Word Cup draws closer

 

Two rounds of matches in November completed the list of nations for the 2026 World Cup draw, including teams involved in the March pay-off matches.

Curaçao crushed their Bermudan hosts 7-0 before holding Jamaica to a goalless draw to become the smallest country ever to qualify for the World Cup finals and Haiti celebrated a 1-0 win over Costa Rica in Curaçao while Honduras suffered a debilitating 2-0 defeat in Nicaragua and Cecilio Waterman scored twice for Panama who enjoyed a 3-2 victory in Guatemala on their way to the World Cup.

Troy Parrott netted a double in Dublin in a 2-0 win over 10-man Portugal to keep the Republic of Ireland’s hopes alive before scoring a hat-trick in Budapest to break Hungarian hearts and send the Irish to the play-offs with the 3-2 winner coming right at the death. Denmark could only draw 2-2 at home to Belarus and with only a draw needed in Scotland, the Scots struck twice in stoppage time to qualify for the World Cup with a 4-2 win that sent Denmark to the play-offs while Italy took the lead but were humiliated 4-1 at home to group winners and third in the Ziaian rankings Norway for whom Erling Haaland scored twice in a minute to send the Azuri to the play-off matches where Slovakia will also be playing as they were thrashed 6-0 in Germany with Leroy Sane netting a double. With both teams already out of the running, Finland finished their campaign with an embarrassing 1-0 defeat at home to Malta while Kosovo scored twice at 10-man Slovenia and the 10 men of Romania lost 3-1 away to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Wales thumped their visitors from North Macedonia 7-1 with a Harry Wilson hat-trick to reach the play-offs and Ukraine also reached the play-off matches with 2 late goals against Iceland in Poland while Spain secured direct qualification despite drawing 2-2 at home to Turkey. Needing a win to top the group, Bosnia and Herzegovina were denied by a 1-1 Austrian leveller that sent their hosts through while in group E Bulgaria’s dismal campaign ended with them finishing bottom despite a 2-1 home win over Georgia.

In an Asian Cup qualifier, Singapore came from behind to win 2-1 in Hong Kong.  

One step to go

 

With a double fixture list of qualifiers in November remaining, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Cape Verde, South Africa, Qatar, England, Saudi Arabia, Ivory Coast and Senegal all booked their places in the 2026 World Cup.

Nigeria enjoyed a 4-0 home win with a hat-trick from Victor Osimhen against Benin to overtake them on goal difference and reach the second round while South Africa who had only managed a goalless draw at home to Zimbabwe 4 days earlier finished above them and qualified directly with a 3-0 win over Rwanda. The Zimbabweans ended their campaign with a loss to Lesotho in stoppage time in a game played in South Africa. Cameroon who were held to a goalless draw by their visitors from Angola reached round 2 behind Cape Verde while in other matches Zambia lost 1-0 in Tanzania, Kenya suffered the same outcome in Burundi and Guinea were 2-1 winners in Mozambique with Abdoul Karim Traore netting a double. Namibia were 3-1 losers in Liberia and Central African Republic scored in added-on time to win 3-2 in Chad while Sao Tome and Principe stunned Malawi 1-0 in Tunisia.

In Europe Albert Gudmundsson and Ruslan Malinovskyi scored twice for Iceland and Ukraine respectively, but it was Ukraine who prevailed 5-3 with 2 late goals in Reykjavik while Montenegro were humiliated 4-0 with a brace from Hanus Sorensen in the Faroe Islands who celebrated a 2-1 win against the Czechs a few days later and Sweden were shamed 1-0 at home to Kosovo. Albania triumphed 1-0 in Serbia while Austria were upset 1-0 in Romania and Northern Ireland put 2 past their visitors from Slovakia. North Macedonia returned home from Belgium with a goalless draw only to draw 1-1 with Kazakhstan while Belgium came from an early goal down in Wales to win 4-2 with 2 Kevin de Bruyne penalty conversion. Kenan Yildiz scored twice as Turkey battered Bulgaria 6-1 in Sofia while a goal for Hungary in stoppage time cancelled out a double from Christiano Ronaldo to make it 2-2 in Portugal and put the home crowd’s celebration on ice.

In CONCACAF Haiti won 3-0 in Nicaragua but lost 3-0 in Honduras while Jamaica were shocked 2-0 in Curacao and Suriname drew 1-1 in Panama who drew level in stoppage time.

In the Asian Cup qualifiers Turkmenistan suffered a shock 1-0 loss in Sri Lanka while Singapore enjoyed a 2-1 win in India and Bangladesh earned a 1-1 draw in Hong Kong. Teerasak Poeiphimai scored a hat-trick as Thailand smashed their Taiwanese hosts 6-1 and in a friendly match New Caledonia won 2-0 in Gibraltar.