Romelu
Lukaku's excellent form carried over into the international arena as his two
goals secured Belgium's place in next year's World Cup finals, where they will
be joined by Germany and Switzerland, who also confirmed their qualification.
Belgium,
boasting one of the most talented squads in Europe, will return to the finals
for the first time since 2002 after a 2-1 win in Croatia guaranteed top spot in
Group A.
Germany's
3-0 home win over Ireland, with goals from Sami Khedira, Andre Schuerrle and
Mesut Ozil, put them through from Group C while the Swiss won 2-1 in Albania to
wrap up Group E.
The
Netherlands and Italy had already sealed their passage to the finals before the
penultimate round of qualifiers.
Robin
van Persie hit a hat-trick in the 8-1 demolition of Hungary to become all-time
leading Dutch scorer, taking his tally to 41 international goals and surpassing
the 40 scored by Patrick Kluivert.
Group
F leaders Russia are on the verge of qualifying thanks to a 4-0 victory in
Luxembourg while Wayne Rooney was among the scorers in England's 4-1 win over
Montenegro at Wembley which kept Roy Hodgson's side top of Group H heading into
Tuesday's final round of matches.
England
are a point ahead of Ukraine who kept up the pressure by beating Poland 1-0.
Bosnia,
seeking to reach their first major tournament as an independent nation, and
Greece remain neck-and-neck on 22 points at the top of Group G after a home win
on Friday.
Bosnia,
with Edin Dzeko scoring twice, thumped Liechtenstein 4-1 while a Martin Skrtel
own goal handed Greece a 1-0 success at home to Slovakia.
Nicklas
Bendtner made a sensational return from a six-month ban by netting both goals
in Denmark's 2-2 draw at home to Italy. The striker was suspended by the Danish
FA after being arrested for drink-driving but his international return was
spoiled by Alberto Aquilani's stoppage-time equaliser.
World
and European champions Spain planted one foot in Brazil thanks to second-half
strikes from Xavi and Alvaro Negredo to win 2-1 at home to Belarus on Friday.
Saad Khan
Saad Khan
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