European Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup highlights: Croatia through, Netherlands made to wait

Croatia will be joining England and France at the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals after their victory against Faroe Islands sealed top spot in their group.

We wrap up Friday's action.

Results

Group A: Luxembourg 0-2 Germany, Slovakia 1-0 Northern Ireland
Group G: Finland 0-1 Malta, Poland 1-1 Netherlands
Group L: Gibraltar 1-2 Montenegro, Croatia 3-1 Faroe Islands

Poland 1-1 Netherlands

Both nations will now finish in the top two in Group G but Poland were unable to hold their advantage against the section leaders in Warsaw.

Nicola Zalewski missed an early opportunity to put Poland in front, but the home side took the lead on the break on 43 minutes, Robert Lewandowski's ball sending Jakub Kamiński through to slide a low finish between goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen's legs.

However, Memphis Depay scored his 55th Netherlands goal just after the restart, lashing in a loose ball after Kamil Grabara saved Donyell Malen's shot, and neither side was able to muster a big chance thereafter.

Croatia 3-1 Faroe Islands

The 2018 runners-up Croatia came from behind to defeat Faroe Islands and seal their place at the 2026 World Cup finals.

The visitors took the lead in Rijeka with 15 minutes played as Geza Dávid Turi's deflected effort wrong-footed Dominik Livaković but Croatia were quick to respond, Joško Gvardiol driving a precise leveller across goal seven minutes later.

Petar Musa, making his first Croatia appearance in two years, then put the hosts ahead with a smart second-half finish before substitute Nikola Vlašić capped the victory by applying a side-footed finish to Ivan Perišić's superb cross in the 70th minute.

Best of the rest

• Nick Woltemade struck twice in the second half to give Germany victory in Luxembourg. Julian Nagelsmann's side are now assured of a top-two finish ahead of their group decider with Slovakia on Monday.
• Slovakia can still pip Germany to top spot in Group A after Tomáš Bobček came off the bench to make his debut and scored the winner within three minutes in their 1-0 success over Northern Ireland. Francesco Calzona's men are also guaranteed to finish in the top two as a result.
• Finland had to win in the early game against Malta to keep their top-two hopes alive ahead of Poland versus Netherlands in Group G, but they were stunned at home as a late controlled finish by Jake Grech gave the visitors a famous victory.

Saturday's fixtures

Kick-off 20:45 CET unless stated

Group B: Switzerland vs Sweden, Slovenia vs Kosovo
Group C: Greece vs Scotland, Denmark vs Belarus
Group E: Türkiye vs Bulgaria (18:00), Georgia vs Spain (18:00)
Group H: Cyprus vs Austria (18:00), Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Romania
Group J: Kazakhstan vs Belgium (15:00), Liechtenstein vs Wales (17:00)