GROUP A
An error by France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris handed Sweden’s Ola Toivonen a last-gasp goal to secure a 2-1 win in their World Cup Group A qualifier at the Friends Arena on Friday.
Lloris’s poor clearance fell straight to the midfielder who lobbed the Tottenham goalkeeper from inside his own half to steal the points and delight the home fans and their celebrating players.
France had led through a superb left-foot strike by Arsenal forward Olivier Giroud after 37 minutes but that was cancelled out by a precise low finish from Sweden’s Jimmy Durmaz in the 43rd.
The win put Sweden top of the group, level on 13 points with France and three ahead of the Netherlands, who beat visiting Luxembourg 5-0 on Friday.
The Swedes, who had lost 2-1 when the sides met in Paris in November, spent the opening half-hour frustrating the visitors, getting stuck in to challenges and slowing the tempo, but that all changed when Giroud scored and the game burst into life.
France forward Antoine Griezmann twice headed straight at Robin Olsen in the second half but went closer with a free kick from distance that the goalkeeper scrambled to parry as the beaten Euro 2016 finalists upped the tempo.
Minutes later Lloris was tipping a free kick from Emil Forsberg over the bar and Sweden’s Jakob Johansson also had a thumping shot from distance that flew just wide of the target.
France brought on teenage striker Kylian Mbappe late on but it was Swedish substitute Sebastian Larsson who pressured Lloris into making the bad clearance that gave Toivonen the chance to win the game for the home side, and he took it gleefully.
Wesley Sneijder marked his birthday and a record 131st appearance for the Netherlands with a goal as the Dutch beat Luxembourg 5-0 in a World Cup qualifier in Rotterdam to stay in contention for a trip to Russia next year.
Captain Arjen Robben, Georginio Wijnaldum, Quincy Promes and Vincent Janssen added the other goals but it was the 33-year-old Sneijder, breaking Edwin van der Sar’s record number of caps, who was the star in Dick Advocaat’s first game back as coach.
The win left the Dutch in third place in Group A, three points behind co-leaders Sweden and France.
Belarus beat Bulgaria 2-1 in the group's other game in Borisov
GROUP B
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice, taking his tally in the World Cup qualifiers to 11, to help them claim a somewhat flattering but important 3-0 win away to Latvia in Riga.
Portugal's fifth successive win in Group B left them with 15 points from six games but still three behind leaders Switzerland who beat Faroe Islands 2-0 to maintain their 100 per cent record.
Ronaldo, Portugal’s all-time leading scorer, took his tally to 73 goals for his country after another decisive performance.
He looked their only real threat in the first half and scored four minutes before half-time when he stooped to head in from close range after Jose Fonte’s header hit the post.
Ronaldo scored with another easy header in the 63rd after Ricardo Quaresma’s cross was deflected into his path and then played a one-two with Andre Silva who scored the third four minutes later.
The group looks increasingly like it will boil down to the final match between Portugal and Switzerland in October which the European champions must win to top the standings, qualify directly and avoid a perilous two-leg playoff.
In the group's other game, Andorra claimed a huge upset with a 1-0 home win over Hungary, with Marc Rebes scoring the winner in the 26th minute.
GROUP H
Goals from Dries Mertens and Nacer Chadli allowed Belgium to outclass a resilient 10-man Estonia 2-0 in their World Cup qualifier in Tallinn and maintain top spot in Group H.
Mertens had the visitors ahead just past the half hour mark but there was to be no repeat of the 8-1 hammering that Belgium handed Estonia in Brussels in November.
Mertens took advantage of a goalkeeping blunder to put Belgium ahead and Estonia suffered a further setback on the stroke of half-time when Artjom Dmitrijev was sent off for a studs-high challenge on Marouane Fellaini.
Estonia’s stubborn defence prevented Belgium from finding the net until five minutes from the end when Chadli added a second.
Belgium have a four-point lead over second placed Greece in their qualifying group and are well placed to qualify for next year’s World Cup finals in Russia.
Greece stayed on course for a World Cup qualifying playoff spot after holding Bosnia to a 0-0 draw in a tepid game at Bilino Polje stadium in Zenica.
Cyprus needed an 87th minute goal from Pieros Sotiriou to see off Gibraltar 2-1 in Faro, Portugal.
