WC qualifiers: England beat Scotland, France edge past Sweden

England defeated Scotland 3-0 in the fourth round of the European qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup even as France had to come from behind to secure a 2-1 win over Sweden.

Defending champions Germany, meanwhile, pummeled San Marino 8-0 on Friday to remain perfect in the competition, reports Efe.

The English prevailed at Wembley here on goals by Daniel Sturridge, Adam Lallana and Gary Cahill to claim the top spot in Group F with 10 points, two ahead of Slovenia, who eked out a 1-0 win away at Malta.

Slovakia vaulted over Lithuania into third place in the group with a 4-0 defeat of the Baltic side, who have five points.

In Paris, Sweden took a 1-0 lead in the 55th minute on a goal by Emil Forsberg, but Les Bleus rebounded with two goals in seven minutes by Paul Pogba and Dimitri Payet to win 2-1 and retain the lead in Group A with 10 points.

Sweden is second with seven points, three ahead of the Netherlands, who visit Luxembourg on Sunday.

In Group C, Serge Gnabry notched a hat trick and Jonas Hector scored a pair in Germany's demolition of San Marino, who have lost all four of their matches so far.

The Germans, with 12 points out of 12, are five ahead of second-place Northern Ireland, who romped 4-0 on Friday over Azerbaijan.

The result left Azerbaijan and Northern Ireland tied on points at seven, though the Irishmen have an advantage on goals.

Two points back are the Czech Republic, 2-1 winners Friday over Norway, who have three points.

Robert Lewandowski scored twice in Poland's 3-0 victory over Romania. The Poles move up to 10 points and first place in Group E.

Montenegro, with seven points, is at the second spot despite losing 3-2 on Friday to Armenia, who garnered their first points of the tourney.

In third place are Denmark, who topped visiting Kazakhstan 4-1 to move to 6 points.

The Central Asian squad sits in last place in the group with 2 points.

--IANS

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