The qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup enter their decisive stage in early September and there is a plethora of live international fixtures on TV and online.
Starting on Friday, September 6, England will be confident of beating lowly Moldova at Wembley, having beaten them 5-0 in Chisinau a year ago at the start of the Group H campaign.
ITV has live coverage of the match, presented by Adrian Chiles, with commentary from Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend.
Though Wayne Rooney, Alex Oxlade-Chamberain, Phil Jones and Glen Johnson are out injured, the match sees Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere finally play a competitive international for the first time since the 2-2 draw with Switzerland in June 2011.
Sky Sports have coverage of all the other home nations’ matches, starting with Macedonia against Wales at 6.00pm, before attention turns to the Aviva Stadium in Dublin for a crucial clash between the Republic of Ireland and Sweden, who are vying for second place in Group C behind Germany, whose ‘derby’ clash with Austria is live on BT Sport 2.
Scotland cannot qualify for Brazil but their fixture against Belgium at Hampden Park is still a crucial contest, with Belgium and Croatia going neck and neck for top spot in Group A.
Gordon Strachan’s side did Belgium a huge service in June with their heroic 1-0 win in Zagreb and, hot on the heels of an encouraging, if ultimately fruitless, performance against England in August, go into the match with a rare sense of momentum.
Northern Ireland’s shock 1-0 win over Russia last month means they still hold a theoretical chance of qualifying for the World Cup but they must surely beat Portugal in Belfast.
Cristiano Ronaldo, João Moutinho, Hélder Postiga and friends will be aware that Windsor Park can be a graveyard for Europe’s major sides, with England, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Poland and Russia having all come unstuck there in the last eight years.
Northern Ireland have already earned an unlikely point against Portugal, drawing 1-1 in Porto last season.
On Tuesday, September 10, England’s crucial World Cup qualifier against Ukraine from Kiev’s Olympic Stadium is live on ITV.
Ukraine’s 4-0 win away to Montenegro in June threw Group H wide open and has increased the pressure on England as Roy Hodgson’s team chase the one automatic qualification place for the World Cup Finals next summer.
England were held to a 1-1 draw by Ukraine when the sides met at Wembley Stadium a year ago, but a goal by Wayne Rooney did earn the Three Lions a 1-0 victory in Ukraine during Euro 2012.
BBC One Scotland and BT Sport 1 will screen live coverage of Scotland’s away match against Macedonia in Skopje.
With Scotland out of contention for a place at the World Cup Finals in Brazil next summer, Gordon Strachan will be looking to build on the one-nil win against Croatia in Zagreb in June as they return to the Balkans for the final away match of the campaign.
As Scotland look ahead to the next European Championship campaign, there were further signs of improvement with the performance against England in a friendly at Wembley last month in which, although ending in a 3-2 defeat, Scotland took the lead twice.
Tonight’s opponents earned a 1-1 draw when they visited Hampden last year with inspirational captain Goran Pandev in fine form.
Wales and Northern Ireland’s qualifiers against Serbia (home) and Luxembourg (away) on Tuesday night are both live on Sky Sports.
Wales are looking to avenge a 6-1 defeat from the reverse fixture. That match saw six different players on the scoresheet in what was one of the high points of a poor campaign for the Serbs.
Gareth Bale was on target for Wales, and Chris Coleman’s star player will be looking to put a summer of speculation behind him now the domestic transfer window has closed.
Northern Ireland are hoping to win on their travels for the first time in the campaign.
Michael O’Neill’s men have produced a mixed bag of results in this group, with victory over Russia and a draw in Portugal the high points, but a 1-1 draw at home against Luxembourg is one result they are looking to atone for here.
Asia’s final group stage came to a conclusion in June, with Japan, South Korea, Iran and Australia sealing qualification.
All that remains to be decided is who will take on a team from South America in a tough final play-off, with the two third-place teams Jordan and Uzbekistan facing each other over two legs this week, both of which are live on British Eurosport.
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Friday 6th September
Jordan v Uzbekistan – World Cup Play-off, 1st leg | k/o: 17:00
LIVE: 5.00pm-7.00pm British Eurosport 2
Macedonia v Wales – Group A | k/o: 18:00
LIVE: 5.55pm-7.55pm Sky Sports 3
Republic of Ireland v Sweden – Group C | k/o: 19:45
LIVE: 7.30pm-10.00pm Sky Sports 2
Germany v Australia – Group C | k/o: 19:45
LIVE: 7.30pm-10.00pm BT Sport 2
Northern Ireland v Portugal – Group F | k/o 19:45
LIVE: 7.30pm-10.00pm Sky Sports 4
Highlights: 11.05pm-11.45pm BBC One Northern Ireland
England v Moldova – Group H | k/o: 20:00
LIVE: 7.30pm-10.10pm ITV
Highlights: 10.50pm-11.50pm ITV
Scotland v Belgium – Group A | k/o: 20:00
LIVE: 7.55pm-10.15pm Sky Sports 3
Highlights: 10.35pm-11.35pm BBC One Scotland
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Tuesday 10th September
Uzbekistan v Jordan – World Cup Play-off, 2nd leg | k/o: 15:00
LIVE: 3.00pm-5.00pm British Eurosport 2
Spain v Chile – International Friendly | k/o: 19:00
LIVE: 7.00pm-9.00pm BT Sport 2
Luxembourg v Northern Ireland – Group F | k/o: 19:15
LIVE: 7.00pm-9.30pm Sky Sports 2
Macedonia v Scotland – Group A | k/o: 19:30
LIVE: 7.25pm-9.30pm BBC One Scotland
LIVE: 7.00pm-10.00pm BT Sport 1
Ukraine v England – Group H | k/o: 19:45
LIVE: 7.15pm-10.10pm ITV
Highlights: 10.45pm-11.50pm ITV
Wales v Serbia – Group A | k/o: 19:45
LIVE: 7.30pm-10.00pm Sky Sports 1
Highlights: 11.20pm-12.00am BBC Two Wales
Brazil v Portugal – International Friendly | k/o: 02:00 (Wed)
LIVE: 2.00am-4.00am (Wed) BT Sport 1
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As well as the usual televised games, there are qualifying matches aplenty available legally online via the Qualifiers 2014 channel on YouTube, which has a wide selection of matches from Europe.
The pick of these on September 6 sees local rivals Serbia and Croatia meet in Belgrade, while Poland face Montenegro in Warsaw in a match which could have a big impact on England’s fortunes (live on the player above from 7.45pm).
Spain travel to Helsinki to face Finland, having slipped up to a 1-1 draw in the home fixture.
On Tuesday, September 10, a further 12 live games are available online – featuring France, Netherlands and Poland. SOTB will have a live stream of France’s away clash against Belarus.
The Bet365 website has live streaming of qualifiers from South America, where the race to Brazil is also reaching a climax.
High-flying Colombia and Ecuador meet in Barranquilla, with the winners almost sure of qualification.
Ailing Uruguay’s fortunes took a turn for the better in June, when they won a vital match in Venezuela but another win is essential in Peru, who themselves need a win to keep realistic hopes of a play-off place alive.
Struggling Paraguay and Bolivia, both of whom can only reach the play-off place at best, face each other in Asunción, while Chile host Venezuela knowing a victory will put a cushion between them and the play-off place.
WORLD CUP QUALIFYING LIVE on YouTube
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Friday 6th September
17:00 Czech Republic v Armenia (Group B)
19:00 Malta v Denmark (Group B)
19:00 Turkey v Andorra (Group D)
19:00 Romania v Hungary (Group D)
19:10 Latvia v Lithuania (Group G)
19:15 Georgia v France (Group I)
19:15 Bosnia-Herzegovina v Slovakia (Group G)
19:30 Estonia v Netherlands (Group D)
19:30 Slovenia v Albania (Group E)
19:30 Finland v Spain (Group I)
19:45 Switzerland v Iceland (Group E)
19:45 Poland v Montenegro (Group H)
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Tuesday 10th September
16:30 Lithuania v Liechtenstein (Group G)
17:00 Armenia v Denmark (Group B)
18:00 Georgia v Finland (Group I)
19:00 Malta v Bulgaria (Group B)
19:00 Romania v Turkey (Group D)
19:15 Slovakia v Bosnia-Herzegovina (Group G)
19:30 Hungary v Estonia (Group D)
19:30 Andorra v Netherlands (Group D)
19:45 Greece v Latvia (Group G)
19:45 San Marino v Poland (Group H)
20:00 Iceland v Albania (Group E)
20:00 Belarus v France (Group I)
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