Sweden thrashes Luxembourg 8-0 in European World Cup qualifier

With a poker from Marcus Berg, the Swedish national team thrashed Luxembourg 8-0 today and temporarily placed themselves as the leaders of Group A in the European qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Berg completed his historic night with goals in the 18th, 37th, 54th, 60th, and 71st minutes, before being substituted in the 74th minute. Andreas Granqvist, with two penalties, Mikael Lustig, and Ola Toivonen scored the remaining Swedish goals, propelling them to the top of the group with 19 points, two ahead of France and six above the Netherlands.

The French will later play against Bulgaria in Sofia, while the Dutch will face Belarus in Minsk.

The impressive Swedish victory, the largest since their 10-1 win against Finland, almost guarantees them the second position and at least a playoff spot, as the Netherlands could potentially reach the same number of points, but Sweden has a goal difference of +19 compared to the "oranje's" +5.

In Sarajevo, Belgium, who already secured their ticket to Russia, defeated Bosnia 4-3, with Bosnia remaining in second place in Group H, but they could be overtaken by Greece, who will visit Cyprus later on. In addition, Estonia achieved a 6-0 away victory against Gibraltar.

Thomas Meunier, Michy Batshuayi, Jan Vertonghen, and Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco scored the Belgian goals, while Haris Medunjanin, Edin Visca, and Dario Dumic found the back of the net for Bosnia, who now have 14 points, one more than Greece and three more than Estonia.

In a match from Group B between two eliminated teams, the Faroe Islands drew 0-0 with Latvia.