World Cup qualifying reaction - England and Scotland win, Northern Ireland draw

Harry Maguire was among the goals for England last night and then tweeted this...

Reigning World Cup holders France have already secured their Qatar 2022 qualification thanks to an 8-0 thrashing of Kazakhstan.

Les Bleus finish their campaign tonight away at Finland, who need a win to secure an unseeded spot in the play-offs.

If Finland lose, Ukraine could move into the play-offs, where they would also be unseeded, if they beat Bosnia-Herzegovina.

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SMS Message: England can win the World Cup, no doubt. The quality is there and match after match you see the togetherness of the team. Southgate is fostering 'club mentality' in a way clubs are failing to. Looks to me like players prefer playing for England than for their clubs right now. from Sean

England can win the World Cup, no doubt. The quality is there and match after match you see the togetherness of the team. Southgate is fostering 'club mentality' in a way clubs are failing to. Looks to me like players prefer playing for England than for their clubs right now.

VisionhausCopyright: Visionhaus

We said earlier Gareth Bale wouldn't be starting tonight's Wales game against Belgium, but now he won't be featuring at all as the Real Madrid forward has been left out of manager Robert Page's squad of 23 for the game in Cardiff.

Bale, 32, was taken off at half-time in Saturday's 5-1 thrashing of Belarus, a precautionary substitution he described as "planned" afterwards.

He had not played for two months prior to that game because of a hamstring tear.

Manager Robert Page had said Monday that they would assess Bale's recovery before making a final decision, indicating that the Real Madrid star's only hope of featuring against Belgium would have been as a substitute.

There are some interesting figures in the EFL statement on Derby.

It has been confirmed that in the three years up to 2017-18, the Rams made a £28.12m loss, which was £10.88m under the Upper Loss Threshold.

But in the three years up to financial year 2018/19, the club made a £50.72m loss, which was £11.72m above the Upper Loss Threshold.

Frank Lampard was in charge during 2018-19, so evidently, the club had one more push at getting promotion to the Premier League.

Derby were beaten by Aston Villa in the Championship play-off final.

This is how Northern Ireland's campaign went, with nine points from a tough group.

They were already out of contention for Qatar 2022 but that didn't stop them from causing an upset as they held European champions Italy to a goalless draw - a result that means Roberto Mancini's men are heading to the play-offs.

Switzerland thrashed Bulgaria 4-0 to snatch top spot in the final round of games.

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It says a lot when you face the European champions who need to get a result in World Cup qualifying, and are left disappointed with a goalless draw.

That is exactly how Northern Ireland and Ian Baraclough felt after Monday's result against Italy, who in turn missed out on an automatic place at the World Cup finals in Qatar next winter.

"I had a few words with Gianluca Vialli at the end and he said that was a typical Italian masterclass defensive performance," said Baraclough.

"I'll take that and the boys can be proud of that. To be compared to a performance that the Italians would normally churn out, you know you are probably doing something right."

The high praise from Roberto Mancini's number two Vialli, a giant of the game in his own right, states a lot of about Northern Ireland's showing in Belfast.

More on this here.

Massive news out of the Football League this morning, with confirmation the club is being deducted 21 points.

The first 12 are for entering administration - with an appeal against the punishment dismissed.

The additional nine - plus three more that are suspended - are for accounts that were not made public.

It leaves Derby bottom of the Championship on minus three points, 18 from safety.

And it was no wonder these two Arsenal players - Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe - had massive smiles on their faces.

SMS Message: Great to see young Arsenal players getting on the scoresheet for England. The internet leads me to believe it’s the first time two Arsenal players have scored in the same game for England in 37 years - Tony Woodcock and Viv Anderson if you’re asking. from Gavin

Great to see young Arsenal players getting on the scoresheet for England. The internet leads me to believe it’s the first time two Arsenal players have scored in the same game for England in 37 years - Tony Woodcock and Viv Anderson if you’re asking.

And this is how it finished in Group I, with England winning eight and drawing two of their 10 matches, ending six points clear of Poland, who move into the play-offs.

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Harry Kane is now on 48 England goals, closing in on Wayne Rooney's record of 53.

Italian football expert James Horncastle explained some of the reasons why Italy have failed to secure automatic qualification on BBC Radio 5 Live:

"The international calendar is one of the reasons Italy have struggled. No sooner do they come out of winning the Euros then they are straight back into a World Cup qualifying campaign, and I think it was that hangover they had in September. They drew with Bulgaria at home and then drew 0-0 in Switzerland with Jorginho missing a penalty.

"The same thing happened against Switzerland earlier this week and all of a sudden those phantoms they had have come back. Winning the Euros was them getting over not qualifying for the 2018 World Cup and here they are facing not qualifying for another one.

"Italy had a play-off last time around in 2017 against an opponent many thought they would be able to overcome in Sweden and the tension really got to them on that occasion.

"If you look at some of the players that were missing - Spinazzola, Verratti, Chiellini, Immobile - it's no excuse but it is one of the things.

"They were undefeated in the group and had they won they could have gone through on goal difference. So it's not a complete disaster just a matter of fine margins."

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What about Italy then?

In one of the biggest shocks of World Cup qualifying. The European champions, missed out on an automatic place at Qatar 2022 and instead being forced into the play-offs.

The Azzurri went into their final qualifier against Northern Ireland top of Group C on goal difference, but a goalless draw in Belfast combined with Switzerland's thumping 4-0 win over Bulgaria sent the Swiss straight through to Qatar instead.

For manager Roberto Mancini, though, the prospect of a play-off holds no fear.

"We will make it to the World Cup in March and then maybe we will even win it. I am totally confident," said the Azzurri boss.

"Despite controlling matches, we're struggling to score goals at the moment. We needed to score early on tonight. It's a shame because we should have finished things off sooner in this group.

"We need to rediscover what has set us apart until now and remain completely calm until March.

"We should have won against Bulgaria and had two penalties against Switzerland. These are games that could have finished in our favour. I'm completely confident about the play-offs."

Steve Clarke says playing in the Euro 2020 finals was the catalyst for the "no mean feat" of six wins in a row as his Scotland side secured a home World Cup play-off semi-final.

A fine 2-0 win over group winners Denmark means the Scots will be seeded in the March play-offs. Head coach Clarke thought it another indication of how his squad had "grown together".

"Qualifying for the first tournament in 23 years was massive," he said. "Going to that tournament was really important for us.

"Take aside how it panned out, as a squad and team, that togetherness for almost four weeks together helped us to build and grow and I think, post-Euros, you see that improvement and gaining more confidence."

Scotland captain Andy Robertson also praised team-mate John Souttar on his goalscoring return to the national side.

Scotland head coach Steve Clarke hails John Souttar for an emotional, scoring return to the side in their 2-0 win over Denmark after a three-year absence because of injury problems for the Hearts centre-half.