The European qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup in Russia have come to a temporary halt with Germany, Belgium, Greece and Switzerland winning all three of their opening group matches.
France remains joint second favourites to life the World Cup after beating their main Group A rivals Holland in the Amsterdam Arena by a goal to nil.
A long distance strike from the world’s most expensive player, Paul Pogba, settled one of the plum ties of the week in the 30th minute. Holland, who were without Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder through injury, also lost Quincy Promes after 16-minutes. Promes scored twice in Holland’s 4-1 win over Belarus on Friday. Liverpool star Georginio Wijnaldum also limped off with a hamstring injury and could miss his side’s tie with Manchester United on Monday.
In the other Group A ties, Sweden maintained their unbeaten start to the campaign with a 3-0 win over Bulgaria. Belarus and Luxembourg drew 1-1. France is -275 to win the group. The Netherlands is +250 and Sweden is +800.
Group A Table
1. France – 7 pts
2. Sweden – 7 pts
3. Netherlands – 4 pts
4. Bulgaria – 3 pts
5. Belarus – 2 pts
6. Luxembourg – 1 pt
The Swiss Keep Winning; Portugal Score Another Six
Switzerland maintains their 100% record in Group G after a 2-1 win away in Andorra. Fabian Schar opened the scoring for the Swiss from the penalty spot in the 19th minute before Admir Mehmedi sealed the win with 20-minutes to play. Andorra’s Alexandre Martinez Palau scored a consolation goal in injury time.
Portugal trail the Swiss in second place after scoring their 12th goal without reply in their last two matches. The plucky Faroe Islands entertained the European Champions after a win against Latvia and a draw against Hungary, but Cristiano Ronaldo’s men were in no mood to mess about. Ronaldo was once again on the scoresheet, but it was FC Porto’s Andre Silva who stole the headlines with a first half hat trick. Hungary beat Latvia by two goals to nil in the other Group B fixture.
Portugal is -120 to win the group with Switzerland at -110. The rest of the teams have no chance.
Group B Table
1. Switzerland – 9 pts
2. Portugal – 6 pts
3. Hungary – 4 pts
4. Faroe Islands – 4 pts
5. Latvia – 3 pts
6. Andorra – 0 pts
Azerbaijan Group C Surprises; Germany Dominant
World Cup favourites Germany are treating Group C like a walk in the park. Their third win on the spin came against the much improved Northern Ireland. Julian Draxler and Sami Khedira netting in the first 20-minutes to ensure they end this run of fixtures at the top of the group.
Azerbaijan remains in second place after a battling goalless draw in the Czech Republic. The former member of the Soviet Republic ranked 133 in the world is still unbeaten after the first three group games. Norway got off the mark with a 4-1 win against San Marino, leaving the European whipping boys at the bottom of the table without a point.
Germany remains the +500 to win the World Cup outright and who would bet against them with the likes of Brazil and Argentina unlikely to turn up the heat in Russia.
Group C Table
1. Germany – 9 pts
2. Azerbaijan – 7 pts
3. Northern Ireland – 4 pts
4. Norway – 3 pts
5. Czech Rep – 2 pts
6. San Marino – 0 pts
England Lucky to Draw in Slovenia; Scotland Slump in Slovakia
England were fortunate to escape from Slovenia with a draw after a world class performance from Joe Hart. The Manchester City outcast came to England’s rescue after a series of blunders by Gary Cahill & John Stones, as well as slack back passes from Eric Dier and Jordan Henderson.
Gareth Southgate dropped his captain Wayne Rooney, but the decision made little difference on the pitch. England were ineffective in the last third with Daniel Sturridge going walkabout and Theo Walcott absent throughout as always.
England’s next opponent’s will be Scotland, and Gordon Strachan’s men will be viewing the Wembley encounter as a must win after losing by 3-0 in Slovakia. The defeat comes on the back of a disappointing draw with Lithuania and leaving them with a mountain to climb if they want to snag a place in the Playoffs. In the other Group F game Lithuania beat Malta 2-0.
England is the overwhelming favourite to win the group at -1000. Slovenia is now the favourites to reach the playoffs at +1000.
Group F Table
1. England – 7 pts
2. Lithuania – 5 pts
3. Slovenia – 5 pts
4. Scotland – 4 pts
5. Slovakia – 3 pts
6. Malta – 0 pts
Belgium & Greece Preserve Their 100% Records in Group H
Europe’s highest ranked nation, Belgium, lead Group H after destroying Gibraltar by 6-0. Crystal Palace striker, Christian Benteke, scored the fastest-ever World Cup qualifying goal when he netted after only 8.1 seconds on his way to an international hat-trick. The previous record was held by San Marino’s Davide Gualtieri who scored against England in 8.3 seconds back in 1993.Axel Witsel, Dries Mertens, and Chelsea’s Eden Hazard got the other goals.
Belgium isn’t the only Group H team with a perfect 3/3 record. Greece also has that honour after beating Estonia by 2-0. Bosnia beat Cyprus 2-0 in the other Group H tie.
Belgium, who are +1600 to win the competition outright is the -500 favourite to win the group with Greece an outside bet at +500.
Group H Table
1. Belgium – 9 pts
2. Greece – 9 pts
3. Bosnia – 6 pts
4. Estonia – 3 pts
5. Cyprus – 0 pt
6. Gibraltar – o pt
*All odds courtesy of Bodog
