With one year to go before the 2022 World Cup kicks off in Qatar, more than a dozen teams have now booked their place.
England qualified in style with an emphatic 10-0 win over San Marino in their final Group I fixture, while French duo Karim Benzema and Kylian M’Bappe both netted as the defending Champions denied Finland a chance of being at the big event.
Didier Deschamps’ men top Group D ahead of Ukraine and join Germany after Hansi Flick and his players proved too strong for their opponents in Group J.
Other European teams heading to the World Cup include Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and Serbia, after Fulham striker Mitrović scored a 90th-minute winner against Portugal to pip Cristiano Ronaldo’s team-mates to first place.
This means the Manchester United forward will have to wait for Europe’s play-off deciders in March to see if he’ll be making the trip to Qatar.
Italy has also failed to automatically qualify after they finished two points below Switzerland in Group C. They join Sweden, Russia, Scotland, and Wales as the seeded play-off nations.
These must-win games against the remaining unseeded sides will begin with six single-leg semi-final matches played in late March next year.
Elsewhere, Brazil narrowly edged out Colombia 1-0 to become the first South American nation to qualify, and Neymar was later joined by his PSG team-mate Lionel Messi after Copa America Champions Argentina secured their ticket.
Thirteen teams have officially qualified so far, leaving 19 spots to be filled in the upcoming months en route to the big event, which kicks off on November 21 next year.
