Spain, Portugal, Croatia may qualify; Sweden lose

Spain`s forward Pablo Sarabia (1st-L) celebrates after scoring a penalty during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualification football match between Greece and Spain at the OAKA Spiros Louis stadium in Athens. Pic/AFP

Spain, Portugal and Croatia all put themselves one game away from securing World Cup qualification, while Sweden's hopes took a heavy blow with a surprising loss.

Spain beat Greece 1-0 thanks to Pablo Sarabia's penalty to overtake Sweden, which slipped to a 2-0 loss at already-eliminated Georgia. Spain hosts Sweden on Sunday in one of three winner-takes-all matches to decide World Cup places.

Another decisive fixture pits Portugal against Serbia after a frustrating 0-0 away draw for Cristiano Ronaldo's team against Ireland. Croatia and Russia also face off for a spot in Qatar after each had a big win Thursday.

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