Former champions France and Italy were in action among 10 qualifying matches for the 2026 Fifa World Cup on Friday.
Les Bleus met Ukraine in Wroclaw, while Azzurri legend Gennaro Gattuso took charge of his national side for the first time with a home match against Estonia in Bergamo.
Elsewhere, striker Alexander Isak – who joined Liverpool from Newcastle for a British-record £125 million on Monday – was in Sweden’s squad for their trip to Slovenia.
Here’s what happened in the 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifying results today, including scorers and some of the fixtures to look out for next, which all kick off at 19:45 BST / 14:45 ET / 11:45 PT.
Ukraine vs France: Mbappe seals win
1998 and 2018 champions France started their campaign with a win courtesy of a clinical 10th-minute strike by Michael Olise before Kylian Mbappe followed suit eight minutes from time.
Ukraine pushed for parity between the goals and were denied a second-half equaliser when Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate cleared Artem Dovbyk’s header off the line.
Paris Saint-Germain forwards Desire Doue and Ousmane Dembele were forced off through injury for the victors, who gave Reds striker Hugo Ekitike his senior debut and host Iceland on Tuesday.
Italy vs Estonia: Gattuso glee at winning start
Dominant Italy hit the crossbar through Mateo Retegui’s header just before half-time but compensated in style, scoring four of their five second-half goals in a 5-0 win through headers from Moise Kean, Retegui, Giacomo Raspadori and Alessandro Bastoni.
Al-Qadsiah forward Retegui also scored his first and his country’s second with a precise finish, putting the hosts three points behind second-placed Italy and six shy of Group I leaders Norway with a match in hand.
Italy follow up their second consecutive home win by visiting Israel, who won 4-0 in Moldova, on Monday in Debrecen (19:45 BST / 14:45 ET / 11:45 PT).
Slovenia vs Sweden: Isak in reserve
Isak is yet to play this season because of the lengthy saga surrounding his move to the Reds and the striker remained on the bench as Sweden suffered a late setback in Slovenia.
Magpies winger Anthony Elanga struck the 18th-minute opener from a pass by Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Yasin Ayari, who restored the visitors’ lead in the 73rd minute after Sandi Lovric’s 46th-minute equaliser thanks to a blunder by goalkeeper Robin Olsen.
Substitute Zan Vipotnik fired in first time from Manchester United striker Benjamin Sesko’s header to seal a 2-2 draw in the 90th minute. Blagult manager Jon Dahl Tomasson hinted he could use Isak away to Kosovo on Monday.
2026 World Cup qualifying results
Group B: Switzerland 4-0 Kosovo (Manuel Akanji 22, Breel Embolo 25, 45, Sylvan Widmer 39)
Group C: Denmark 0-0 Scotland
Greece 5-1 Belarus (Konstantinos Karetsas 3, Vangelis Pavlidis 17, Tasos Bakasetas 21, Dimitrios Kourbelis 36, Christos Tzolis 63; German Barkovskiy 72)
Group D: Iceland 5-0 Azerbaijan (Victor Palsson 45, Isak Bergmann Johannesson 47, 56, Albert Gudmundsson 66, Kristian Hlynsson 73)
Group I: Moldova 0-4 Israel (Dor Peretz 15, Manor Solomon 35, Tai Baribo 59, Oscar Gloukh 77)
Group L: Faroe Islands 0-1 Croatia (Andrej Kramaric 31)
Montenegro 0-2 Czechia (Lukas Cerv 3, Vaclav Cerny 90+6)
