Kylian Mbappé and Cristiano Ronaldo both scored twice to help France and Portugal secure their place at next year’s European Championship with a perfect qualifying record, with Belgium also clinching a place in Germany on Friday.
The three European powers all needed a win to qualify for the tournament and their star forwards made sure they got it.
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Mbappé’s two goals – including a long-range goal for the second – helped secure a 2-1 victory over the Netherlands in Amsterdam for a perfect sixth victory in Group B.
Mbappé opened the scoring in the seventh minute by beating Lutsharel Geertruida on a cross from the right by Jonathan Clauss to volley past Brighton goalkeeper Bert Verbruggen, who was making his debut for the Netherlands.
It was Mbappé’s 41st international goal, putting him level with French great Michel Platini, despite recent difficulties with Paris Saint-Germain.
“I’m not the type to worry, and especially not about Kylian,” France coach Didier Descamps said. “He showed today that there is nothing to worry about.
“When it’s like that, France obviously has a better chance of winning.”
Mbappé doubled the lead in the 53rd minute, exchanging passes with Adrien Rabiot at the edge of the Netherlands penalty area before firing a shot over Verbruggen.
Feyenoord midfielder Quilindschy Hartman, making his first full international appearance, made it 2-1 with 10 minutes remaining. It was the first goal conceded by France during the campaign.
Greece moved into second place with 12 points after Giakoumakis and Giorgos Masouras scored a goal a piece to beat Ireland 2-0 in Dublin.
The Netherlands remain nine in third place with a game in hand.
The two best teams from each group qualify directly.
Ronaldo’s double improved his international goals record to 125 in 202 matches and led Portugal to a 3-2 victory over Slovakia.
Ronaldo converted from the penalty spot in the 29th minute, sending Slovak goalkeeper Martin Dúbravka the wrong way to double the lead to 2-0.
Striker Goncalo Ramos had given the hosts the lead with a header 11 minutes earlier.
After David Hancko pulled one back for Slovakia in the second half, Ronaldo restored a two-goal advantage when a low cross from Bruno Fernandes found him at the far post.
He jumped high in his trademark celebration in front of the roaring Porto fans after his seventh goal in six qualifying matches.
“Cristiano is in good form, he plays a lot of minutes and scores a lot of goals with his club,” Portugal coach Roberto Martinez said afterwards.
“In the national team he has a lot of experience, he is a stimulant and a reference for the young people. We all do our best. It’s not an individual game, it’s a collective game.”
Stanislav Lobotka scored the second for Slovakia in the 80th.
With three days to go, Portugal have a 100% record after seven consecutive victories with a goal difference of 27-2, the best performance ever achieved in a European qualifying campaign. Slovakia was the first team to score against Portugal.
Slovakia remain second on 13 points and Luxembourg trail by two in third after holding Iceland to a 1-1 draw in Reykjavik.
Bosnia won 2-0 against pointless Lichtenstein and are fourth of nine with Iceland a further two points behind.
Romelu Lukaku scored again and Dodi Lukébakio added two more for Belgium, who had to hang on from 10 down to beat Austria 3-2 in Vienna and secure qualification from Group F.
Lukaku beat goalkeeper Alexander Schlager to make it 3-0 after collecting a precise pass from Jérémy Doku in the 58th, just three minutes after Lukebakio scored his second.
Lukaku leads the scoring charts in qualifying with nine goals in six games, taking his international tally to 79.
Lukebakio broke down on the right before scoring inside the far post from a tight angel to give the Red Devils the lead in the 12th. It was the Sevilla striker’s first international goal.
Konrad Laimer scored for Austria in the 72nd and Belgium then fell to ten six minutes later when midfielder Amadou Onana was sent off for a second booking. Marcel Sabitzer scored Austria’s second goal from the penalty spot in the 84th, but the hosts failed to equalize.
Belgium have 16 points from six matches, with Austria three points behind after their first defeat in qualifying.
Sweden, which was inactive on Friday, is third with six points from five games and still has a small chance of overtaking Austria.
Associated Press, Reuters and ESPN’s Adriana Garcia contributed to this report.
