Bayern's international players notched up one victory and four draws in Friday evening's World Cup qualifying matches. Daniel van Buyten, Arjen Robben and Xherdan Shaqiri still have every chance of making it to the finals in Brazil, but Franck Ribéry and Mario Mandzukic face the uncertainty of the play-offs. fcbayern.de rounds up the evening's results.
Daniel van Buyten and his Belgian side took a potentially decisive step towards a place in the finals with a 2-0 win against Scotland in Glasgow. Steven Defour scored in the 38th minute and substitute Kevin Mirallas a minute from the end of normal time for the Red Devils, who now have 22 points and a comfortable lead in their qualifying group.
Five points behind are Mario Mandzukic's Croatia, who could do no better than a 1-1 draw in Serbia. After a goalless first half Mandzukic gave his side the lead in the 53th minute, but Aleksandar Mitrovic levelled for the home side in the 66th minute. The two teams meet again, this time in Croatia, on October 11 in an encounter that will be decisive for both - but a draw will be enough to book Belgium's place in Brazil.
Arjen Robben and the Netherlands remain unbeaten, but it was a close-run thing against Estonia in Tallinn. Robben gave the 2010 World Cup runners-up a first-minute lead, but they were pegged back by goals from Konstantin Vassiljev in the 17th and 56th minutes. It was not until the third minute of stoppage time that Robin van Persie equalised from the penalty spot. However, the Dutch still have a comfortable lead in Group D, with 19 points to Romania's 13.
Xherdan Shaqiri and Switzerland also were obliged to settle for an unlikely 4-4 draw at home against Iceland despite leading 3-1 at the break. After Johann Gudmundsson gave the visitors a shock third-minute lead, goals from Stephan Lichtsteiner in the 15th and 30th minutes, Fabian Schaer in the 27th and Blerim Dzemaili with a 54th minute penalty seemed to have given the Swiss an unassailable lead, but Kolbeinn Sigthorsson hit back two minutes later and Gudmundsson completed the comeback, and his own hat-trick, with goals in the 68th minute and in stoppage time. With three matches left the Swiss head the table with 15 points, ahead of Norway with 11.
Newly-crowned European Footballer of the Year Franck Ribéry suffered disappointment with France's 0-0 draw in Georgia. With two matches left the French are three points behind reigning world and European champions Spain, who even without the injured Thiago Alcântara and Javi Martínez won 2-0 in Finland and top the table with 14 points from six matches.
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