All the live scores, results and news from Tuesday's Qatar 2022 qualifiers

Big wins for Belgium and the Netherlands as Slovakia shock Russia

Japan and Saudi Arabia dazzle; Concacaf matches bookend the matchday

Latvia battled back snatch a 3-3 draw in Istanbul and end Turkey’s 100-per-cent record in Group G. Kenan Karaman and Hakan Calhanoglu had the hosts 2-0 ahead, but Roberts Savaļnieks pulled one back before half-time. Burak Yilmaz’s penalty shortly after the restart restored Turkey’s two-goal lead, but goals from Roberts Uldriķis and Davis Ikaunieks secured Latvia’s first point of the campaign.

Portugal came from behind to beat Luxembourg 3-1 away and make it seven points from a possible nine in Group A. Gerson Rodrigues, who was immense from the outset, scored a magnificent diving header to stun a team 93 places above Luxembourg on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. However, close-range goals from Diogo Jota and Cristiano Ronaldo either side of the break swung the game in Portugal’s favour, before substitute Joao Palhinha sealed victory.

Slovakia got their campaign up and running with victory over 2018 hosts Russia in Trnava. Milan Skriniar powered in a header from a corner kick minutes before half-time to put the home side in front. Mario Fernandes equalised for Stanislav Cherchesov’s charges, but Robert Mak produced a moment of individual brilliance and scored the winner to leave things wide open in Group H.

Three first-time international scorers helped Belgium cruise past Belarus to go top of Group E. Jeremy Doku slid in Michy Batshuayi, who crashed in a shot at the near post for the opener. Hans Vanaken doubled the Red Devils’ lead moments later with his first international goal and then Leandro Trossard opened his account with the goal of the evening, a thunderbolt from 25 yards. Doku got his name on the scoresheet before half-time when Dennis Praet found him with a perfectly-timed through ball and the 18-year-old did the rest, finishing like a seasoned veteran. Dennis Praet continued the theme less than five minutes into the second half by grabbing his first international goal, driving in a long-range strike. Christian Benteke came off the bench to make it six, guiding in Toby Alderweireld’s early cross. Trossard and Vanaken both doubled their personal tallies on a night that Aleksandr Gutor will want to forget in a hurry.

A burst of four goals in the space of ten second-half minutes eased the Netherlands to a comfortable victory in Gibraltar and kept them within touching distance of Group G leaders Turkey. The Dutch toiled during a frustrating first half and were indebted to Steven Berghuis – a star in their win over Latvia – for belatedly settling nerves with another well-taken left-foot finish. Berghuis then turned provider to tee up Luuk de Jong to score in his third successive international game, and polish was added to the scoreline by a Memphis Depay double and close-range finishes from Georginio Wijnaldum, Donyell Malen and Donny van de Beek.

Daniel James headed home a late winner as Wales edged out Czech Republic in a tense match in which both sides were reduced to ten men. Gareth Bale set up the all-important goal with a superb left-foot cross, atoning for having missed the best of precious few chances in Cardiff. Patrik Schick had earlier been shown a direct red card for lashing out at Connor Roberts, who himself was handed his marching orders soon after following a second cautionable offence. Wales are now unbeaten in their last 12 home matches.

Norway bounced back from their bruising defeat to Turkey by grinding out a hard-fought 1-0 win in Podgorica. Having won each of their last three matches, Montenegro were high on confidence and made life difficult for the visitors throughout. But the all-important goal arrived ten minutes from half-time when Mohamed Elyounoussi wove his way through the hosts’ defence and cut the ball back for Alexander Sorloth to sweep home from close range.

Substitutes made the difference for Croatia as Zlatko Dalic’s side hit their stride in Rijeka. Ivan Perisic came off the bench to help the 2018 World Cup finalists make the breakthrough, finishing fellow substitute Borna Barisic’s cross. Luka Modric doubled their lead from the penalty spot and Josip Brekalo added a third to see off a resolute Malta side.

Aleksandar Mitrovic bagged a brace, his fourth and fifth goals in the space of six days, as Serbia strengthened their position at Group A’s summit. All was running to plan for the unbeaten visitors in the first half, when Dusan Tadic and Mitrovic - the European qualifiers’ top scorer and assist-provider respectively – combined for the latter to cut inside and fire powerfully into the bottom-right corner. But Azerbaijan created plenty of good chances themselves and were rewarded for their attacking endeavours just before the hour-mark when Emin Makhmudov sent Predrag Rajkovic the wrong way with the coolest of penalties. Mitrovic wasn’t finished though, and scored his second superb goal of the evening – volleying home left-footed from 20 yards – to seal a hard-fought win.

Cyprus made it four points from three games with a shock win over Slovenia in Nicosia. The visitors dominated the early stages but failed to make a breakthrough, for which they were punished just before the interval. Some brilliant Fotis Papoulis footwork enabled him to find Ioannis Pittas, who beat Jan Oblak for his maiden international goal. Cyprus defended infallibly in the second half to clinch a memorable victory and leap above Slovenia, who remain on three points.

Japan stretched their lead at the top of Group F with a ruthless demolition of Mongolia. This meeting of the section’s top and bottom sides always looked likely to prove a mismatch, and the floodgates duly opened when Takumi Minamino fired the Samurai Blue into a 13th-minute lead. The Mongolian goal was breached four more times in the first half alone, with Yuya Osako, Daichi Kamada and Hidemasa Morita on target before Kash-Erdene Tuya put through his own net. Japan proved even more relentless after the break, with double figures reached in style as Osako completed his hat-trick, Kyogo Furuhashi, Junya Ito and Sho Inagaki all bagged braces and Takuma Asano added further sheen to the scoreline. Their final haul of 14 unanswered goals saw Japan match the biggest win recorded in the Qatar 2022 preliminaries: an identical 14-0 triumph for Iran over Cambodia in October 2019.

Saleh Alshehri dazzled as Saudi Arabia thrashed Palestine 5-0 to surge above Uzbekistan to the top of Group D. After Yasser Alshahrani’s header finally rewarded the hosts’ dominance in the 37th minute, Alshehri’s brilliant back-heel helped set up Fahad Almuwallad to double the lead. The 27-year-old forward then scored twice after the interval, the second masterfully created by a delightful, nutmeg-decorated dribble by Sultan Al Ghanam. Salem Aldawsari completed the rout from the spot late on.

Guyana won their first World Cup qualifier since November 2011 and did so decisively. Terence Vancooten opened the scoring after eight minutes, but the goal spree came in the second half when Kadell Daniel, substitute Omari Glasgow and Emery Welshman made it a rout in Santo Domingo.

Belize got their Qatar 2022 qualification campaign up and running with an assured victory over Turks and Caicos Islands. Carlos Bernarndez scored right before half-time in San Cristobal. Jesse August doubled their lead on the other side of the whistle before Bernardez made it a brace. Deshawon Nembhard, making just his second appearance for his country, and veteran goalscorer Deon McCaulay both got on the scoresheet before the final whistle to rub further salt in Turks and Caicos’ wounds.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines ended an eight-match losing streak in FIFA World Cup qualifying with a 3-0 triumph over British Virgin Islands in Willemstad, Curacao. Oalex Anderson netted in the 10th minute and Zidane Sam doubled the advantage ten minutes later as Vincy Heat collected their first win since September 2015. Azinho Solomon added insurance in the dying minutes. After the pair had both lost their respective opening matches, the result allowed St. Vincent and the Grenadines to move off the bottom of Group C.

Grenada relied on a lone Saydrel Lewis strike just past the half-hour mark to overcome a gritty challenge from US Virgin Islands in St Georges. The win – a far cry from their 10-0 victory in the pair’s previous 2008 World Cup meeting – pushed Grenada to third in what is shaping as a competitive Group A.

Barbados were made to work overtime to end a strong challenge from an Anguilla side who had avoided defeat in just one of 11 previous World Cup qualifiers. The only goal of the contest arrived nine minutes from fulltime when Emile Saimovici struck to earn Barbados their first points of the campaign.

A double from Kane Crichlow helped Bermuda on their way to a comprehensive 5-0 win over Aruba in Bradenton, Florida. It was a strong win for the Bermudians who suffered a 5-1 loss against Canada on Thursday and who were defeated by Aruba during 2020 Concacaf Nations League qualifying.