Ronaldo scores hat trick, Denmark qualifies for World Cup

The decisive win — sealed by Joakim Maehle’s second-half goal — came at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen where star playmaker Christian Eriksen collapsed in June during a European Championship game. It is still unclear if Eriksen can resume his career to play at the World Cup in 13 months’ time.

England is likely to be there, but was made to wait before booking its place after being held to a 1-1 draw by Hungary at Wembley Stadium. Events on the field were overshadowed by clashes between police officers and Hungary supporters at the start of the match, sparked — according to police — by a visiting fan making “racially aggravated” comments toward a steward.

Disorder by Hungary fans — including racism — during the first group match between the teams, in Budapest last month, led to the Hungarians having to play a game in an empty stadium.

Sweden climbed above Spain into first place in Group B with a 2-0 win over Greece, and Switzerland moved level on points with Italy in Group C with a 4-0 victory over Lithuania.

In Group A, Portugal is a point behind Serbia, which beat Azerbaijan 3-1, but has a game in hand.

Only the top team from each group qualifies automatically for the World Cup. The second-place finishers go into the playoffs.

RONALDO’S HAUL

A pair of penalties, in the eighth and 13th minutes, set Ronaldo on his way to a record 10th international hat trick for Portugal that was completed in the 87th minute.

The 36-year-old Manchester United striker was playing his 182nd international game.

Bruno Fernandes and João Palhinha also scored for Portugal in its fourth straight win in qualifying, which left a straight shootout with Serbia for first place.

Serbia’s last game is at Portugal, which will first play its game in hand away to Ireland.

DANES THROUGH

Denmark is continuing its good form from the European Championship, where the team surged to the semifinals despite losing Eriksen in distressing circumstances in the opening game.

The clean sheet against Austria meant the Danes have yet to concede in Group F, while they are the only team with a 100% record in qualifying.

Maehle scored with a sweeping shot that was teed up by Thomas Delaney’s direct run, taking Denmark to 27 goals — second only to the Netherlands.

Denmark holds an unassailable seven-point lead over Scotland, which is still on track to finish runner-up after a 1-0 win at the Faeroe Islands.

Scotland is four points clear of third-place Israel, which beat visiting Moldova 2-1.

CROWD TROUBLE

Crowd trouble marred both of the games in Group I — at the start of the England-Hungary game and near the end of Albania-Poland.

The unrest at Wembley unfolded after officers entered the away stand “to arrest a spectator for a racially aggravated” comment toward a steward,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

Police were seen wielding batons to hold back the visiting fans but the rest of the game passed off largely peacefully.

The English Football Association said it was reporting the incident to FIFA, which has previously put Hungary on probation with the threat of another game being played without fans if there was further disorder at games.

In Tirana, the match between Albania and Poland was temporarily halted when Polish players walked off the field after Albanian fans threw water bottles at them. The incident came after Poland’s players celebrated scoring a 77th-minute goal that ultimately earned a 1-0 win.

A Polish official on the bench called on the players to immediately leave the field. Before the game resumed — 20 minutes later — a stadium announcement warned fans that Albania could have to forfeit if more objects were thrown.

England is three points clear of Poland, which is a further two points ahead of third-place Albania.

SWEDEN AND SWITZERLAND SOAR

The wins for Sweden and Switzerland set up thrilling finales to their groups.

Sweden leads Spain by two points with two games left for each. One of those is a meeting between the countries in Spain.

Italy, the European champion, is only above Switzerland on goal difference ahead of the teams’ match in Rome on Nov. 12.

The Italians travel to Northern Ireland for their final qualifier, while Switzerland completes its program at home to Bulgaria.

In Group D, Teemu Pukki became Finland’s record scorer by netting both goals in a 2-0 win at Kazakhstan. The Norwich striker moved onto 33 goals, one more than Jari Litmanen.

Finland is in third place, a point behind Ukraine — which drew 1-1 with Bosnia-Herzegovina — and four behind France.

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More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

Steve Douglas, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Ronaldo scores hat trick, Denmark qualifies for World Cup

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