Spain and Serbia win, close in on World Cup spots

Spain and Serbia are on the verge of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup in Russia after wins on Tuesday, while Croatia and Iceland are top of a very tight Group I.

Spain followed up Saturday’s 3-0 win over Italy by crushing Liechtenstein 8-0 to remain top of Group G, three points ahead of the Azzurri, who labored to a 1-0 win over Israel.

Serbia is similarly in control of Group D after beating Ireland 1-0 to go four points clear.

GROUP D

A goal from Aleksandar Kolarov guided 10-man Serbia to a 1-0 win over Ireland, putting the Balkan nation on the verge of a place at next year’s World Cup.

Serbia was reduced to 10 men after defender Nikola Maksimovic was sent off for a desperate lunge on Daryl Murphy in the 68th as the Ireland forward ran through on goal.

Wales struggled to create many chances against a defensively minded Moldovan team until 17-year-old Liverpool player Ben Woodburn came on as a substitute.

After scoring the winning goal for Wales against Austria on Saturday, Woodburn revitalized his team against Moldova with smart passing and provided the cross for Robson-Kanu’s diving header in the 80th. Aaron Ramsey made it 2-0 for Wales deep into stoppage time.

GROUP G

Alvaro Morata each scored two

and Iago goals as

Aspas Spain maintained its three-point advantage over second-placed Italy with two matches remaining.

GROUP I

Cenk Tosun scored a second-half goal to lead Turkey to a 1-0 win over Croatia that blew the group wide open.

Group leader Croatia have 16 points each. and Iceland