Continental qualifiers continue

The last days of March saw European and African teams battle to gain ground in their respective continents. Belgium Strengthened their position and moved up the rankings with a vital 2-0 win in Austria while Georgia stunned the visiting Croats 1-0 and a goal in Slovenia gave Italy all 3 points. Hungary were outclassed in Budapest 4-0 by the Dutch, giving their 5-3 defeat in Amsterdam 4 days later an air of respect.  

In African qualifiers Sierra Leone lost 3-1 in Niger while Zambia triumphed 2-0 in Mozambique, and Kenya earned a 2-1 home win against Angola. Recent World Cup hosts South Africa once again enjoyed home advantage winning 1-0 against African champions Egypt.

In an Asian Challenge Cup qualifier Bangladesh picked up a surprising 2-0 win away to Myanmar while in friendly matches Estonia embarrassed Uruguay 2-0 in Tallinn and Germany lost 2-1 at home to Australia.

Awake after the break

After the Asian Cup in January, the eyes of the world turned to the west in February as teams awoke from their winter break to engage in friendly internationals. World Cup failures France and Italy started the year well as the French celebrated a 1-0 win over Brazil in Paris and the Italians earned a 1-1 draw in Germany. In Portugal Guinea Bissau shocked Gambia 3-1 and Poland beat Norway 1-0 while a single goal was enough to give Cape Verde a win over Burkina Faso. Luxembourg stunned the visiting Slovaks 2-1 and Serbia returned from Israel with a 2-0 victory while Scotland sailed to a 3-0 win over Northern Ireland in Dublin and Iran continued to move up in the rankings with a 1-0 win over Russia in Dubai.