UEFA World Cup 2014 qualifying: Two teams clinched spots for next summer in Brazil

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.

Shaun Maloney’s goal three minutes from full time gave Scotland a 2-1 win over Macedonia. Scotland’s Ikechi Anya scored early for the Scots but equalized in the 84th minute. Three minutes later, Maloney found the winner.

Filip Djordjevic, Aleksandar Kolarov and Lazar Markovic led Serbia to an easy 3-0 victory over Wales.

Varazdat Haroyan’s sending off in the 72nd minute gave Denmark a penalty that Daniel Agger did not waste. Thanks to Bulgaria’s victory, Denmark remains one point out of second place. If qualifying ended today, they would not be going to Brazil.

Bulgaria held on to second place in Group B behind goals from Radoslav Dimitrov and Emil Gargorov. Malta made the final minutes nervy after pulling within a goal in the 78th minute, but the Bulgarians were able to hold on for the win.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s first-minute goal was all Sweden needed, as they maintained their hold on second place in the group.

Austria stayed within three points of Sweden for second place thanks to a late goal by David Alaba.

Turkey kept their slim hopes of making the playoff round alive, with a 1-0 upset over Romania. Burak Yilmaz’s 22nd minute goal gave Turkey a lead and Mevlut Erding score late in second half stoppage time to secure the three points.

Hungary hammered Estonia 5-1 to take over second place in the group, ahead of Romania by a single point. Hungary took the lead early thanks to an own-goal by Ragnar Klavan and never looked back as Tamas Hajnal, Dániel Böde, Balázs Dzsudzsákand and Krisztian Nemeth all scored. Tarmo Kink netted Estonia’s lone consolation goal.

Goals from Milivoje Novakovic and Josip Ilicic gave Slovenia the victory over Cyprus in a battle of the two bottom of the table teams in Group E.

Valdet Rama gave Albania an early lead, but it only took eight minutes for Birkir Bjarnason to equalize for Iceland. One minute into the second half Kolbeinn Sigthorsson put the home side in front as Iceland held on for the victory.

Northern Ireland took the lead early thanks to a Martin Paterson goal, but fell behind thanks to goals from Luxembourg’s Aurelien Joachim and Stefano Bensi. Gareth McAuley appeared to be the hero, scoring the equalizer in the 82nd minute -- but just three minutes later Mathias Janisch scored the match winner for Luxembourg.

First half goals from Deivydas Matulevicius and Tadas Kijanskas led Lithuania to a pride-swelling-only victory over Liechtenstein, as neither side will be able to qualify for the World Cup.

Dimitris Salpingidis’ 58th minute goal was all Greece needed as they held off Latvia for the win. With the three point, Greece moves three points clear of Slovakia for second place in the group.

Piotr Zielinski scored twice as Poland rolled past San Marino.

Finland recovered from a disappointing loss to Spain with a 1-0 win over Georgia. Roman Eremenko’s 74th minute penalty combined with Jaba Kankava’s seconding off a minute later for a second yellow card, allowed Finland to secure three points.

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