World Cup qualifying roundup: Lukaku scores again, Italy set unbeaten record & Germany cruise
Romelu Lukaku astonishingly scored his 50th goal in his last 50 internationals to help Belgium ease to a 3-0 victory over Czech Republic in one of the standout World Cup qualifiers on Sunday.
The international break is well underway with most teams playing their second qualifying game in quick succession this weekend.
Lukaku opened scoring for the Red Devils before assisting Alexis Saelemaekers for his side's third goal, while Eden Hazard also netted in what was a much-needed confidence boost for the Real Madrid man.
The home nations were in action too. England eased to a 4-0 win over Andorra and were handed a further boost by Hungary - who were second in Group I at the start of play - losing 1-0 to Albania.
Meanwhile, Wales required some late Gareth Bale heroics to overcome Belarus away from home. Bale put his side 1-0 up from the spot before their opponents hit back with two goals before the break. The Real forward then went on to seal a fine hat-trick, with his third goal coming deep into second half stoppage time.
Elsewhere, Serge Gnabry, Timo Werner, Marco Reus, Jonas Hoffman and debutant Karim Adeyemi all scored as Germany hit lowly Armenia for six, while Poland scored seven against San Marino - although the minnows did at least get to celebrate a goal.
Euro 2020 winners Italy were in action as well, falling to their second draw in a row against Switzerland with the game finishing goalless.
Although Roberto Mancini will be disappointed, he can take solace in the fact that the result extended his side's unbeaten run to a European-record 36 games - bettering the tally set by Vicente Del Bosque's Spain between 2007 and 2009.
Speaking of La Furia Roja, they also played, putting Georgia to the sword 4-0 with goals coming from Jose Gaya, Carlos Soler, Ferran Torres and Pablo Sarabia.
Results:
Belarus 2-3 Wales
Albania 1-0 Hungary
Bulgaria 1-0 Lithuania
England 4-0 Andorra
Iceland 2-2 North Macedonia
Belgium 3-0 Czech Republic
Germany 6-0 Armenia
Kosovo 1-1 Greece
Romania 2-0 Lichtenstein
San Marino 1-7 Poland
Spain 4-0 Georgia
Switzerland 0-0 Italy