After Denmark and Germany, defending champions France and Belgium have also qualified for the World Cup in Qatar. The Netherlands surprisingly gave away the first match point.
The Equipe Tricolore overran Kazakhstan 8-0 (3-0) in Paris on Saturday evening and cannot be ousted from first place in Group D on the eighth and final matchday. Finland (11 points) has two points more after beating Bosnia-Herzegovina on Tuesday (8.45 p.m.) in a long-distance duel with Ukraine (9) for second place, but receives group winners France.
In Group E, too, the winner and thus the fourth European World Cup starter has been determined ahead of time: Belgium defeated Estonia 3-1 (1-0) and is through with 19 points. Thanks to the 5: 1 (2: 0) against Belarus, Wales (14) have supposedly better cards on Tuesday evening in a long-distance duel with the Czechs (11) for a playoff spot, which the ten runners-up book.
The Netherlands did not take advantage of the Norwegians’ mistake in the 0-0 win against Latvia: Even a 2-0 lead was not enough for Oranje in Montenegro – two late conceded goals made it 2-2. With 20 points, the Elftal remains the front runner, but will have to win against pursuers Norway on Tuesday.
With their runaway win against Gibraltar and Norway’s draw against Latvia, the Turkish national team with coach Stefan Kuntz also kept their chance of second place in the playoff. The hosts finished off the outsider in Istanbul 6-0 (3-0). Turkey and Norway go into the group finals with equal points (both 18).