🌎 WCQ: Italy drop into play-offs! England hit 10; Scotland stun Denmark | OneFootball

There was plenty to be decided as several European nations brought the curtain down on their World Cup qualification exploits.

This is what went down.

Italy drop from top spot at the death

European champions Italy will have to qualify for Qatar the hard way after they failed to overcome a stubborn Northern Ireland side in Belfast and fell into the play-offs.

Roberto Mancini’s side knew they would have to win if Switzerland overcame Bulgaria and they duly did so at home with a 4-0 win.

Jorginho’s last gasp penalty miss against the Swiss last week looks even costlier now, with Switzerland pipping the Azzurri into top spot after Italy’s failure to find the net in Ireland.

England qualify with 10-goal haul

Scorers: Maguire 6′, Fabbri OG 15′, Kane pen 27′, 32′, 39′, 42′, Smith Rowe 58′, Mings 69′, Abraham 78, Saka 79′

England secured their place at the World Cup in some style by hitting 10 goals in a game for the first time since 1964 with a huge win over San Marino.

After ‘silencing’ his critics with a goal on Friday night, Harry Maguire was at it again early for England in San Marino by heading in from Phil Foden’s delivery.

They doubled their lead 10 minutes later when Arsenal duo Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka combined for the latter to get a shot away which took a big deflection off the unfortunate Filippo Fabbri and into the net.

Harry Kane then added a third from the penalty spot for his 13th goal of the year for his country before No. 14 arrived five minutes later.

And he was far from done there for the half, let alone the year, firing in another penalty before showing good feet and remaining calm to finish for his fourth.

After the break, they added a seventh through Smith Rowe, who marked his first England start with a cool low finish after Tammy Abraham flicked into his path.

Tyrone Mings then scored England’s eighth after the hosts were reduced to 10 men, making a painful night even worse and it wasn’t done there as Abraham followed up a fine first touch with an accurate finish.

Double figures were then achieved moments later through Saka, with no doubt over the scorer this time as England punched their ticket to Qatar in emphatic fashion.

Scotland end Denmark’s dominance to secure home tie

Scorers: Souttar 35′, Adams 86′

A stunning Scotland performance saw them end Denmark’s 100% record in qualifying and secure vital home advantage in the play-offs next spring.

They took a deserved lead against a Denmark side aiming to finish with a perfect record in the group when he headed home after a period of concerted pressure thanks to Liam Cooper doing brilliantly to keep the ball alive.

And despite the second half being a little nervier at times, the Tartan Army were sent into raptures in the closing stages when Ché Adams beat the offside trap to race in and finished emphatically to secure another home Hampden tie in March.

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