France won in Bulgaria after Blaise Matuidi scored inside three minutes in Sofia. Davy Propper, Arjen Robben and Memphis Depay scored in Belarus 1-3 Holland victory. While Sweden thrashed Luxembourg 8-0 to leave Dutch almost certainly eliminated.
Substitute Cristiano Ronaldo opened scoring after an hour as Portugal beat Andorra 2-0.
Belgium won 4-3 at Bosnia with Michy Batshuayi and Jan Vertonghen scoring.
Chelsea's N'Golo Kante and Manchester United's Marouane Fellaini injured
The Road to Russia is nearing its conclusion, with many of the finals places already filled - however there was still plenty to play for.
Bosnia-Herzegovina v Belgium proved a thriller on a quagmire pitch, the Romelu Lukaku-less Red Devils triumphing 4-3 in a topsy-turvy encounter, while Sweden v Luxembourg was entirely lopsided, the Scandinavians scoring eight in Stockholm.
Later Belarus v Holland ended 1-3, meaning the Dutch must beat the Swedes by seven clear goals on Tuesday, while Bulgaria 0-1 France put Les Bleus top of Group A, and Andorra v Portugal was decided when Cristiano Ronaldo came on at half-time.
There were also critical games from the African qualifiers, with Nigeria the first side from that continent to reach the 2018 World Cup.
The European play-off table!!!
It's a worrying sight for Scotland, who are bottom of the pile as it stands. However, they will definitely go through with a win.
Why? Games against bottom sides don't count, and Greece play Gibraltar on the last day, who will definitely be sixth in their pool. Therefore, they cannot improve on 13 points.
Scotland with a win would have 14, as would Wales. Northern Ireland meanwhile mus simply avoid defeat in Norway.
How it stands in Africa
In Group A, Tunisia won 4-1 in Guinea and will reach the World Cup if they draw at home to Libya on November. Slip-up, and Congo DR will qualify by beating Guinea.
Group B sees the only confirmed qualifier from CAF thus far - Nigeria making a third straight tournament after beating their only challenger, Zambia, 1-0.
The tightest pool is Group C, which is now topped by Morocco after they beat Gabon 3-0. The North Africans must now avoid defeat in Ivory Coast, otherwise the Elephants will go through instead.
Senegal control Group D, two points clear with a game in hand. Win that against South Africa, and it will be a first World Cup since their memorable 2002 debut for them.
Group E saw no matches today - tomorrow, Egypt will qualify if they beat winless Congo.
FULL EUROPEAN RESULTS FROM SATURDAY
Group A
Bulgaria 0-1 France
Belarus 1-3 Holland
Sweden 8-0 Luxembourg
Group B
Andorra 0-2 Portugal
Switzerland 5-2 Hungary
Faroe Islands 0-0 Latvia
Group H
Bosnia-Herzegovina 3-4 Belgium
Cyprus 1-2 Greece
Gibraltar 0-6 Estonia
GROUP A TABLE
France made hard work of it, but they look like they are going to make it to the World Cup without a play-off. After their win in Bulgaria (now eliminated), they must beat Belarus in Paris to progess.
Sweden travel to Holland, where only a six-goal winning margin will be enough for the Dutch.
GROUP B TABLE
On Tuesday, Portugal host Switzerland. Winner takes all.
Portugal must win to reach Russia, Switzerland - much more impressive tonight in thrashing Hungary than Portugal were in edging out Andorra -will go through with a draw.
GROUP H TABLE
Greece have moved into the potential play-off spot - although this group is in risk of being the one of producing the team which misses out on the play-off spot.
The Greeks host Gibraltar on Tuesday so will surely hold off Bosnia.
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