Antoine Griezmann scored twice as France beat Finland 2-0 in their 2022 World Cup qualifier to get back to winning ways today.
The reigning world champions had to come from behind in their last two qualifiers to draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina and Ukraine.
Victory was never in doubt in this game as Griezmann finished off a fine move in the first half to open the scoring.
He made it 2-0 early in the second half, finishing from a tight angle.
Griezmann made the surprise move of transfer deadline day when he left Barcelona to re-join Atletico Madrid.
The 30-year-old has yet to play for his new club but has now scored three goals in his last three international appearances.
France are top of Group D with 12 points from six games and are seven points clear of Ukraine, who are second.
A comfortable 3-0 victory over Azerbaijan moved Portugal to the top of Group A – but automatic World Cup qualification remains in the balance.
Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva produced a stunning finish then, after Diogo Jota mis-controlled a Bruno Fernandes cross, Andre Silva tapped in.
Liverpool’s Jota headed in the third to secure the win and leave Azerbaijan on one point at the bottom of the group.
Serbia, who had been joint top, drew 1-1 against Republic of Ireland.
Portugal’s third win of the international break and Serbia’s draw against Republic saw the former European champions move two points ahead into the automatic qualifying spot.
Portugal were without record-breaking goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo, who was suspended after receiving a second yellow card of the campaign for removing his shirt as he celebrated his second goal in the 2-1 win over Republic of Ireland.
Three matches remain for Portugal, who face Luxembourg on October 12.
Meanwhile, Memphis Depay scored his first international hat-trick as the Netherlands overwhelmed Turkey 6-1 in their World Cup qualifier and moved top of Group G.
Davy Klaassen scored inside a minute before Depay slotted home his first.
The Barcelona forward struck a panenka from the spot for his second and nodded home his third to make it 4-0.
Guus Til and Donyell Malen scored to make it six and secure the Netherlands’ fourth win of the campaign.
Depay, 27, joins Johan Cruyff and Abe Lenstra as the Netherlands’ eighth top goalscorer with 33 goals.
The Barcelona striker has scored 12 goals in his past 10 games for his country, having played an important role in the Netherlands’ 4-0 win against Montenegro, where he netted twice.
Leicester City defender Caglar Soyuncu’s sending off on the stroke of half-time gave the Netherlands the opportunity to exploit, although Cengiz Under managed a consolation goal for Turkey in stoppage time.
The Dutch are joint-top with Norway on 13 points and lead by a significant goal difference, having scored 16 goals in six games.
Other results: Russia 2, Malta 0; Croatia 3, Slovenia 0; Norway 5, Gibraltar 1; Montenegro 0, Latvia 0; Faroe Islands 2, Moldova 0; Denmark 5, Israel 0; Scotland 1, Austria 0; Kazakhstan 2, Bosnia-Herzegovina 2; Republic of Ireland 1, Serbia 1. (BBC)
