Two busy autumn days

Another two international days saw plenty of movement around the world. Germany slaughtered Ireland 6-1 in Dublin and seemed to be on their way to another huge win when they stormed into a 4 goal lead against Sweden in Berlin, but the Swedes hit back in the last half hour to earn an incredible 4-4 draw while the Irish salvaged some pride with a 4-1 win away to the Faroe Islands. Romania returned from Turkey with a 1-0 victory only to be hammered 4-1 by the Dutch while the Turks were beaten 3-1 in Hungary. Belgium stunned their Serbian hosts with 3 goals and drew 0-0 away to the Czech Republic while the Serbs lost by a single goal in Macedonia. Cyprus were beaten 3-1 on their own turf by Norway who had drawn 1-1 in Switzerland. The Swiss went on to win 2-0 in Iceland who had returned from a 2-1 success in Albania. Israel hit Luxembourg for 6 on their travels while Lithuania scored a double in  Liechtenstein, and Ukraine returned from a goalless draw in Moldova only to suffer 1-0 at the hand of Montenegro. Wales scored late to defeat Scotland 2-1 in Cardiff and Northern Ireland picked up a 1-1 draw in Portugal while Georgia lost 2-0 in Belarus and Spain were held to a 1-1 draw at home to France who had just been beaten by Japan in a friendly match at Saint Denis. In South America, champions Uruguay continued to plummet in the rankings as they were thumped 3-0 in Argentina and humiliated 4-1 in Bolivia while Ecuador enjoyed a 3-1 home win over Chile. In North America Canada were hammered 8-1 in Honduras and in Oceania New Caledonia conquered the Solomon Islands 6-2 while in Asia there were 1-0 wins for Iran at home to South Korea and Uzbekistan away to Qatar.

There were shocks in the Caribbeans in the past month as Barbados lost 1-0 at home to the Dominican Republic who had earlier drawn 2-2 with Aruba, and French Guiana enjoyed an astonishing 3-0 triumph at St Kitts & Nevis.  

In the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers Niger celebrated a 2-0 home win over Guinea while Ethiopia did the same against Sudan, and DR Congo lost 2-1 at Equatorial Guinea. Tunisia were held to a goalless draw at home to Sierra Leone while Mozambique were soundly beaten 4-0 in Morocco and Liberia were demolished 6-1 in Nigeria. Botswana whipped Mali 4-1 while Central African Republic were brushed aside 3-1 in Burkina Faso and Angola put 2 past their visitors from Zimbabwe. Ivory Coast won 2-0 in Senegal while Zambia lost 1-0 in Uganda but went through on penalties. A narrow win for Cameroon against Cape Verde was not enough to prevent the former African giants crashing out of the competition as the minnow made history by qualifying for the finals for the first time ever.

In a tournament in Myanmar, East Timor enjoyed 5-1 and 3-1 wins over Cambodia and Laos respectively while in another friendly tournament in the Philippines Guam put 3 past Macao without reply.

The road to Rio

The campaign for the 2014 World Cup got underway in Europe with the rest of the world already deeply involved. Wales began with a 2-0 home defeat to Belgium and suffered 6-1 in Serbia 4 days later while England got off to a good start with 5 goals in Moldova but were then held to a 1-1 draw by Ukraine at Wembley and the Hungarians who started with a 5 goal win in Andorra where taken apart 4-1 by the Dutch in Budapest. Iceland hosted and beat Norway 2-0 before losing to a single goal in Cyprus while there were 2-0 wins for Romania in Estonia and Switzerland in Slovenia. Israel fell 4-0 at home to Russia and Liechtenstein were battered 8-1 by Bosnia & Herzegovina in Vaduz while Luxembourg picked up a 1-1 draw in Northern Ireland as did Macedonia in Scotland. In South America, Colombia shot up the rankings after demolishing visiting South American champions Uruguay 4-0 and returning from Chile with a 3-1 victory 4 days later while Venezuela also enjoyed success on their travels with a 2-0 win in Paraguay. In Asia Iran were upset 1-0 in Lebanon and Jordan celebrated a 2-1 victory over the visiting Aussies while in Oceania Tahiti fell 2-0 at the Solomon Islands before being thumped 4-0 at home to New Caledonia. In the North American section USA were defeated 2-1 in Jamaica and Panama suffered a 1-0 loss in Canada while Mexico were victorious 2-0 in Costa Rica and Guyana enjoyed a 2-2 draw in El Salvador.

In the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers Cape Verde celebrated a 2-0 victory over their illustrious visitors from Cameroon while Morocco fell by the same result in Mozambique and Togo drew 1-1 in Gabon. A single goal in Morocco gave Algeria a win over Libya while Angola lost 3-1 in Zimbabwe. In the Caribbean qualifiers the British Virgin Islands travelled to Martinique where they were demolished 16-0 by their hosts and buried 7-0 by Montserrat while Martinique went on to share 4 goals with Suriname. Puerto Rico overcame Bermuda 2-1 in Haiti before thrashing Saint Martin 9-0 at the same venue. Among friendly matches Tajikistan beat Qatar 2-1 in Germany and Ghana lost 2-0 in Liberia while the Czechs were stunned 1-0 at home to Finland. The Philippines had a mixed bag, winning 2-0 in Singapore before losing 2-1 in Laos.