WHILE ENGLAND’S BLUSHES were spared, Austria and the Netherlands made belated starts to their World Cup qualifying campaigns with victories on Saturday.
The Dutch made their debut with a crisp 2-0 win over Finland in Helsinki.
Memphis Depay scored after six minutes. Denzil Dumfries, one week after his unhappy experience playing for Inter Milan in the Champions League final, added the second after 23 minutes.
Netherlands jumped to third in Group G, overtaking Lithuania and Malta who drew 0-0. The Dutch are one point behind Finland and three behind leaders Poland who did not play.
Marcel Sabitzer and Michael Gregoritsch scored as Austria beat Romania 2-1 in Vienna. Florin Tanase headed an added-time reply for the visitors who had squandered several chances in the closing stages.
Bosnia-Herzegovina lead Group H on nine points after Edin Dzeko scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory home over San Marino. Romania, Cyprus and Austria all have three points.
Harry Kane’s 72nd international goal ensured England avoided the ultimate embarrassment of failing to beat Andorra. Even so, Thomas Tuchel’s side were booed off in Barcelona after struggling to impress against a team ranked 173rd in the world.
England pulled five points clear after three matches in Group K as second-placed Albania drew 0-0 at home with Serbia. Rey Manaj of Albania wasted a penalty in first-half added time.
Serbia was one of three teams playing their first qualifying match Saturday after they had been involved in Nations League playoffs.
Elsewhere, Northern Ireland suffered a friendly defeat in Copenhagen as Christian Eriksen got the winner in a 2-1 comeback victory for Denmark.
An early own goal from former Tottenham midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg put Michael O’Neill’s young side on top but Gustav Isaksen levelled in first-half stoppage time before Eriksen swept home the winner in the 67th minute.
It was a second successive friendly defeat for Michael O’Neill’s side, after March’s 5-1 thrashing in Sweden, but was a much better defensive performance away to top-level opposition in their penultimate match before the World Cup qualifying campaign starts in Luxembourg in September.
__[– © AFP 2025](https://www.afp.com/en/home),_ Additional reporting from Press Association_