Another hat-trick for Cristiano Ronaldo, another win – and qualification for the World Cup – for Denmark.
And yet more crowd trouble in a game between England and Hungary.
There was a sense of familiarity to the World Cup qualifiers in Europe on Tuesday, not least in Faro where Ronaldo extended his men’s record tally of international goals to 115 by scoring the 58th hat-trick of his career for club and country in Portugal’s 5-0 win over Luxembourg.
Denmark became the second European nation to qualify for next year’s tournament in Qatar, after Germany on Monday, by securing an eighth straight win in the group by beating Austria 1-0.
The decisive win – sealed by Joakim Maehle’s second-half goal – came at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen where star playmaker Christian Eriksen collapsed in June during a European Championship game. It is still unclear if Eriksen can resume his career to play at the World Cup in 13 months’ time.
England are likely to be there but were made to wait before booking their place after being held to a 1-1 draw by Hungary at Wembley Stadium. Events on the field were overshadowed by clashes between police officers and Hungary supporters at the start of the match, sparked – according to police – by a visiting fan making “racially aggravated” comments towards a steward.
Disorder by Hungary fans – including racism – during the first group match between the teams, in Budapest last month, led to the Hungarians having to play a game in an empty stadium.
Sweden climbed above Spain into first place in Group B with a 2-0 win over Greece, and Switzerland moved level on points with Italy in Group C with a 4-0 victory over Lithuania.
In Group A, Portugal are a point behind Serbia, who beat Azerbaijan 3-1, but have a game in hand.
Only the top team from each group qualifies automatically for the World Cup. The second-place finishers go into the playoffs.
Ronaldo’s haul
A pair of penalties, in the eighth and 13th minutes, set Ronaldo on his way to a record 10th international hat-trick for Portugal that was completed in the 87th minute.
The 36-year-old Manchester United striker was playing his 182nd international game.
Bruno Fernandes and Joao Palhinha also scored for Portugal in their fourth straight win in qualifying, which left a straight shoot-out with Serbia for first place.
Serbia’s last game is in Portugal, which will first play their game in hand away to Ireland.
Danes through
Denmark are continuing their good form from the European Championship, where the team surged to the semifinals despite losing Eriksen in distressing circumstances in the opening game.
The clean sheet against Austria meant the Danes have yet to concede in Group F, while they are the only team with a 100 percent record in qualifying.
Maehle scored with a sweeping shot that was teed up by Thomas Delaney’s direct run, taking Denmark to 27 goals – second only to the Netherlands.
Denmark hold an unassailable seven-point lead over Scotland, who are still on track to finish runners-up after a 1-0 win at the Faeroe Islands.
Scotland are four points clear of third-place Israel, who beat visiting Moldova 2-1.
Crowd trouble
Crowd trouble marred both of the games in Group I – at the start of the England-Hungary game and near the end of Albania-Poland.
The unrest at Wembley unfolded after officers entered the away stand “to arrest a spectator for a racially aggravated comment toward a steward”, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
Police were seen wielding batons to hold back the visiting fans but the rest of the game passed off largely peacefully.
The English Football Association said it was reporting the incident to FIFA, which has previously put Hungary on probation with the threat of another game being played without fans if there was further disorder at games.
In Tirana, the match between Albania and Poland was temporarily halted when Polish players walked off the field after Albanian fans threw water bottles at them. The incident came after Poland’s players celebrated scoring a 77th-minute goal that ultimately earned a 1-0 win.
A Polish official on the bench called on the players to immediately leave the field. Before the game resumed – 20 minutes later – a stadium announcement warned fans that Albania could have to forfeit if more objects were thrown.
England are three points clear of Poland, who are a further two points ahead of third-place Albania.
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