Group One

An 83rd minute Sebastijan Cinirogic goal gave Slovenia a 1-0 victory over fancied Switzerland in Basel. The result means the Slovenians leapfrog the Swiss into second spot in the table, four points behind leaders Russia, who were saved from embarrassment by Sergei Semak's 76th minute winner against lowly Luxembourg.

Group Four

Celtic's prolific scorer Henrik Larsson netted four times as Sweden marched to the top of the group with a 6-0 hammering of Moldova in Gothenburg.

Remarkably three of Larsson's goals were penalties. Niclas Alexandersson and Daniel Andersson got Sweden's other goals. Aston Villa defender Alpay Ozalan scored a hat-trick as Turkey scrambled a 3-3 draw with 10-man Macedonia in Bursa. Turkey conceded goals from Artim Sakiri and Zarko Serafimovski in the seventh and 20th minutes. However, the burly Alpay twice appeared at the right spot in the penalty area to make it 2-2.

Igor Nikolovski put Macedonia ahead in the 62nd minute from a goalmouth scramble, before Alpay salvaged a point in the 70th minute.

The shock of the night however, saw Azerbaijan grab their first victory of the campaign with a stunning 2-0 victory over Slovakia.

Group Five

Four players were sent off when Armenia held group leaders Poland to a 1-1 draw in Yerevan. Armenia finished the game with eight men after a brawl three minutes from time. Both benches also got involved and it took match officials several minutes to restore order.

Poland, who would have all but sealed their place in the World Cup finals with a victory, went ahead through Radoslaw Kaluzni after just four minutes but Artur Petrosyan equalised just seven minutes later.

Second placed Belarus failed to capitalise on the Poles' slip-up, drawing 1-1 in Norway.

Mark Pembridge grabbed a 73rd-minute equaliser for Wales with a 30-yard strike to earn a creditable 1-1 draw in Ukraine. Zubov had fired Ukraine ahead two minutes before the break.

Group Six

Scotland's hopes of qualifying for the finals took a blow after Craig Brown's men slipped to third place in Group Six.

Bosko Balaban's goal against Latvia allowed Croatia to turn their game in hand into three points and leapfrog the Scots in the table. Leaders Belgium struggled early on but eventually dismissed San Marino 4-1.

Group Seven

Israel improved their chances of at least finishing second in their group when they managed to hold hot favourites Spain to a 1-1 draw in Tel Aviv.

The Israelis went ahead with a headed goal by Haim Revivo in the fourth minute and dominated for the first half hour, but Spain gradually took control and eventually got the equaliser through Raul in the 63rd minute.