The China Mail - England clinch 2026 World Cup qualification, Portugal forced to wait

Elsewhere, pro-Palestinian demonstrations prefaced Italy's vital win over Israel and Spain took another step towards qualification with a big victory against Bulgaria.

Thomas Tuchel's England brushed aside Latvia in Riga to make it six wins from six in Group K and guarantee top spot before their final two fixtures next month -- they have 18 points and an unassailable seven-point lead over second-placed Albania.

Anthony Gordon opened the scoring before Kane produced a lethal finish and then netted a penalty to make it 3-0 at half-time -- the Bayern Munich striker has 21 goals in 13 games this season for club and country.

Maksims Tonisevs scored an own-goal and Eberechi Eze added the fifth, with England now able to look forward to December's draw for next year's finals.

"It comes rarely that you qualify for a World Cup, so the mood is very, very good," said Tuchel.

All 12 group winners in Europe qualify directly for the World Cup, with the runners-up going on to play-offs.

Serbia are a point behind Albania after fighting back to win 3-1 in Andorra.

Guillaume Lopez gave Andorra the lead with a stunning strike from inside the centre circle which sailed over Serbia goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic.

Christian Garcia's own-goal brought Serbia level before Dusan Vlahovic headed them in front and Aleksandar Mitrovic netted a penalty.

Portugal were on the brink of punching their ticket as they led Hungary 2-1 in stoppage time in Lisbon, knowing a win would confirm first place in Group F.

Attila Szalai headed Hungary in front only for Ronaldo to turn in Nelson Semedo's driven cross to equalise midway through the first half.

Ronaldo then converted a Nuno Mendes cross to give Portugal the lead in first-half stoppage time, taking the 40-year-old Al Nassr superstar to an all-time international record of 143 goals in 225 appearances for his country.

He now holds the record for the most goals in World Cup qualifying with 41, two more than retired Guatemala international Carlos Ruiz on 39.

However, Hungary snatched a draw when Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai finished from close range in injury time.

That means Hungary remain five points behind Portugal with two games left and so could still top Group F, while Ireland theoretically could too after Evan Ferguson's header secured a 1-0 victory against Armenia, who had Tigran Barseghyan sent off.

- Protests in Italy -

Italy's meeting with Israel in Udine was prefaced by clashes between some pro-Palestinian demonstrators and police as thousands more peacefully marched through the northern Italian city in anger at the hosting of a match they felt should not have been played.

There have been calls for FIFA to exclude Israel from international competition in response to the country's military offensive in the Gaza Strip which followed a brutal cross-border assault carried out by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

There was a huge security presence around the Bluenergy Stadium hosting the Group I fixture, won 3-0 by Italy.

The Azzurri are desperate to qualify for the World Cup having failed to make it to the last two editions.

Mateo Retegui converted a penalty in first-half stoppage time and scored again with a stunning hit on 74 minutes.

Gianluca Mancini headed in a late third to ensure that Italy will finish at least second in the group and are now just three points behind leaders Norway with two games left.

The teams meet next month but Norway's superior goal difference means they remain primed to finish first. Estonia and Moldova drew 1-1 in the same group on Tuesday.

European champions Spain have four wins from four in Group E after defeating Bulgaria 4-0 in Valladolid.

Mikel Merino scored two headers and now has six goals in four games in qualifying. Atanas Chernev scored an own-goal before Mikel Oyarzabal converted a late penalty.

"We don't have much further to go to get to the World Cup, but it's not done yet... I hope we keep winning," Merino told Spanish television.

Spain are three points clear of Turkey, who beat Georgia 4-1 at home with Merih Demiral bagging a brace. Kenan Yildiz and Yunus Akgun also scored for them.

S.Davis--ThChM