The Scots led twice inside 90 minutes, twice lost that lead, then scored two fabulous goals in injury time - one from their own half - to ensure they will return to the finals for the first time since 1998 in France. Now they will be in the 5 December draw for the tournament next summer in the United States, Canada and Mexico, after a haphazard but ultimately glorious qualification campaign in which they have overcome Greece, Belarus and the Danes. Needing a win to avoid the anxiety of having to go through March's play-offs, Scotland were challenged by head coach Steve Clarke to play with "the anticipation of success, not the fear of failure". And his players rose to the occasion on this monumental night as Clarke became the first head coach to lead the Scots to three major tournaments.

Bosnia-Herzegovina needed a victory if they were to qualify themselves and they took a 12th-minute lead through Haris Tabakovic in Vienna. However, Michael Gregoritsch equalised in the 77th minute when he reacted first to finish the rebound after Austria had hit the crossbar to make it 1-1. Bosnia-Herzegovina were one goal away from qualifying, but instead will now have to enter the play-offs where they will need to win two single-leg ties to join Austria in next summer's finals in Canada, Mexico and the United States. Austria came third in the World Cup in 1954 and fourth in 1934 but missed the past six tournaments after they went out in the group phase, failing to win a game, in 1998. Rangnick managed Manchester United for six months on an interim basis in 2021-22, before taking charge of the Austria team in May 2022. He guided them to Euro 2024, when they beat Poland and the Netherlands to make it into the last 16, before losing 2-1 to Turkey. In eight Group H matches, Austria won six, drew one and lost one to end on 19 points, two more than Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The record was held by Iceland, who reached the 2018 finals, but their country is far bigger than Curacao, which has a population of just over 150,000 (similar to Cambridge or Huddersfield) and a land area of 171 square miles, smaller than the Isle of Man. Former England boss McClaren resigned as Jamaica boss after his side, who needed a win in Kingston to qualify for their first World Cup since 1998, were held to a goalless draw, including having an injury-time penalty overruled by VAR. Curacao boss Dick Advocaat, who was not at the game for personal reasons, will become the oldest coach at a World Cup, aged 78, beating Otto Rehhagel's record when he was in charge of Greece aged 71 in 2010.

Julian Nagelsmann's side needed at least a draw to ensure their automatic qualification spot at the top of Group A while victory for Slovakia would have seen them through instead and forced Germany into a play-off. But, having scored twice against Luxembourg on Friday, Newcastle striker Woltemade's powerful header from Joshua Kimmich's cross put Germany in control early on in Leipzig. Serge Gnabry then doubled the hosts' lead, finishing into the corner from Leon Goretzka's threaded pass, before Leroy Sane slotted home Florian Wirtz's sublime ball into the penalty box. The two combined again to give Germany a four-goal lead at the break, Sane prodding in the Liverpool midfielder's cross to the far post. The second half was a more tame affair but Ridle Baku added a fifth goal, his first for Germany since 2021, when Bayern Munich winger Gnabry shifted across for the substitute to fire home a low strike. Assan Ouedraogo added a sixth 12 minutes later, finishing smartly into the bottom corner just two minutes after coming on to make his international debut. While this was an impressive attacking display from four-time World Cup winners Germany, it also marked a fourth straight clean sheet. Slovakia were denied an equaliser at 1-0 when Oliver Baumann turned David Duris' finish behind from close range but otherwise struggled with Germany's high line and will now go into the play-offs after a chastening defeat.

The unbeaten Dutch were as good as there anyway, going into the final day three points above Poland with a superior goal difference of 13. All four of the Netherlands' goalscorers were Premier League players - the first time that has happened in a game. Manchester City midfielder Tijjani Reijnders lashed them into a 16th-minute lead. Liverpool's Cody Gakpo added a penalty and Tottenham's Xavi Simons hammered in a third. Aston Villa's Donyell Malen scored a fine solo goal to increase their lead further. Second-placed Poland won 3-2 away to Malta and will now enter the play-offs.