UEFA World Cup 2014 qualifying: Italy, Netherlands go through

It has been another busy day of World Cup qualifying in UEFA, as two teams clinched spots for next summer’s tournament and several groups got even tighter.

Here’s a recap of all the results from today’s matches.

Literally nothing of consequence happened in the first half before Lloris’ first gaffe. He did a horrible job of getting in front of a header by Yegor Filipenko on a corner and let the ball dribble past him after a weak attempt at a save. That seemed to wake up France, who had been sleepwalking through the first half-hour, but it didn’t lead to a first-half goal.

Ribery got his team back in the match instantly in the second half, drawing a penalty in the 47th minute. He stepped up to convert and tie the game, but it wouldn’t remain level for long. Lloris let in another terrible goal on a shot by Timofei Kalachev in the 57th minute that he should have not only saved, but easily held on to.

The Czech Republic started to play more proactively for the first time in the match after going behind, with both Kozak and Jarošík having efforts on goal from outside the area. The former arguably had their best opportunity at equalising with just under 15 minutes remaining, though the tall striker headed wide from inside the box.

Goals: Chiellini (51’), Balotelli (pen 54’)

It hasn’t entirely been plain sailing, with Cesare Prandelli’s side drawing away against Czech Republic and Bulgaria, and winning by unconvincing margins in their two matches against minnows Malta. Having said that, they’ve solidly completed the qualification task at hand, and have a habit of raising their game when it comes to the big international tournaments.

• Saying so long to the woefully incompetent Chepo de la Torre

Both teams were attacking relentlessly, with the game an end-to-end series of counterattacks, unsurprisingly dictated by Hamsik and Pjanic, who had both more surprisingly been given the freedom of the park by the opposition to create almost at will.

That nervy moment aside, it was Bosnia who were on top, despite their erratic passing as Slovakia struggled to clear their lines in the face of the visitors’ intensity.

Switzerland are all but in the World Cup and could see their place clinched later in the day if results fall their way. They beat Norway, 2-0, away in impressive fashion, clinching at least a playoff spot. Fabian Schär scored early and the Swiss never looked back, comfortably outplaying their opponents.

Things got worse quickly for Norway. Marcus Pedersen picked up an injury not long afterwards, forcing Joshua King into the game early. Two minutes after King’s entrance, Switzerland nearly double their lead, but Haris Seferovic’s apparent goal was correctly disallowed for offside.

Ukraine, meanwhile, deploy Roman Zozulya as a lone striker but with the dangerous-looking trio of Andriy Yarmolenko, Eugene Konoplyanka and Oleg Gusev in midfield.

Ukraine starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Andriy Pyatov; Artem Fedetskyi, Eugene Khacheridi, Oleksandr Kucher, Vyasheslav Shevchuk; Edmar, Taras Stepanenko; Andriy Yarmolenko, Eugene Konoplyanka, Oleg Gusev; Roman Zozulya.

Though England hasn’t lost since they were felled by The Almighty Zlatan Sweden in a friendly last November, Ukraine has looked even better shape of late. They too haven’t lost in almost a year, only conceding twice. As national team coach Mykhaylo Fomenko is still unbeaten, having witnessed his side mercilessly put nine past San Marino on Friday, Ukraine will prove to be England’s toughest qualification test yet.

Match Date/Time: Tuesday, 9:45 p.m. local, 2:45 p.m. ET

Match Date/Time: Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. local, 2:30 p.m. ET

Venue: Estadi Comunal d’Andorra la Vella, Andorra la Vella, Andorra

Match Date/Time: Tuesday, 8:45 p.m. local, 2:45 p.m. ET

Venue: Juventus Stadium, Torino, Italy

They managed to keep the score down to a respectable 3-0 defeat in the reverse fixture in Hannover, though things could feasibly be much worse for the Faroese this time around. Only Sweden has kept Joachim Löw’s side from a 100 percent win record, when they came back from 4-0 down to draw 4-4 in an incredible match in Berlin last October.

Match Date/Time: Tuesday, 7:45 p.m. local, 2:45 p.m. ET

Their buffer over Finland should be enough to guarantee Les Bleus at least a playoff spot, though they now need an unlikely slip-up from Spain if they are to qualify automatically. France will draw level on points with the table toppers if they beat Belarus -- who are currently bottom of the group -- though Spain will still have a game in hand to come.

Match Date/Time: Tuesday, 8 p.m. local, 1 p.m. ET

Match Date/Time: Tuesday, 8:45 p.m. local, 2:45 p.m. ET

Venue: Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria

A win would be a huge boost to Norway’s qualification hopes, though if they fail to beat a Swiss team that hasn’t lost in qualification so far -- provided there is a winner in the later game between Albania and Iceland -- they will be nudged down into third place.

Match Date/Time: Tuesday, 6 p.m. local, 12 p.m. ET