group C
Austria 1
Alaba 84;
Ireland 0
Faroe Islands 0
Germany 3
Mertesacker 23; Ozil 74; Muller 83;
Kazakhstan 0
Sweden 1
Ibrahimovic 1;
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Germany | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 7 | 22 |
| Sweden | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 14 | 8 | 17 |
| Austria | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 8 | 14 |
| Ireland | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 13 | 11 |
| Kazakhstan | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 17 | 4 |
| Faroe Islands | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 25 | 0 |
Group D
Andorra 0
Netherlands 2
Van Persie 50, 54;
Hungary 5
Klavan 11 og; Hajnal 21; Bode 41; Nemeth 69; Dzsudzsak 85;
Estonia 1
Kink 48;
Romania 0
Turkey 2
Yilmaz 22; Erdinc 90;
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Netherlands | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 4 | 22 |
| Hungary | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 12 | 14 |
| Turkey | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 13 |
| Romania | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 12 | 13 |
| Estonia | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 16 | 7 |
| Andorra | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
Group E
Cyprus 0
Slovenia 2
Novakovic 12; Ilicic 80;
Iceland 2
Bjarnason 13; Sigthorsson 47;
Albania 1
Rama 9;
Norway 0
Switzerland 2
Schar 12, 51;
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Switzerland | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 5 | 18 |
| Iceland | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 14 | 13 |
| Slovenia | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 10 | 12 |
| Norway | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 11 |
| Albania | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Cyprus | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 13 | 4 |
Group F
Russia 3
Berezutski 50; Kokorin 52; Glushakov 74;
Israel 1
Zahavi 90;
Luxembourg 3
Joachim 45; Bensi 78; Janisch 87;
N. Ireland 2
Paterson 14; McAuley 82;
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Russia | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 4 | 18 |
| Portugal | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 8 | 17 |
| Israel | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 12 | 12 |
| N. Ireland | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 14 | 6 |
| Luxembourg | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 19 | 6 |
| Azerbaijan | 8 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 5 |
Group G
Greece 1
Salpigidis 58;
Latvia 0
Lithuania 2
Matulevicius18; Kijanskas 40;
Liechtenstein 0
Slovakia 1
Hamsik 42;
Bosnia 2
Bicakcic 70; Hajrovic 78;
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Bosnia | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 5 | 19 |
| Greece | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 19 |
| Slovakia | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 12 |
| Lithuania | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 8 |
| Latvia | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 16 | 7 |
| Liechtenstein | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 19 | 2 |
Group H
San Marino 1
Della Valle 22;
Poland 5
Zielinski 10, 66Blaszczykowski 23; Sobota 34; Mierzejewski 75;
Ukraine 0
England 0
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| England | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 25 | 3 | 16 |
| Ukraine | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 19 | 4 | 15 |
| Montenegro | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 8 | 15 |
| Poland | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 18 | 9 | 13 |
| Moldova | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 5 |
| San Marino | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 43 | 0 |
Group I
Belarus 2
Filipenko 22; Kalachev 57;
France 4
Ribery 47 pen, 64; Nasri 70; Pogba 73;
Georgia 0
Finland 1
Eremenko 74 pen.;
Red card: Kankava (G) 75.
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | |
| Spain | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 14 |
| France | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 6 | 14 |
| Finland | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 9 |
| Georgia | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 5 |
| Belarus | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 14 | 4 |