World champions Germany cruised to a comfortable 4-1 victory over Azerbaijan to stay on track for a spot in next year's World Cup in Russia, while England laboured to a 2-0 victory over Lithuania.
Images from the 2018 World Cup qualifying matches on Sunday:
Germany go seven points clear
World champions Germany cruised to a comfortable 4-1 victory over Azerbaijan on Sunday to stay on track for a spot in next year's World Cup in Russia after opening up a seven-point lead in Group C.
First-half goals from Andre Schuerrle, Thomas Mueller and Mario Gomez put the visitors in control of the game in Baku with the hosts briefly equalising.
Schuerrle scored his second of the evening 10 minutes from time to give the Germans their fifth win in five qualifying matches and stretch their unbeaten run on the road in World Cup qualifiers to 44.
They are top of the group on 15 points. Group winners automatically qualify for the World Cup.
The Czech Republic are second on eight following their demolition of San Marino while Northern Ireland are a point behind and face Norway later on Sunday. Azerbaijan are also on seven.
Schuerrle, whose last start for Germany was back in October 2015, made the most of his chance, tapping in after 19 minutes following good work down the wing from Jonas Hector.
Coach Joachim Loew made seven changes to the team that beat England 1-0 in their friendly earlier this week, with Julian Draxler, Gomez and Mueller in the starting lineup.
The Germans conceded their first goal of the campaign when Dmitrij Nazarov sneaked into the box and fired in the equaliser in the 30th against the run of play.
Azerbaijan's joy was short-lived, with Schuerrle pouncing on a defensive error to send Mueller through, and the attacking midfielder had no trouble rounding the keeper to put the visitors back into the driving seat in the 36th.
Gomez, who has scored in his last three league matches, headed in their third on the stroke of halftime.
The Azeris failed to mount any serious challenge in the second half with Germany content to control possession and set the pace. Schuerrle completed their win with a powerful shot from 12 metres out.
Defoe scores on return as England beat Lithuania
England striker Jermain Defoe made a scoring return to the international stage and substitute Jamie Vardy added a second goal as the hosts laboured to a 2-0 victory over Lithuania in World Cup qualifying Group F on Sunday.
Defoe, making his first appearance for nearly 3-1/2 years, fired lacklustre England ahead in the 21st minute at Wembley but Gareth Southgate's team struggled to finish off a Lithuania side who are 93 places lower in the FIFA rankings.
England survived a couple of worrying moments and had to wait until the 66th minute to double their lead when Defoe's replacement Vardy finished neatly shortly after coming on.
It was hardly an emphatic performance but the result kept England in charge of Group F with 13 points from five games, five more the Slovenia who visit Scotland later on Sunday.
Scotland's hopes still alive after late Martin winner
Chris Martin came off the substitutes' bench to keep alive Scotland's World Cup dreams with a dramatic 88th-minute winner in a 1-0 win that ended Slovenia's unbeaten run in European qualifying group F on Sunday.
The victory at HampdenPark left Scotland's under-pressure manager Gordon Strachan saluting his team, saying: "These guys re-energised our nation tonight."
The Scots' hero turned out to be centre forward Martin, who received some boos when he was brought on as a last-ditch hope for the home team but, within minutes, was being cheered to the rafters.
The victory breathed new life into the Scots' dismal campaign, putting them on to seven points in fourth place, now just one behind Slovenia, who slipped back to third in the table behind Slovakia, nine, and runaway leaders England on 13.
It also gave them fresh hope as they look forward to their next group match, a clash with their oldest rivals England at HampdenPark in June.
Quick goal sets Northern Ireland on way to win over Norway
Jamie Ward took just 90 seconds to score and set Northern Ireland on their way to a 2-0 home win over Norway in their World Cup qualifier at Windsor Park on Sunday to keep the Irish in contention for Russia next year.
Conor Washington scored the other goal in the 33rd minute as Northern Ireland moved on to 10 points in Group C, second and five points behind Germany and two ahead of the Czech Republic, who both won earlier on Sunday.
Ward curled in a shot from close range for a perfect start and Washington beat the offside trap to double the score not long after Alexander Soderlund had rattled the crossbar for the Norwegians, who have now lost four of their opening five qualifiers.
It was a disappointing debut for new Norway coach Lars Lagerback, who took Iceland through a fairytale performance at last year’s European Championship in France.
Lacklustre Romania held to goalless draw by Denmark
Romania extended their unimpressive run of results under German coach Christohp Daum when they scrambled a 0-0 draw with Denmark in a World Cup Group E qualifier on Sunday.
The stalemate left Romania fourth in the standings with six points from five matches, a point behind Montenegro and Denmark and seven adrift of Poland who beat the Montenegrins 2-1 away.
The result means Romania, still searching for their first home win in the qualifying campaign, have failed to score in four consecutive games for the first time since 1931.
The hosts were outclassed by Denmark, who missed the chance to move up to second place after wasting several opportunities with Christian Eriksen coming closest to breaking the deadlock.
Romania visit Poland in their next group game on June 10 while Denmark travel to Kazakhstan.
