#world-cup-qualification

#world-cup-qualification

A sickness bug has disrupted Denmark's plans for their make-or-break World Cup qualifier with Scotland in Glasgow on Tuesday. Brian Riemer, the Danish head coach, has admitted he is concerned over the situation amid fears the ailment will spread further before kick-off. Joachim Andersen and Rasmus Hjland missed Denmark's surprising draw with Belarus on Saturday evening due to illness. The result in Copenhagen meant Scotland's 3-2 loss to Greece was immaterial for Steve Clarke's side.

Argentina have broken the deadlock in their international friendly against Angola. Lautaro Martinez was the one who found the back of the net, thanks to some magic from Lionel Messi. With the game more balanced than the visitors would have liked, the Inter Miami star was on hand to thread a sensational through ball into the path of the Inter Milan forward. Martinez made no mistake, drilling his strike low into the far corner and wheeling away to celebrate.

Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi has withdrawn from the England squad because of injury. He will return to his club to continue rehabilitation on the foot injury he sustained against AZ Alkmaar in a Conference League game last week. The 25-year-old was left out of the squad for England's 2-0 victory over Serbia on Thursday and will miss the Three Lions' final 2026 World Cup qualifier in Albania.

Norway's place at the 2026 World Cup is all but assured after Erling Haaland and Alexander Sorloth both scored twice in a 4-1 qualifying win over Estonia in Oslo. Stale Solbakken's side knew a victory over the Group I strugglers would mean only a thumping defeat to Italy in their final game on Sunday could deny them top spot, but the nerves were palpable at the Ullevaal Stadion as Estonia reached half-time still level at 0-0.

Victor Osimhen scored twice for Nigeria in extra time, with Chidera Ejuke also netting in the additional period, after Mario Lemina's late equaliser kept the contest going beyond 90 minutes. Gabon were let off the hook after four minutes when Akor Adams' effort was smothered by goalkeeper Loyce Mbaba after they failed to clear a long ball from Alex Iwobi, while Osimhen miscued a header from close range soon after.

Prediction: Germany to win 3-0

When you play against the so-called better sides in the world, sometimes probably their main focus in their performance isn't the defensive side of the game. So, when you do get that chance to have possession, I feel that there are areas that we can exploit. The lesson I suppose I took away from the game [in Portugal] is that there are areas that we can exploit in this team when we have the ball. That's taking nothing away from the great players they have, of course. And we know that it's going to be another great challenge and a tough test for us, but I think there's belief there that we can hurt this team when we have possession.

They head to London in third place in Group K, a point behind Albania, who are England's opponents on Sunday. Veljko Paunovic will be in the dugout at Wembley for the first time after taking over on a permanent basis from Dragan Stojkovic, who resigned following a crushing 1-0 defeat at home to Albania on October 11. Zoran Mirkovic oversaw the 3-1 defeat of Andorra but Paunovic now has the tricky task of trying to get maximum points from games against England and Latvia.

Knowing that they can officially punch their World Cup ticket on Thursday night, Ireland will travel to Dublin when they meet Ireland. Only continuing to shine since their Nations League success over the summer, Roberto Martinez's men have continued to receive a string of plaudits from across the continent and they will be hoping to wrap up top spot in Group F with another statement.

"It's massive and it was when I signed here - it was always in the back of my mind,"

"It is steady," Solbakken said when asked about Odegaard's recovery. "It is going in a steady direction but he is some distance away."

Popovic insisted that any player who aspired to pull on a Socceroos shirt would need to adopt an elite mentality to earn, or continue to earn, that honour. But there was another message. Less a demand and more an evocation and one that has been brought sharper into focus with every step taken on the road towards the World Cup in North America. My expectations were to do something special, in my first talk to the players, Popovic says. That hasn't changed.

Australia compete in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) after quitting the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) in 2005 in order to simplify their path to World Cup qualification. At the time, the best team in Oceania qualifying had to face a South American team in a two-leg playoff to reach the World Cup, while Asia had four automatic qualifying spots and a play-off. The Socceroos had lost out on World Cup qualification via the inter-confederation play-offs in 1986, 1994, 1998 and 2002.