Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick to pass 50 international goals in record time as Norway cruised to a 5-0 thrashing of Israel on Saturday, edging closer to qualifying for a first World Cup finals since 1998.
England sent out a warning to their World Cup rivals with a brilliant 5-0 thrashing of Serbia in qualifying on Tuesday, while Erling Haaland scored five goals as Norway emphatically maintained their 100-percent record.
With the next World Cup kicking off in just over nine months, European champions Spain and some of the continent's other heavyweights finally begin their qualifying campaigns this week.
Netherlands maintained their winning start to European 2026 World Cup qualifying by dismissing Malta 8-0 on Tuesday, while their group rivals Poland lost to Finland in a match interrupted due to a medical emergency in the crowd.
Crystal Palace forward Daichi Kamada scored twice for Japan and Paris Saint Germain's Lee Kang-in netted for South Korea as the Asian giants rounded off successful World Cup qualifying campaigns in style on Tuesday.
Belgium held off a battling Wales and Italy gave sacked coach Luciano Spalletti a winning send-off in World Cup qualifying on Monday.
Argentina celebrated their 2026 World Cup qualification with a dazzling 4-1 thrashing of arch-rivals Brazil in Buenos Aires on Tuesday.
England extended Thomas Tuchel's 100 per cent start to his reign as Reece James' first international goal inspired a 3-0 win against Latvia in Monday's World Cup qualifier.
England were placed in a group with Serbia as the draw for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Europe took place on Friday.
A magnificent volley from Lautaro Martinez was enough to give world champions Argentina a 1-0 win over Peru while Brazil were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Uruguay in South American World Cup qualifying on Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia had a goal disallowed in extra-time as they ground out a scoreless draw against Australia on Thursday, a result that did neither side any favours in their bid to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
Japan denied Australia a famous victory after coming back to grab a 1-1 draw in World Cup qualifying in Saitama on Tuesday in front of a crowd of 60,000.
Premier League stars Kaoru Mitoma and Wataru Endo both scored as Japan thrashed China 7-0 on Thursday to start the third round of Asian World Cup qualifiers with a statement win.
Romania turned back the clock on Tuesday when they appointed 79-year-old Mircea Lucescu as their new national coach - 38 years after he left the post.
