The race to Brazil 2014 is hotting up in the European section, with many of the elite nations finding top form.
After a sluggish start, England eventually found their stride in Group H and gave San Marino an expectant thrashing.
The 5-0 scoreline was bettered though by both Germany and Israel on a compelling evening.
Germany batter the Irish
Germany battered the Republic of Ireland in Dublin, putting in a commanding performance and stating a signal of intent in Group C.
Marco Reus of Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich’s Toni Kroos both scored twice in the 6-1 away victory for the Euro 2012 semi-finalists.
A penalty from Mesut Ozil and Miroslav Klose’s regular international strike completed the scoring for Joachim Low’s rampant side.
A stoppage time strike from Andy Keogh was precious consolation for the Irish as they suffered their heaviest defeat in any competitive qualifier in 41 years.
Stoke striker Jonathan Walters summed up the dissatisfaction in the dressing room afterwards.
He said: “We weren’t good enough by a country mile. We were extremely poor. We’ve got to go again on Tuesday and show no sorrow.”
Also in the group, Zlatan Ibrahimovic spared Sweden’s blushes as the PSG talisman hit the winner in a fortunate 2-1 away victory at the Faroe Islands.
The minnows took an unexpected lead and might give Giovanni Trapattoni more headaches when Ireland come calling on Tuesday.
Wales bounce back
In Group A, Gareth Bale showed his brilliance with two goals as Wales bounced back from a goal down to defeat Scotland in Cardiff 2-1.
The Scots had taken the lead in the first competitive match between the two, since the World Cup qualifier in September 1985, when Scotland boss Jock Stein collapsed and died shortly after the final whistle.
James Morrison had given under pressure manager Craig Levein some respite with a goal midway through the first half and Steven Fletcher had a header wrongly chalked off before Bale’s starring quality shone through.
A frustrated Levein said afterwards: “It leaves us needing to win the game on Tuesday, that’s for sure. It is a difficult task, but it’s a different game altogether on Tuesday.
They will travel to a Belgium side that is full of confidence. That was after they took control of the group, thanks to a highly impressive 3-0 away win in Serbia.
The goals came from three Premier League players in Everton’s Kevin Mirallas, Christian Benteke of Aston Villa and Kevin de Bruyne whose parent club is Chelsea.
The defeat was Serbia’s first home World Cup qualifying loss since April 2001. Croatia’s 2-1 away victory in Macedonia takes them into second spot.
The other side to better England’s result were Israel in Group F, who thumped Luxembourg 6-0.
These teams are in Northern Ireland’s group and although Luxembourg are counted to be among the worse European sides, they did push Portugal all the way last month and drew in Belfast.
Capello maintains winning record
This victory for Israel suggests they could give Portugal a real run for the runners-up spot in the group.
That is because the Portuguese went down 1-0 in Moscow to Fabio Capello’s Russia.
The 2018 World Cup hosts maintained their 100 per cent winning record, courtesy of Alexander Kerzhakov’s goal.
Flamboyant Barcelona winger Pedro scored a hat-trick and club colleague Jordi Alba also found the target in Spain’s resounding 4-0 away success in Belarus.
The win takes them top of Group I ahead of Tuesday’s exciting battle with France, who were on friendly duty on Friday evening.
Euro 2012 finalists Italy took charge of Group B, although they had to work hard to overcome Armenia 3-1.
Second half headers from Daniele De Rossi and Pablo Osvaldo saw the Azzuri past their plucky opponents.
Armenia weren’t the only minnow to perform above expectations in this set of qualifiers.
Andorra, the second worst side in Europe according to the FIFA world rankings only lost 3-0 to Holland in Eindhoven. Former Spurs midfielder Rafael van der Vaart was amongst the goalscorers.
The Dutch lead Romania in Group D, who secured an excellent 1-0 away victory in Istanbul against Turkey.
Lastly in England’s group, Moldova picked up a fantastic 0-0 draw with Ukraine. It means the Three Lions have a useful five point cushion over Ukraine, although they have played a game more than the Eastern Europeans.
2014 FIFA WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS - RESULTS FROM FRIDAY, 12 OCTOBER 2012
GROUP A
FYR Macedonia 1-2 Croatia
Serbia 0-3 Belgium
Wales 2-1 Scotland
GROUP B
Armenia 1-3 Italy
Bulgaria 1-1 Denmark
Czech Republic 3-1 Malta
GROUP C
Faroe Islands 1-2 Sweden
Kazakhstan 0-0 Austria
Republic of Ireland 1-6 Germany
GROUP D
Estonia 0-1 Hungary
Holland 3-0 Andorra
Turkey 0-1 Romania
GROUP E
Iceland 2-1 Albania
Slovenia 2-0 Cyprus
Switzerland 1-1 Norway
GROUP F
Luxembourg 0-6 Israel
Russia 1-0 Portugal
GROUP G
Greece 0-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina
Liechtenstein 0-2 Lithuania
Slovakia 2-1 Latvia
GROUP H
England 5-0 San Marino
Moldova 0-0 Ukraine
GROUP I
Belarus 0-4 Spain
Finland 1-1 Georgia
By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
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