Today's Edition
London (PA Media/dpa)
Portugal shrugged off Cristiano Ronaldo's suspension as Bruno Fernandes and Joao Neves both scored hat-tricks to secure their qualification for the World Cup with a 9-1 win over Armenia on Sunday.
Renato Veiga's header put them on their way before Eduard Spertsyan equalised for Armenia.
Two of Fernandes' goals came from the penalty spot while Goncalo Ramos and Francisco Conceicao were also on target.
Troy Parrott scored a superb hat-trick as the Republic of Ireland snatched a play-off place from Hungary's grasp with a dramatic 3-2 win in Budapest.
Parrott cancelled out Daniel Lukacs' early header from the penalty spot and levelled for a second time after Barnabas Varga's stunning first-half strike.
He then grabbed an unlikely victory in the sixth minute of stoppage time on a day when only three points were enough for Heimir Hallgrimsson's men to keep their dream alive.
Erling Haaland scored twice in two minutes to propel Norway to a 4-1 victory over Italy at the San Siro and the World Cup finals.
Italy, who needed an unlikely nine-goal win to overhaul Norway at the top of Group I, took the lead after only 11 minutes through Pio Esposito.
But Antonio Nusa equalised midway through the second half before Haaland struck twice and Jorgen Strand Larsen added a fourth in stoppage time.
Italy will now go into the play-offs - where they have fallen prior to the previous two World Cups - while Norway have qualified for the first time since 1998.
England completed a perfect qualification campaign in Albania as Harry Kane's late double secured Thomas Tuchel's side a 2-0 win, their eighth victory without conceding.
Albania were already assured of a play-off spot with Serbia a point further back after goals from Aleksandar Katai and Aleksandar Stankovic secured a 2-1 win over Latvia.
Already-qualified France rounded off their successful campaign with a 3-1 win over Azerbaijan in Baku.
