Alvaro Morata's first-half double helped Spain to a rampant 5-0 win over Iceland on Tuesday, as the hosts signed off the March international break in style.

The striker netted a close-range finish and a penalty in a five-minute burst before the break at Riazor, to join an elite band of players in reaching the quarter-century goal mark for La Roja.

Yeremi Pino's effort and two goals from Pablo Sarabia in the second half made it a handsome victory for Luis Enrique's hosts, who looked a class above their frequently overwhelmed visitors.

With just two shots to their name throughout the entire match, Arnar Vidarsson's side seldom troubled their hosts, whose performance offered a timely reminder of their Qatar 2022 credentials eight months out from the World Cup.

Having struggled to carve Albania open until the last quarter-hour in their friendly on Saturday, Spain initially looked in similar trouble over the opening 30 minutes in A Coruna once again.

But with over 80 per cent of the ball to their name, it felt like only a matter of time before they found the opener, and Morata duly provided nine minutes out from the interval.

The Juventus striker latched onto Hugo Guillamon's pass, stepped over by Carlos Soler in a superb feint, and smuggled home a finish at the left post past Runar Alex Runarsson.

Morata was on hand to double Spain's lead three minutes later when Dani Olmo was fouled in the box by Birkir Bjarnason, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way with a cool finish from the spot.

Iceland's hopes of a fightback looked particularly remote at merely two goals down, but they became nonexistent when Pino nudged home at the left post moments after the interval.

Sarabia's subsequent header around the hour mark, followed by a simple tap-in from the same player, added gloss to the scoreline in a supreme Spanish performance.

Robert Lewandowski and Piotr Zielinski sent Poland to a 2-0 play-off victory over Sweden, sealing World Cup qualification.

Bayern Munich star Lewandowski beat Robin Olsen from the penalty spot before Zielinksi produced a composed finish to secure the hosts' spot in Qatar as Zlatan Ibrahimovic's hopes of appearing at what would surely have been a final World Cup were dashed.

Sweden offered promise in the first half. Emil Forsberg placed an early shot too close to Wojciech Szczesny and Jan Bednarek blocked Dejan Kulusevski's effort.

Poland managed only one attempt on target during a tame first-half performance but needed just four minutes to hit the front after the break, Lewandowski rolling home from 12 yards after Jesper Karlstrom clumsily felled Grzegorz Krychowiak.

Szczesny made a stunning close-range save to again deny Forsberg, but Zielinski wrapped up the win when he robbed Marcus Danielson and slotted in after 72 minutes, sparking wild scenes of celebration in Chorzow.

Ibrahimovic came on with 11 minutes remaining but only had three touches as Sweden missed out on a World Cup for the third time out of the last four tournaments.

Raheem Sterling played a starring role with the captain's armband as England cruised to a 3-0 friendly win over Ivory Coast, who had Serge Aurier sent off in the first half.

Gareth Southgate made 10 changes from the team that beat Switzerland 2-1 on Saturday, though at no point did that look an issue for the Three Lions, whose record unbeaten run was extended to 22 matches – excluding penalty shoot-outs.

Sterling was at the centre of much that was good about England in the first half, teeing up Ollie Watkins for the opener and then providing a finish just before the interval having seen Aurier dismissed moments earlier.

An England penalty was then overturned early in the second half, and the Three Lions looked like settling for a two-goal win during a disjointed second 45 minutes until Tyrone Mings headed a last-gasp third.

England were dominant right from the start and almost went ahead in the 15th minute, but Jude Bellingham's close-range effort was nudged onto the post by Badra Ali Sangare.

The visitors' goalkeeper was helpless a quarter of an hour later, though, as Sterling beat Aurier and squared across the six-yard box for Watkins to tap in.

Ivory Coast's chances of a turnaround were further damaged when Aurier was shown a second yellow card for dissent in the 40th minute, and soon after it was 2-0 thanks to Sterling's close-range finish from Jack Grealish's cut-back.

The VAR spared Ivory Coast a penalty concession early in the second half after Fousseny Coulibaly was initially penalised for a clean tackle on Bellingham.

Just when the game appeared to be petering out, Mings saw his header from a corner crash into the ground and bounce up to find the top-right corner in stoppage time.
 

What does it mean? Fringe players get a chance to impress

In truth, this ended up being little more than a training session that just happened to be attended by fans and televised, especially after Aurier's dismissal.

Nick Pope in the England goal will not have had many (any?) easier matches in his entire career, but further forward there were certainly a few players who grasped their opportunity with both hands.

Bellingham was particularly good, while Watkins got himself on the scoresheet and Emile Smith Rowe looked tidy after coming on in the second half.

Sterling shimmers

This was an excellent hour or so from the Manchester City star. Pep Guardiola probably grimaced when the forward was on the end of a heavy early tackle, but from then on he was a real threat, having a hand in the first two goals – it was the first time he had scored and assisted in an England game since October 2019.

Aurier surprises no one

There was a degree of mystery around Aurier's second yellow card for a moment, though it soon emerged he was punished for dissent. It was needless, as was his tough tackle on Grealish for his first yellow. But if anyone was a prime candidate for a first-half red card, Aurier was always going to be the man.

What's next?

England begin their Nations League campaign away to Hungary on June 4, but before that they will turn their attentions to Friday's World Cup draw.

Leandro Trossard shone with a goal and two assists as Belgium cruised to a 3-0 friendly victory over Burkina Faso in Brussels on Tuesday. 

Roberto Martinez made six changes to the side that started the 2-2 draw against the Republic of Ireland, but it was one of those who kept their place that opened the scoring. 

Hans Vanaken's header was the first of two goals in the space of two minutes, with Trossard netting an opportunistic strike after setting the Club Brugge midfielder up. 

Another brilliant delivery from Trossard was nodded home by substitute Christian Benteke with 15 minutes remaining, rounding off a comfortable outing for the Red Devils. 

It could have been very different had Matz Sels not bailed out Sebastiaan Bornauw for a lax pass that Dango Ouattara pounced on with an important tackle early on.

It was a rare opening for the visitors, who fell behind in the 16th minute when Vanaken planted a header from Trossard's cross into the bottom-left corner.  

Trossard then got on the scoresheet himself, converting on the follow-up after Michy Batshuayi's volley was parried by Burkina Faso goalkeeper Herve Koffi.  

Burkina Faso enjoyed more of the ball in the second half and Sels was forced to make a diving save to keep Cedric Badolo's curling effort out of the bottom-right corner after the hour mark. 

Benteke was sent on for Batshuayi in the 69th minute and, after being denied by Koffi with his first chance, he glanced a header home to seal a routine win for Belgium – just their second in six games. 

Giacamo Raspadori scored twice as Italy bounced back from their World Cup qualifying disappointment with a 3-2 victory over Turkey.

The Sassuolo forward struck in each half for Roberto Mancini's side in the battle of two beaten playoff semi-finalists at in Konya.

Cengiz Under had given the hosts an early lead that was cancelled out by Bryan Cristante's header, while Serdar Dursun netted a late consolation for Stefan Kuntz's men.

The reigning European champions maintained their unbeaten record against Turkey, having now avoided defeat in all 13 meetings between the sides.

Although lacking the firepower of Burak Yilmaz, who immediately announced his international retirement after the defeat to Portugal, Turkey took the lead after just four minutes.

Marseille winger Under – on loan from Serie A side Roma – drifted away from Giorgio Chiellini, before his shot squeezed under the dive of Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Italy responded in the 35th minute as Cristiano Biraghi's free-kick was powered home by the head of Cristante.

And the Azzurri completed the turnaround just three minutes later when Sandro Tonali fed Raspadori, who drilled past Altay Bayindir.

The Sassuolo striker grabbed his second in the 69th minute, neatly slotting home after Biraghi cushioned a looping cross into his stride.

Dursun halved the deficit when he scrambled home from a corner seven minutes from time.

It then took magnificent reflexes from Donnarumma to deny the Fenerbahce striker a dramatic equaliser soon after, as Kuntz's side suffered their first defeat in 12 on home soil.

Portugal sealed their place at the 2022 World Cup as Bruno Fernandes double secured a 2-0 win over North Macedonia.

Fresh from their shock defeat of Italy, North Macedonia headed to Porto with another giant killing in their sights, but it is Cristiano Ronaldo and company who will feature in Qatar.

Whereas North Macedonia had kept things tight and took their chance when it came in Palermo last week, a costly mistake from Stefan Ristovski saw them fell behind this time around.

Fernandes took full advantage, opening the scoring in the 32nd minute before doubling his tally after finishing a counter-attack he helped start with a fine 65th-minute half volley to ensure Portugal kept up their record of qualifying for every World Cup since the turn of the century.

Portugal's first opportunity seemed set to result in a goal when Ronaldo burst onto Otavio's pass in the 14th minute, only to drag wide when one-on-one with Stole Dimitrievski.

North Macedonia had otherwise kept Portugal at arm's length, yet Diogo Jota should have done better when he headed over the bar from Fernandes' corner.

It was a mistake, though, that gifted Portugal the lead. Fernandes pounced on Ristovski's poor pass and, having received a neat pass back from Ronaldo, picked out the bottom-left corner.

Jota sliced a close-range effort wide as a chance for 2-0 went begging before half-time, but Fernandes made no such mistake after the hour.

Pepe's superb tackle prevented a North Macedonia attack and started a rapid counter, with Fernandes beating the offside trap to steer in brilliantly from Jota's cross.

That settled any nerves in the crowd, with Fernando Santos' team able to relax as their prolonged qualification quest proved successful.

The only downside for the fans was two late chances going amiss for Ronaldo, who just failed to turn home a Fernandes cross before his path to goal was blocked following an excellent run from Rafael Leao.

What does it mean? Heavyweights book their spot

The draw for Path C of the UEFA qualification play-offs always ensured that at least one giant of European football – and, indeed, one of the previous two Euro winners – would miss out on a place in Qatar.

The likes of Germany, England, Spain, France and the other European nations to already have qualified will have been thrilled to see Italy crash out to North Macedonia, but lightning never looked likely to strike twice for the minnows, who can at least reflect on that famous win over the Azzurri. 

Ronaldo set to match World Cup record

Barring missing out through injury, Ronaldo will feature in a fifth World Cup, which equals the record currently shared by Antonio Carbajal, Rafael Marquez, Lothar Matthaus and Gianluigi Buffon, albeit the latter did not actually play in the 1998 tournament despite making Italy's squad.

At 37, this will surely be Ronaldo's final chance to become a world champion on the international stage.

Minnows just don't have enough

Ristovski's error did, of course, prove extremely costly, but ultimately North Macedonia did just not have the guile or quality in attack to frighten Portugal.

In fact, they managed just three shots, with none of them testing home goalkeeper Diogo Costa.

What's next?

Portugal face neighbouring Spain in the Nations League in June, while North Macedonia go up against Bulgaria.

Hansi Flick's 100 per cent start as Germany head coach came to an end as Steven Bergwijn sealed a 1-1 friendly draw for the Netherlands on Tuesday.

Former Bayern Munich boss Flick took over the reins from Joachim Low in May 2021 and the 57-year-old had overseen wins in each of his eight games in charge before the trip to Amsterdam.

It looked like he would make it nine on the spin when Thomas Muller emphatically slammed home his 43rd international goal before the break.

Louis van Gaal's side had the final say, though, with Bergwijn powering home the equaliser midway through the second half.

Germany started brightly and went close in the 11th minute when Leroy Sane drilled into the side netting from a tight angle.

They threatened again 10 minutes later when Timo Werner's header from David Raum's cross crashed back off the underside of Mark Flekken's crossbar.

Donyell Malen then clipped just wide of Manuel Neuer's right-hand post under pressure from Antonio Rudiger in what was a rare sight of goal in the opening period for the hosts.

Germany deservedly went ahead in first-half stoppage time, with Muller lashing a crisp left-footed strike past Flekken after Jamal Musiala's cross had been deflected into his path.

Die Mannschaft's failure to find a second goal was punished in the 68th minute when substitute Bergwijn thundered home from six yards following Denzel Dumfries' downwards header.

The Netherlands were denied the chance to score a winner soon after when referee Craig Pawson overturned his initial penalty decision for Kehler's foul on Depay after viewing the pitch-side monitor. 

Australia were unable to finish on a high in the third round of World Cup qualifying as they fell to a 1-0 defeat in a dead rubber against Saudi Arabia in Jeddah. 

A 2-0 loss to Japan last Thursday ended the Socceroos' hopes of earning automatic qualification to Qatar 2022 with Salem-Al Dawsari's second-half penalty securing top spot in Group B for the Green Falcons. 

Awer Mabil narrowly missed the target from Martin Boyle's cross in the 12th minute and the latter had a goal ruled out following a lengthy VAR review shortly before half-time. 

Graham Arnold replaced Bruno Fornaroli with debutant Nicholas D'Agostino at half-time but Saudi Arabia continued to control possession. 

The hosts were awarded a penalty when James Jeggo clipped Sami Al Najei and Al Dawsari coolly guided the spot-kick into the bottom-right corner. 

Australia did not go close to finding an equaliser – Ajdin Hrustic wasted their best opportunity – and needed Mat Ryan to stop Firas Al Buraikan making it 2-0 in the final 10 minutes.

The Socceroos must now take on the United Arab Emirates for a place in an intercontinental play-off against a South American team, where a place in Qatar will be on the line. 

Elina Svitolina is taking a much-needed break from tennis due to physical and mental stress brought on by injuries and Russia's invasion of her native Ukraine. 

The world number 20 revealed she had been struggling with a back injury that affected her preparations for tournaments, falling at the first hurdle in each of her past two events.

Svitolina, the 2018 WTA Finals champion, reached the last eight at the Monterrey Open, where she refused to play Anastasia Potapova unless the Russian was classed as a neutral athlete at the start of the month, but she lost in her first match at both Indian Wells and the Miami Open.

Svitolina's sabbatical means she will be absent from Ukraine's Fed Cup clash with the United States next month, and it remains to be seen if she will return in time for the French Open at the end of May.

The 27-year-old posted on Twitter: "It's been an extremely difficult couple of months for me not only mentally, but physically. 

"For quite a long time, I've been struggling with my back; the pain didn't let me prepare for the tournaments at my best.

"Meanwhile, observing with unbearable pain in my heart what is happening in my homeland of Ukraine and with how much bravery and courage our Ukrainian people are defending our country, this gave me a huge push to continue and fight on court.

"Now, my body can't handle it anymore and I need to rest, therefore I'm sad to announce that I will be missing the Fed Cup and a few of my favourite tournaments in Europe. But, I'm sure I will see you around soon, thank you for all your support in this challenging period."

Christian Eriksen made a memorable return to Parken by scoring while captaining Denmark to a 3-0 friendly victory over Serbia on Tuesday. 

Brentford midfielder Eriksen was playing at the stadium in Copenhagen for the first time since suffering a cardiac arrest there during the Euro 2020 game against Finland last June. 

The 30-year-old, who had an implantable cardioverter defibrillator fitted, only returned to competitive action in February and was handed the captain's armband for the game by Kasper Schmeichel. 

Eriksen was welcomed to the pitch with a banner that read "Welcome back, Christian" and followed up his goalscoring comeback against the Netherlands last week with a fine curling effort from just outside the box in the 57th minute. It rounded off the win after goals from Joakim Maehle and Jesper Lindstrom. 

A rapturous standing ovation met the former Inter and Tottenham playmaker when he was withdrawn by head coach Kasper Hjulmand in the 80th minute, bringing an emotional comeback to a close. 

Eriksen began speaking to the media after the final whistle but was pulled away by Schmeichel so he could take part in the celebrations with his team-mates. 

"This evening ranks high. And that reception gave me chills. Yes, it's hard to describe," Eriksen said to Discovery, before Schmeichel interrupted the interview so they could enjoy the occasion together.

Travis Head and Adam Zampa starred as Australia sealed an 88-run victory in the first ODI of their three-match series against Pakistan.

A depleted Australia batted first in Lahore, and their total of 313-7 proved beyond Pakistan's reach, despite Imam-ul-Haq making 103.

Head was the main Australian aggressor with a brilliant 101 from 72 deliveries that propelled the tourists to 171 by the time he was dismissed in the 25th over, with captain Aaron Finch (23) having played a supporting role in an opening partnership of 110.

Ben McDermott provided support with his maiden ODI half-century, though Australia lost three wickets for 21 runs in the space of seven overs as McDermott (55), Marnus Labuschagne (25) and Alex Carey (four) fell.

A flurry from Cameron Green, who hit four boundaries in a knock of 40 not out from 30 balls, gave Australia a competitive total to defend.

Fakhar Zaman was dismissed for 18 in the fifth over of Pakistan's reply, but Imam and skipper Babar Azam steadied the innings before the latter was trapped lbw by Mitchell Swepson.

Babar's steady 57 from 72 balls summed up Pakistan's issues, though, with the hosts unable to match the required run rate early in the innings.

Quick losses of Saud Shakeel (3), Mohammad Rizwan (10) and Iftikhar Ahmed (2) further damaged Pakistan's chances, despite Imam's fine work in reaching his eighth ODI century.

Imam's ton included nine boundaries, but he was then bowled by Nathan Ellis, shortly after Pakistan passed 200 with just five wickets down.

Zampa bowled Hasan Ali and Mohammad Wasim to bring up 100 ODI wickets and then moved onto 101 when Khushdil Shah lofted to Carey, with Swepson rounding things off.

Travis makes headway

It took Head just 70 deliveries to reach his second century in a 50-over match, which is the eighth-quickest in the format by an Australian batter, and the fastest against Pakistan by an Australian in an ODI.

His stay came to an end when he hit Shah to Iftikhar, while he also contributed to the bowling attack with figures of 2-35.

Zampa gets his ton

Dropped in and out of the attack by Finch, Zampa bowled superbly to finish with four wickets for 38 runs, becoming the 18th Australian bowler to take 100 ODI wickets.

While the pick of the bunch for Pakistan was Haris Rauf (2-44), Zampa spearheaded Australia as the tourists kept Pakistan's big hitters Imam and Babar – who became the second-fastest Pakistan batter to reach 4,000 ODI runs – scoring at a slow pace.

The NFL has approved a change to its playoff overtime rules to ensure both teams are given a chance to possess the ball.

Under the rules that cover the regular season, and before Tuesday's vote applied to the postseason, each team has the opportunity to possess the ball in overtime unless the team that gets it first scores a touchdown on the opening possession.

The equity of the overtime format was called into question following the end of a pulsating AFC Divisional Round clash between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs.

Kansas City managed to send the game to overtime after driving down the field in the final 13 seconds of regulation to set up a game-tying field goal.

The Chiefs subsequently won the toss and Patrick Mahomes connected with Travis Kelce for the game-winning touchdown on the opening possession.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who in a 42-36 defeat threw for 329 yards and four touchdowns in an astonishing display, never had the chance to respond.

The Indianapolis Colts and Philadelphia Eagles tabled a rule change at this week's NFL owners' meeting, proposing that both teams have the chance to possess the ball in overtime in the postseason, and the motion passed by a 29-3 margin.

Since 2010, 12 postseason games have gone to overtime, with teams that won the coin toss boasting a 10-2 record. Seven of those games were decided on the first overtime possession.

But NFL competition committee member Rich McKay intimated that an unsatisfying end to a classic in Kansas City was the final straw in terms of making a change.

Speaking at a media conference, McKay said: "In the Buffalo game this year, it's potentially the greatest 20-30 minutes of football that I've ever seen and to think that it ended that way definitely brought up the idea of 'hey, is that equitable, does that work for everybody?'.

"So I think that no question started the discussion. What typically happens in these, is they tend to lose momentum as you get further away from the game, and that did not happen in this instance."