World Cup Qualifying Roundup: England Demolish Serbia, Haaland Hits Five as France and Portugal Secure Comeback Wins

England delivered a commanding 5-0 victory against Serbia in World Cup qualifying on Tuesday, while Norway's Erling Haaland scored five goals in an 11-1 win over Moldova. Portugal and France both secured comeback wins in their qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup, set to be hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.England dominated their match in Belgrade, with Harry Kane opening the scoring in the 33rd minute with his 74th international goal from a Declan Rice corner. Noni Madueke doubled the lead two minutes later with a clever finish.Ezri Konsa scored his first international goal early in the second half, followed by Marc Guehi's strike from another Rice set-piece. Marcus Rashford completed the scoring with a late penalty."The players did excellent. The credit goes to them, they did amazing. That's the bar," England manager Thomas Tuchel told ITV Sport.England could secure their qualification for an eighth consecutive World Cup in their next Group K match against Latvia. Albania moved into second place in the group after defeating Latvia 1-0 in Tirana.Norway maintained their perfect record in Group I with an emphatic 11-1 victory over Moldova. Haaland scored five goals, while Martin Odegaard contributed with a goal and two assists.Felix Myhre opened the scoring for Norway after being set up by Haaland. Thelo Aasgaard came off the bench to score four goals, including a hat-trick in eleven minutes, with Moldova's only response coming through a Leo Ostigard own goal.France overcame an early setback at the Parc des Princes when Arni Gudjohnsen put Iceland ahead. Kylian Mbappe equalised from the penalty spot before setting up Bradley Barcola for the winner."We were punished for our only mistake. We created lots of chances but we are capable of doing better," said France coach Didier Deschamps.France secured the 2-1 victory despite Aurelien Tchouameni's red card and a late disallowed goal from Arni Gudjohnsen. They now lead Group D by three points over Iceland, with Ukraine and Azerbaijan two points further behind after drawing 1-1.Portugal continued their strong start in Group F with a 3-2 win over Hungary at the Puskas Arena. Barnabas Varga gave Hungary the lead before Bernardo Silva equalised.Cristiano Ronaldo extended his international goal record to 141 with a penalty. Although Varga scored again for Hungary, Joao Cancelo secured the win for Portugal with a late goal."I loved the attitude and focus -- we just needed to control the game and take it where we wanted," Portugal coach Roberto Martinez said after the match.Hungary dropped to third place in Group F, behind Armenia who defeated Ireland 2-1.