After a frustrating first half in which they could not break their opponents down, Germany opened the scoring four minutes after half time when Woltemade stabbed in Leroy Sane's cross. The 23-year-old then got his and Germany's second with just over 20 minutes remaining when he swept in from Ridle Baku's incisive pass. Liverpool's Florian Wirtz saw an effort blocked late on as Germany looked to add more goals. The win means Germany are top of Group A, above Slovakia on goal difference. Both sides are certain of a top-two finish but the automatic qualification position remains all to play for and the two sides will meet in their final qualifying game in Germany on Monday, 17 November. The goals for Woltemade, meanwhile, continued his good form after scoring six goals in his first season at Newcastle.

They remain three points above the Poles at the top of Group G, with a stronger goal difference by 13 goals, going into Monday's final fixtures. Poland, who are guaranteed a play-off place at least, took the lead when Robert Lewandowski played in Jakub Kaminski, who slotted through Bart Verbruggen's legs. But Ronald Koeman's side were level early in the second half when Donyell Malen's header was saved and the nation's record scorer Memphis Depay scored from the rebound. That was the 31-year-old Corinthians forward's eighth goal of these World Cup qualifiers, only behind Norway's Erling Haaland with 14. The Netherlands just need a point at home to Lithuania to be sure of qualification, but even if they lose Poland would need to win in Malta with a goal difference swing of 13 goals. Finland lost 1-0 to Malta earlier on Friday to end their play-off hopes.

After their hosts in Kosice had two goals chalked off in the second half, Northern Ireland looked on course for a valuable point in their efforts to secure a top-two finish in qualifying Group A. But substitute Tomas Bobcek struck in the first minute of added time to give his side a 1-0 victory that boosts their own hopes of making it to the World Cup in North America next summer. The blow of a result that would have otherwise ended Northern Ireland's qualification hopes was considerably softened by events elsewhere. Croatia's win over the Faroe Islands, which ensured Czech Republic will finish in the top two in Group L, leaves Michael O'Neill's side sure of taking one of four play-off spots held for Nations League group winners irrespective of where they finish in their own qualifying group.

A seventh win out of seven in qualifying has them sat top of Group I, three points ahead of Italy in second place and 17 goals better off. Italy left it late to beat Moldova 2-0 later on Thursday to keep them mathematically in the hunt, although they are unlikely to overhaul Norway's significantly better goal difference with one game remaining. For a while in this game it seemed that Norway were in danger of not getting the win they needed as they failed to take the chances they had in the first half. But Sorloth got the breakthrough early in the second period with a header, then nodded in another goal moments later. Manchester City striker Haaland then scored his first of the evening when he headed in Julian Ryerson's cross and fired in a second seven minutes later to put the result beyond doubt. Robi Saarma's driven effort pulled one back for Estonia but it was nothing more than a consolation as Norway put themselves on the verge of a first World Cup appearance since 1998. It had looked like that would be confirmed on Thursday night as Italy struggled to find a goal against Moldova for 88 minutes, despite having 30 attempts, but late strikes by Gianluca Mancini and Pio Esposito means Norway will have to wait a little longer for confirmation.

After Troy Parrott's first-half double for the home side, Ronaldo was initially shown a yellow card for swinging his elbow into Irish defender Dara O'Shea's back on the hour mark. However, the Portugal captain's card was upgraded after the video assistant referee (VAR) advised referee Glenn Nyberg to review the incident on the pitchside monitor. An ignominious end to the five-time Ballon d'Or's night, it was Ronaldo's first red for Portugal in his 226th appearance. Victory would have sealed Portugal's place at next year's finals with a game to spare, but Parrott's brace was enough to deny Roberto Martinez's side and keep alive the Republic of Ireland's qualifying hopes. While Portugal are still in pole position to top the group, they will be without Ronaldo for Sunday's home match against Armenia (14:00 GMT), with the length of his suspension to be decided by a disciplinary committee. The Republic of Ireland, meanwhile, would secure a play-off spot with victory over Hungary in Budapest on Sunday (14:00).