Germany are making all of this look very easy. Another 3-0 win, their second in two qualifying games thus far, puts them top of Group C, a position they are simply unlikely to relinquish. The Czech Republic joined Norway in Germany's trophy collection, swept aside with barely a second thought. Joachim Low was the subject of considerable criticism for failing to win Euro 2016. Unless something extremely surprising happens, he'll have a chance to make up for that in Russia in 18 months' time.

Having taken a swipe at Chris Coleman by dismissing his side's European Championship heroics as "lucky," it would have been very unfortunate if Marcel Koller's Austria had then lost to Wales. Fortunately, Marko Arnautovic was on hand to score a much-needed brace of goals and earn his nation a 2-2 draw. Stoke City supporters may have cause to wonder where performances like that have been this season. Koller, by contrast, will just be greatly relieved that Arnautovic saved himself for his country.

After five consecutive defeats at home, finally the Dutch have something to shout about. An emphatic 4-1 victory over Belarus finally got Netherlands' qualification campaign firing. A creditable draw away at Sweden gave them something of a foundation last month, but this is much more like it. Two goals for Quincy Promes set them on their way and an absolute howitzer from Vincent Janssen capped off a very pleasing night's work. Are they back? Who knows. But at least they're getting better.

As any English fan will testify, you write off Iceland at your peril. The stars of the European Championship were at it again this week, losing 2-1 to Finland after 90 minutes and somehow walking away with a 3-2 victory. "After 85 minutes, I'd have taken a draw," said manager Heimir Hallgrimsson, "but the players kept believing and you reap what you sow." And how they needed the three points. Up against the likes of Croatia, Ukraine and Turkey, this will be a very tight group.

Speaking of England, there was another fine performance from Jordan Henderson at Wembley on Saturday. Since Jurgen Klopp came to Anfield, the former Sunderland man has been improving steadily, gaining composure on the ball and, for the first time in months, showcasing his range of passing. England were unspectacular against Malta, doing the job with minimal fuss or flair, but on a quiet afternoon for new boss Gareth Southgate, he was one of the few to excel.

VILLAINS

"We had all begun to think that he was a machine," said Daniele de Rossi of Gianluigi Buffon. Indeed, that could still be the case. Machines, after all, have been known to go haywire in the past. And what else, other than an unexpected mechanical fault, could have been behind Buffon's error on Thursday night? Out came the veteran goalkeeper, desperate to intercept Spain's Vitolo. Off he scampered into the distance as the grateful Vitolo slipped the ball into the empty net. "Of course, it would have been better if he'd made that mistake for Juventus," admitted De Rossi.

Scotland really couldn't have asked for a better World Cup qualifying group, yet they seem determined to make a mess of it. They came within moments of being beaten by Lithuania at Hampden Park on Saturday, a result that would have caused irreparable harm to their bid to qualify for a first World Cup in 20 years. Ideally, they should be piling pressure on a very beatable England, ratcheting up the excitement ahead of their meeting next month. Right now, it doesn't look very exciting.

How many near misses does Diego Costa need before he figures out that a yellow card brings him, hypothetically at least, one step away from a red card? This is at least the third time this season that the Chelsea striker has done something incredibly stupid after being cautioned, but somehow he keeps getting away with it. This time, having picked up one yellow card, he decided to risk another by later kicking the ball away. Little wonder that he was immediately substituted. Sooner or later, this is all going to catch up with him.

OK, so he made up for it later by scoring a very impressive goal, but we need to talk about Romelu Lukaku's incredible miss against Bosnia-Herzegovina. Belgium were leading 3-0 at the time, so it's possible that Lukaku was a little complacent or distracted. But even so. Dries Mertens did all the hard work on the left flank before selflessly cutting back to the Everton man, wide open and in front of an empty goal. And somehow, he put it over. If you did that in the park with your friends, you'd never hear the end of it.

Hang your head, Gor Malakyan. Captain of Armenia, he left his teammates up a certain creek without a certain paddle on Saturday, getting himself sent off after just three minutes. Opponents Romania needed no further invitation to take advantage. They scored from the resulting spot kick, were 3-0 up after 12 minutes and four goals to the good after less than half an hour. All things considered, it's quite something that Armenia saw out the last 61 minutes while conceding only one further goal. They did well against Denmark last month, losing only 1-0. Not so good this month, no.