France and Portugal qualify for World Cup, Dutch miss out

Portugal and France have secured their spots at next year’s World Cup finals, but the Dutch will miss their second big international tournament in a row.France finished top of Group A after beating Belarus 2-1 at the Stade de France in Paris on Tuesday (Oct 10). Les Bleus won thanks to goals by Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud in the first half.Sweden secured a playoff spot despite losing 2-0 to the Dutch, who needed to win by a seven-goal margin to reach the playoffs but finished level on 19 points.The Netherlands’ Arjen Robben finished his international career with both goals. After 37 goals in 96 internationals, he received a standing ovation as he limped through the final minutes.The Dutch have now missed out on a second major tournament, after failing in their bid to qualify for the Euro 2016 in France.A year after winning the European Championship, Portugal has set its sights on the world cup after it qualified with a 2-0 home win over Switzerland. An own-goal by Swiss defender Johan Djourou and a goal by Andre Silva handed Portugal a ninth straight victory.The Swiss had led Group B since beating Portugal in their opening match last year but Portugal pulled level on 27 points and edged out their rivals on goal difference.Meanwhile Greece thrashed Gibraltar 4-0, with Konstantinos Mitroglou scoring twice in between goals from Captain Vassilis Torosidis and Giannis Gianniotas. The win puts the 2004 European champions behind Belgium with 19 points, but secures them a spot in the playoffs, the draw for which will be made next Tuesday.