The final round of the European World Cup qualifiers is upon us! The action in the 10th and last Matchday gets underway on Sunday, with Croatia vs Russia being one of three simultaneous 9 a.m. ET kick offs.
The 25 games set to be played in this round will take place on Sunday through Tuesday, with six FIFA World Cup spots being up for grabs. Three nations have secured their tickets to Qatar 2022, with the runners-up in each group heading into a tricky playoff round.
The likes of Portugal, Italy, Netherlands, Croatia, and England will see their fates get decided in the final hurdle. Here's everything you need to know about the upcoming round of fixtures in the European FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
The UEFA World Cup qualifiers standings ahead of the final Matchday
Group A
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Portugal: 17 pts
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Serbia: 17 pts
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Luxembourg: 9 pts
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Ireland: 6 pts
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Azerbaijan: 1 pts
Group B
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Spain: 16 pts
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Sweden: 15 pts
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Greece: 9 pts
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Georgia: 7 pts
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Kosovo: 4 pts
Group C
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Italy: 15 pts
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Switzerland: 15 pts
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Northern Ireland 8 pts
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Bulgaria: 8 pts
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Lithuania: 3 pts
Group D
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France: 15 pts
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Finland: 11 pts
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Ukraine: 9 pts
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Bosnia and Herzegovina: 7 pts
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Kazakhstan: 3 pts
Group E
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Belgium: 19 pts
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Wales: 14 pts
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Czech Republic: 11 pts
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Estonia: 4 pts
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Belarus: 3 pts
Group F
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Denmark: 27 pts
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Scotland: 20 pts
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Israel: 13 pts
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Austria: 13 pts
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Faroe Islands: 4 pts
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Moldova: 1 pts
Group G
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Netherlands: 20 pts
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Turkey: 18 pts
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Norway: 18 pts
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Montenegro: 12 pts
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Latvia: 6 pts
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Gibraltar: 0 pts
Group H
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Russia: 22 pts
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Croatia: 20 pts
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Slovakia: 11 pts
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Slovenia: 11 pts
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Malta: 5 pts
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Cyprus: 5 pts
Group I
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England: 23 pts
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Poland: 20 pts
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Albania: 15 pts
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Hungary: 14 pts
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Andorra: 6 pts
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San Marino: 0 pts
Group J
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Germany: 24 pts
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North Macedonia: 15 pts
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Romania: 14 pts
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Armenia: 12 pts
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Iceland: 9 pts
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Liechtenstein: 1 pts
Teams that have secured automatic qualification to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar: Germany, Denmark, France, and Belgium (all go through as group winners)
Teams guaranteed to finish in the top two of their group: Portugal and Serbia (Group A), Spain and Sweden (Group B), Italy and Switzerland (Group C), Russia and Croatia (Group H) England and Poland (Group I)
Team(s) that have confirmed their spot in the playoffs: Scotland
Teams that can finish as runners-up and enter the playoffs: Armenia, Romania, and North Macedonia (Group J); Wales and Czech Republic (Group E); Finland and Ukraine (Group D)
Team(s) that have qualified for the playoffs via UEFA Nations League rankings: Austria. Either Wales or the Czech Republic will also enter the playoffs via this route depending on who misses out on Group E's runners-up spot.
The issue with Group G: Netherlands, Turkey, and Norway sit in the top three. All three sides can mathematically win the group, finish as runners-up, or finish in third and fail to qualify altogether.
Top games to watch
Croatia vs Russia: The 2018 runners-up are guaranteed a spot in the playoffs at the very least, but Modric and Co. will have their eyes set on automatic qualification. Unfortunately, Russia hold that spot, sitting in first courtesy of a two-point advantage. This means that Vatreni will need to beat their Group H rivals if they wish to join the likes of Germany, France, and Belgium.
Spain vs Sweden: Will the 2010 World Cup winners qualify automatically for Qatar 2022 or will La Furia Roja have to fight their way through the dreaded playoffs? This question will be answered on Sunday, with Luis Enrique's side needing merely a draw to win their group. Busquets and Co. have Georgia to thank after the European minnows beat the Scandinavians 2-0 in the penultimate round, handing Spain the advantage.
Portugal vs Serbia: Cristiano and Co. will be in for a nervy round. While Portugal are top of their group thanks to a superior goal differential, meaning they simply need a draw to secure automatic qualification, Fernando Santos' side enter this clash on shaky ground. They were held to a frustrating goalless draw by the Republic of Ireland previously and saw Pepe get sent off in that stalemate, thus ruling him out for this game. Who will triumph in this encounter? Time will reveal the answer.
Northern Ireland vs Italy and Switzerland vs Bulgaria: The Azzurri will be keen on avoiding the nightmare of the 2018 World Cup playoffs, which the Italians lost. Fortunately, Mancini's side sit top of their group and thus simply need to match the result of Switzerland. However, should the two teams, who are already level on points, end up level on both goal difference and goal scored, then the four-time World Cup winners will drop to second.
Netherlands vs Norway: Group G is quite tricky as all three teams stand a chance of qualifying. The Netherlands sit top of their group, but since they boast a mere two-point advantage over both Norway and Turkey, Van Gaal's side remain in danger of missing out on next year's World Cup altogether – they will have to lose this tie and Turkey will need to win their showdown with Montenegro in order for this to occur.
Who's in and who's out?
Germany: Florian Wirtz and Nico Schlotterbeck (injured); Niklas Sule, Jamal Musiala, Joshua Kimmich, Serge Gnabry, and Karim Adeyemi (doubtful)
Sweden: Ken Sema
Spain: Yeremi Pino, Eric Garcia, and Ansu Fati (injured); Gavi (doubtful)
Croatia: Mateo Kovacic, Josip Brekalo
Russia: None
England: Marcus Rashford and Declan Rice (injured); Reece James (doubtful)
Serbia: Matija Nastasic, Marko Petkovic, Filip Djuricic, Darko Lazovic
Portugal: Anthony Lopes, Rafa Silva, and Joao Mario (injured); Pepe (suspended)
Netherlands: Joel Drommel, Steven Berghuis, Jurrien Timber
Italy: Nicolo Zaniolo, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Marco Verratti, Ciro Immobile, Giorgio Chiellini
Switzerland: Nico Elvedi, Steven Zuber, Breel Embolo, Gregor Kobel, and Granit Xhaka (injured0; Manuel Akanji (suspended)
Wales: Ethan Ampadu
Belgium: Romelu Lukaku
Filand: Thomas Lam, Juhani Ojala
France: Paul Pogba, Raphael Varane, Presnel Kimpembe
Full list of UEFA World Cup qualifiers on November 14-16, 2021
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Luxembourg 0 - 3 Ireland Republic
November 14, 2021 2:45pmStade de Luxembourg (Lëtzebuerg (Luxembourg))This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.
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