Alexander Mitrovic's goal against Serbia brought Portugal into the play-offs

Spain qualified for the World Cup after a late victory over Sweden; Croatia also beat Russia 1-0 to book their place in Qatar in 2022; North Macedonia finished second in Group J and Germany ended their campaign with a win; and the Republic of Ireland beat Luxembourg in the final match

After first-half substitute Aleksandr Mitrović scored with a header in the 90th minute, Serbia advanced automatically in the 2022 World Cup final, winning 2-1 against Portugal in Sunday's Group A qualifiers.

The result lifted Serbia to the top of the table with a 20-point advantage, three points more than second-placed Portugal, who only needed a draw to qualify for first place on goal difference, but is now heading into the March play-offs.

After visiting captain Dusan Tadić canceled the opening of portugal's early Renato Sanchez, Mitrovic beat home goalkeeper Rui Patricio with a downward header from the far post, sparking wild celebrations on the Serbian bench.

After Bernardo Silva snatched the ball from Nemanjagudergi in the danger zone and fed it to Sanchez, the home team made a fantastic start in the second minute, with Sanchez driving the ball past goalkeeper Predragikovic from 15 metres.

When Dusan Vlahović preferred Mitrovic as the sole striker, they weren't worried about falling behind when Patricio hit the post before equalising for Serbia.

A seemingly innocuous raid ended with Tadić deflecting his shot from 20 meters, sliding past Patricio's fingertips and across the line.

The worse goalkeeper provided Portugal with a fantastic opportunity to regain the lead by Rajkovic at the end of halftime, but João Moutinho's shot was blocked by Nicolas Mirenkovic.

Serbia coach Dragan Stojkovic pitched Mitrovic to Goodley, whose bet on deploying an extra striker for a defensive midfielder paid off as the Fulham striker – his top scorer in the history of the country, scoring 44 goals in 69 games – was delivered.

Portugal looked set to hold out after Mitrovic's header in the 85th minute, but the striker had the last laugh as he left his mark at the time of death and returned home after Tadic's cross from the right.

In the final 22 minutes, goals from Shane Duffy, Chidouzi Ogburn and Callum Robinson were victorious – Ireland finished second out of 15 attempts – and were third in Group A, behind Serbia and Portugal.

Group B - Spain qualified after Sweden's victory

Thanks to a goal from substitute Alvaro Morata late in the second half, Spain qualified for next year's World Cup final in Qatar by beating visitor Sweden 1-0.

Morata struck in the 86th minute and deftly lifted the ball past Swedish goalkeeper Robin Olsen after Danniormo's fierce long-range shot back into his path.

It was a tense game and although Spain dominated the race, the Swedes created the best chances with counter-attacks from dangerous Emile Fausberg and Alexander Isaac.

After playing the full 90 minutes of Sweden's 2-0 loss to Georgia on Thursday, Ibrahimovic started on the bench and came in the final 20 minutes with little impact.

The match looked close to a draw, which was enough to take Spain to the final, when Olmo's astonishing strike bounced off woodwork to Morata, who appeared before the hour marker, who calmly put the ball into the internet.

Spain topped Group B with 19 points, four points ahead of second-placed Swedes, who could still qualify for the March play-offs.

Greece and Kosovo drew 1-1 in the final World Cup qualifiers.

Croatia automatically secured a spot in next year's World Cup final in a dramatic fashion as the late Feder Kudryasov oolong ball gave them a 1-0 home win over Russia in the tight Group D qualifiers.

Croatia, the runner-up of the 2018 World Cup, overtook Russia with 23 points in 10 matches, ranking first, one point more than the second-placed Russian team that will make it to the March play-offs.

Croatia dominated a game that played in heavy rain, but before Kudryasov's clumsy touch in the 80th minute delighted home fans, visiting goalkeeper Matvi Safonov and the waterlogged stadium put them in trouble.

As Croatia's attack lost momentum on a tough pitch, left-back Bornasosa floated from the left on a hopeful cross and Kudryasov bundled the ball into his net after bouncing awkwardly in front of him.

Russia missed their only chance to save the game in their first fluid move in stoppage time, with Vyacheslav Karavaev firing over the crossbar from 18 metres.

Third-placed Slovakia beat Malta 6-0. Slovenia beat Cyprus 2-1.

North Macedonia beat Iceland 3-1 at home to lock up a World Cup qualifier play-off spot to secure them runners-up in Group J, with midfielder Ergiev Hermas scoring two goals in the second half.

Ezjan Alyoski played an important role as he scored home's 7th minute opener in Skopje and had a hand in the second game after Jon Solsteinsen equalised for Iceland.

In the 65th minute, Icelandic goalkeeper Elias Olafsen blocked Aliuski's shot out of the way, the visiting team defense failed to clear the ball, and Elmas blocked the ball in the goal scramble.

Elmas cheered the crowd five minutes before the end of the match, and in the 79th minute Iceland let Isaac Johannessen's second yellow card be sent off before he fired a left-footed shot.

The North Macedonians ended their qualifying match with 18 points from 10 matches, ahead of third-placed Romania, who won 2-0 in Liechtenstein.

Striker Dennis Mann led Romania 1-0 in the 8th minute, but the visiting team failed to extend the lead as captain Nicola Stanchu missed several chances and was beaten by goalkeeper Benjamin Butcher in the first half.

Despite repeated rejections of Romania after half-time, Butcher was unable to stop Nikusso Bancu's long-range screams in the 87th minute, which ended the away team's victory on an otherwise depressing day.

German midfielder Ilkai Gundogan scored twice in their 4-1 win over Armenia, winning for the seventh straight game under coach Hans Frick to finish Group J at the top of the group.

Germany, which is already eligible, missed out on more than a dozen players due to injury, suspension and COVID-19 quarantine and made six changes to the team that beat Liechtenstein 9-0 on Thursday, with a strong start, with Kay Havertz hitting the goalpost minute in the fifth quarter. After 10 minutes, he did even better, cutting Thomas Mueller back with a dexterous touch.

The German had a couple of good chances to score again, but had to wait until first half stoppage time, gundogan scored on a penalty.

Armenian goalkeeper Stanislav Buchnev let the German's weak shot slip out of his hands as the Manchester City midfielder scored his 13th international goal five minutes after restarting.

The home team briefly pulled a goal back from Henrik Mkhitaryan's 59th-minute free throw, but five minutes later, when Jonas Hoffmann burst into the defence and rushed into the box, Germany restored their three-goal advantage.