France on brink of World Cup, Dutch hopes all but over

Paris - Blaise Matuidi's early goal saw off Bulgaria 1-0 on Saturday and kept France top of European World Cup qualifying Group A, while the Netherlands' hopes are hanging by a thread despite a 3-1 win in Belarus.France  took the lead in only the third minute as midfielder Matuidi curled  home a fantastic shot from a tight angle into the far top corner.Bulgaria  more than held their own in Sofia, though, as they looked to repeat the  famous win over France that sent them to the 1994 World Cup, and Hugo  Lloris was forced into a point-blank save to deny Georgi Kostadinov.But  Didier Deschamps's side closed out the vital win, and three points at  home to Belarus on Tuesday would book their ticket to Russia.The  Dutch needed a victory in Barysaw to keep alive any hopes of a top-two  finish, but despite a third goal in two games from Brighton and Hove  Albion midfielder Davy Propper, Belarus equalised through Maksim  Volodjko.Captain Arjen Robben came to his side's rescue by  netting a penalty with only six minutes remaining, before Memphis Depay  added some gloss in injury-time.The Netherlands are looking to  avoid failing to qualify for successive major tournaments for the first  time since 1986, having also missed out on Euro 2016.But they now  face a near impossible task, as Sweden thrashed Luxembourg 8-0 earlier  on Saturday, with forward Marcus Berg scoring four goals, to extend  their advantage over Dick Advocaat's men on goal difference to 12.Trailing  the Scandinavians by three points, only a massive victory over Sweden  in Amsterdam next week will save the three-time World Cup runners-up.Portugal  struggled for long periods in Andorra, needing the rested Cristiano  Ronaldo to come on as a half-time substitute and help them stumble to a  2-0 win and set up a winner-takes-all showdown with Switzerland in  Lisbon on Tuesday.The European champions had to wait until the  63rd minute for Ronaldo to break the deadlock, before Andre Silva  finally put their nerves to bed.Real Madrid star Ronaldo is now  level on 15 goals for the campaign with Poland's Robert Lewandowski, a  record for European World Cup qualifying.Steven Zuber scored twice in Basel as Switzerland made it nine wins from nine by thrashing Hungary 5-2.Switzerland lead Portugal by three points but have an inferior goal difference.In  Group H, Greece moved into second place with a come-from-behind 2-1  victory in Cyprus after Bosnia and Herzegovina had suffered a stunning  4-3 home defeat by already-qualified Belgium.FC Copenhagen  striker Pieros Sotiriou put Cyprus ahead early on as they looked for a  win to maintain hopes of a play-off place, but two goals in three  first-half minutes from Kostas Mitroglou and Alexandros Tziolis sent  Greece two points clear of Bosnia.Michael Skibbe's side are  almost certain to finish second as they host pointless Gibraltar in  their last game on Tuesday, although they could still miss out on the  play-offs as the worst second-placed team.Goals from Haris  Medunjanin and Edin Visca put the Bosnians ahead in Sarajevo after  Belgium full-back Thomas Muenier's early strike, but Michy Batshuayi and  Jan Vertonghen turned things around.Dario Dumic's 82nd-minute  equaliser looked to have salvaged Bosnia a priceless point, but Atletico  Madrid winger Yannick Carrasco struck to break the hosts' hearts.