UEFA 2014 World Cup qualifying: Belgium in brilliant position, Italy do just enough

Armenia 0-1 Malta

In a largely meaningless game, Malta nonetheless managed a very impressive win in Armenia, holding out after Michael Mifsud’s early goal.

Portugal continued to dominate after the goal, but could not force any more clear opportunities - Ronaldo’s goalbound effort ended up being blocked by his own player when Postiga ran across his path, before fine work from Vierinha set the Real Madrid winger up once again, only for him to slice a glorious chance over the bar.

Complacency then set in for the hosts, however, and Rui Patricio almost threw away the lead when he made a mess of a deep cross, shoving the ball out into the path of Dmitri Kombarov, but Glushakov’s eventual shot flew just wide with the Portuguese defence all at sea.

Sweden pulled one back through Johan Elmander in spectacular fashion, in the 82nd minute. Zlatan Ibrahimovic exploited the space behind the Austrian defense with a great ball over the top, which Elmander ran onto before chipping Robert Almer. Unfortunately for Sweden, they were unable to find an equalizer.

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Match Date / Time: Friday, June 7 at 8:30 p.m. local, 2:30 p.m. ET

Venue: Stadion Podgorica, Podgorica, Montenegro

In contrast, Bosnia’s opponents on Friday evening, Latvia, sit second from bottom, having won just once (against bottom-dwelling Liechtenstein) and drawn just once (also against Liechtenstein). With five left to play, Latvia aren’t out of the race just yet, but they’re likely not holding out any hopes of chilling on the beach in Rio.

As for Latvia, coach Aleksandrs Starkovs has said they’ll be relying on young striker Valērijs Šabala, who scored twice in the friendly against Turkey, which ultimately ended in a 3-3 draw. The 18-year-old has yet to play a qualifier, however, so expecting great things against the group’s top side may prove too much weight for his young shoulders.

The Azzurri currently lead Bulgaria by three points at the top of Group B with a game in hand and are protecting an unbeaten record. Meanwhile, the Czechs lie five points adrift of the Italians back in third place. Both sides will have four group games remaining after Friday’s match.

It will be the first meeting in seven years for the both sides, with Italy winning the last game 2-0 back at the 2006 World Cup. Prior to that, the Czechs have had the upper hand, earning a 2-2 draw in a 2004 friendly and a 1-0 victory in a similar 2002 outing. The Czechs also famously upset the Italians 2-1 way back at Euro 96, which contributed to the Azzurri’s early exit from the competition at the group stage.

Nonetheless, that leaves second place wide open for all three teams, and while Ireland will be hoping for a draw, Austria will know that a win could be a huge result which will serve them very well in a remarkable qualification for the 2014 World Cup.

Austria coach Marcel Koller stated: “Sweden are ranked much higher in the world than us and are regarded as favourites for second place in the group. But when chances are offered to us, we want to use them and we want to defeat the Swedes - I can feel the positive energy of my team.”

Russia are top of their group despite only having played four games, due to Fabio Capello’s side having a 100 percent win record in their campaign so far. That leaves Portugal competing with Israel for second place, and a defeat or even a draw here would be a huge boost to the Israelis.

Capello seemed confident about his chances when asked, saying: “We already proved that we’re able to overcome Portugal. On Friday we expect an even more difficult match than we played in Moscow but our desire to win is even stronger.

Italy are on top of Group B with a three-point lead over Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic have a two-point deficit to catch up if they want to secure second place. A win for the Czechs here could make the top of this group very interesting indeed, and this should be a tricky away test for Italy. Victory for the Italians will be a huge step on the road to qualification.

Armenia vs. Malta - 5:00 p.m. BST, 12:00 p.m. ET