Eng beat Malta

Putting his latest August goal drought behind him, Harry Kane scored twice for England in a 4-0 win over Malta that pushed his team closer to qualification for the 2018 World Cup.

The striker failed to score in all three of Tottenham's Premier League games in August, extending his dry run in that month to 12 matches for the club in total.

SLOVAKIA 1, SLOVENIA 0 Adam Nemec scored the only goal, bundling in from close range in the 81st minute after a cross from the byline struck the underside of the cross bar and bounced into the path of the forward.

Slovakia heads to Wembley looking to avenge a painful loss to England in the first round of matches, when Adam Lallana scored in the fifth minute of stoppage time in a 1-0 win in Trnava.

LITHUANIA 0, SCOTLAND 3 Scotland moved into third place, above Slovenia on goals scored, but is still four points behind Slovakia in its bid to snatch the runner-up berth. It leaves the Scots relying on a favor from their old foe England on Monday.

Stuart Armstrong, Andrew Robertson and James McArthur were the scorers in Vilnius, ending Lithuania's unlikely hopes.

DENMARK 4, POLAND 0 Poland was thrashed 4-0 by Denmark for its first loss in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, throwing Group E wide open. With Montenegro winning 3-0 at Kazakhstan, Poland's lead was trimmed to three points with three games remaining. Montenegro and Denmark are tied on points behind the Poles.

NIGERIA SET TO QUALIFY Nigeria hammered African champions Cameroon to virtually seal a 2018 World Cup place, but Ghana drew and South Africa lost to suffer serious qualifying setbacks. Current and former Chelsea midfielders Victor Moses and John Obi Mikel scored one goal and created another as Nigeria overwhelmed Cameroon 4-0 in southeast city Uyo.

MEXICO BOOK BERTH Mexico became the fifth team to guarantee their place at the 2018 World Cup as the United States crashed to defeat at home to Costa Rica to place their qualification campaign in jeopardy. A Hirving Lozano header on 53 minutes was enough to give Mexico a 1-0 win over Panama at the Azteca Stadium as the CONCACAF heavyweights reached the finals for a seventh successive occasion. Mexico join Brazil, Japan and Iran alongside hosts Russia as the teams to have confirmed their places in next year's finals.