As World Cup qualification campaigns reach the home straight around the globe, we look at the current state of play.
Europe
- Belgium, England, Germany, Iceland, Poland, Serbia and Spain have already secured their places with two group winners still to be decided. France and Sweden in Group A and Switzerland and Portugal in Group B are fighting for the two remaining automatic spots.
- Eight second-placed teams will then fight for four remaining places in Russia via the play-offs next month. Croatia, Denmark, Italy, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are already assured of a place in the play-offs.
- France and Sweden are all-but certain to fill the top two spots in Group A, eliminating the Netherlands. France will seal top spot with a home win over Estonia, but any slip opens the door for Sweden to leapfrog Les Bleus with victory over the Netherlands. The Netherlands need to beat Sweden by six goals to pip them to second spot. Whoever ends up second in that group is assured of a play-off spot.
- Portugal and Switzerland meet in Lisbon tonight; Switzerland will seal top spot with a win or a draw, a Portugal win will take the European champions to Russia. Whichever team finishes second is sure of a play-off spot.
- Slovakia look almost certain to be the second-placed team to miss out on the play-offs; they are relying on Greece failing to beat Gibraltar tonight and being pipped to second place in Group H by a Bosnia victory over Estonia. In that scenario, Slovakia would sneak into the top eight and Bosnia would be the second-placed team to miss out.
- Below is the current table of second-placed teams in European qualification, with results against the bottom team in each group excluded as they don't count in the play-off ranking.
- Those in bold are confirmed in the play-offs; others can either still top their groups, be overtaken in second spot or are at risk of finishing ninth in this table and being eliminated.
Europe: Second-placed table
- Portugal (Group B) P 7 GD +18 GS 22 Pts 18
- Italy (Group G) P 8 GD +4 GS 11 Pts 17
- Denmark (Group E) P 8 GD +7 GS 13 Pts 14
- Croatia (Group I) P 8 GD +4 GS 8 Pts 14
- Sweden (Group A) P 7 GD +10 GS 17 Pts 13
- Northern Ireland (Group C) P 8 GD +4 GS 10 Pts 13
- Greece (Group H) P 8 GD +4 GS 9 Pts 13
- Republic of Ireland (Group D) P 8 GD +1 GS 7 Pts 13
- Slovakia (Group F) P 8 GD +5 GS 10 Pts 12
Other possible play-off teams
The following teams are not currently second in their groups, but could still finish there.
Group A:
- France (1st) GD +9 Pts 16
- Netherlands (3rd) GD 0 Pts 11
Group B:
- Switzerland (1st) GD +14 Pts 21
Group H:
- Bosnia (3rd) GD +1 Pts 8
Africa
- Nigeria became the first African side to qualify for next summer's finals with a 1-0 win over Zambia on Saturday and Egypt joined them thanks to a 2-1 victory over Congo on Sunday. The remaining three qualifiers will not be determined until next month.
- Tunisia need just a point in their final game at home to Libya to be certain of qualifying, the Ivory Coast must beat Morocco to overtake them and win Group C, while Senegal will qualify as Group D winners with a home victory over South Africa.
Asia
- Iran, South Korea, Japan and Saudi Arabia were the first four Asian nations to qualify.
- Australia have beaten Syria 3-2 on aggregate in the final Asian play-off and will now take on the team which finishes fourth in the CONCACAF section over two legs for a place in Russia.
Tim Cahill and Australia celebrate
CONCACAF
- Mexico and Costa Rica's qualification means only one automatic berth is still open, with the United States in pole position to claim it. A win over the group's bottom side Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday will seal their passage.
- Panama currently occupy fourth, which carries with it a play-off against Australia or Syria. If they can achieve a better result against Costa Rica than fifth-placed Honduras manage against Mexico, they will definitely hold onto fourth place at the very least.
Oceania
- New Zealand face a play-off next month against the team finishing fifth in South American qualifying, with the winner of that two-legged tie qualifying for the finals.
South America
- Brazil are home and hosed but the remaining three automatic qualifying places in South America - and the identity of the team which gets a second chance in a play-off against New Zealand - is far from settled.
- Uruguay just need to draw at home to Bolivia to join Brazil but beneath them, only two points separate the next five teams in the standings with one round of games to go.
- Argentina know that three points away to Ecuador would get them at least a play-off place but winning at high altitude will be no easy achievement.
Confirmed Qualifiers:
- Hosts (1) - Russia
- Africa (5) - Egypt, Nigeria
- Asia (4.5) - Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea.
- Europe (13) - Belgium, England, Germany, Iceland, Poland, Serbia, Spain
- CONCACAF (3.5) - Costa Rica, Mexico
- Oceania (0.5)
- South America (4.5) - Brazil
Numbers in brackets are the total qualifiers for each confederation. Half-places indicate intercontinental play-offs: one between New Zealand (Oceania) and the fifth-placed side in South America - which could be any one of Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Argentina or Paraguay - and the other between either Australia (Asia) and the fourth-placed CONCACAF side, at this stage most likely Panama. For more details, check out Andy Schooler's full World Cup lowdown.