Portugal pip Switzerland to quailfy for World Cup

European champions Portugal qualified for next year’s World Cup with a convincing 2-0 win over Switzerland after an own goal by Johan Djourou set them on their way.

The Swiss defender put the ball into his own net four minutes before halftime and Andre Silva sealed the victory in the 57th minute as Portugal pulled level on 27 points with Switzerland and won Group B on goal difference.

Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo should have scored his 16th goal of the qualifying campaign when he was sent clear in the 78th minute but he over-elaborated as he tried to get around Yann Sommer and allowed the goalkeeper to claim the ball.

The Swiss had led the group since beating Portugal 2-0 in Basel in their opening match in September last year and gone on to win all nine matches before Tuesday’s encounter in Lisbon, while Portugal had won their subsequent eight.

Switzerland will now the playoff stages where they’ll will be seeded for the draw and are one of the team’s that Martin O’Neill’s Republic of Ireland side can face.

Elsewhere France’s Antoine Griezmann scored one and set up another as they booked their place the World Cup by beating Belarus 2-1 at the Stade de France in their last Group A qualifying game.

Griezmann opened the scoring and then set up Olivier Giroud before the break while Belarus reduced the arrears on the stroke of halftime through Anton Saroka.

Four days after a decisive 1-0 win in Bulgaria, Didier Deschamps’s team were never really under pressure and avoided having to go through the playoffs, as they had to to reach the 2010 and 2014 finals.

The result put France, who will take part in their sixth consecutive World Cup finals, on 23 points after 10 games, four ahead of second-placed Sweden.

The Netherlands will miss out on a second successive major tournament after they failed to qualify for the European Championships.

The Dutch had to beat Sweden by seven goals to finish behind France in the runners-up spot but they could only manage a 2-0 win against the Swedes, who will head to the play-offs as an unseeded team.

The unthinkable looked more possible when Arjen Robben scored from the penalty spot after 16 minutes but the Bayern Munich winger’s second strike just before half-time was the only other goal of the game.

There was also action in Group H where Belgium had long since secured their place in Russia as group winners. They cruised to a 4-0 victory over Cyprus in their final group game.

Greece also claimed a 4-0 win as they beat Gibraltar 4-0 and cemmented their runners-up spot, joining Sweden, Ireland and Northern Ireland as the unseeded teams in the play-off draw.

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