Iceland 4 - Switzerland 4; Slovenia 1 - Albania 0; Norway 2 - Cyprus 0

Norway welcomed last-placed Cyprus to Oslo for their Group E match.  Norway had the best chance is a slow first half, but nothing came of their superior play until a corner kick with two minutes to go.  The kick was whipped toward the back post, where it hit the back of a defender and drifted across the goal for Tarik El Younoussi to head in at the near post.  Norway took that 1-0 lead into the locker room with them.

Norway were able to double their lead midway through the second half.  Magnus Eikrem received a pass at the top of the box and used some fancy footwork to free up space with his back to goal.  He passed to the left wing to a wide open Joshua King, who finished the job with a simple strike to make it 2-0.  Cyprus never presented any challenge in attack, so Norway coasted to the finish line.  Norway win 2-0 and go up to second in the group table.

Bern was the site of a remarkable match between hosts Switzerland and Iceland.  The visitors were nonplussed by their trip to the group leaders, and they had a lead within three minutes.  Gylfi Sigurdsson ran up the left side of the field and crossed back to Johann Gudmundsson.  Gudmundsson's first touch took him around a defender and his second shot into the upper ninety to put Iceland ahead 1-0.  That's when it all went wrong for Iceland.  At the quarter hour mark, Granit Xhaka one-timed a pass from Ricardo Rodriguez forward into the box for the Swiss.  Stephan Lichtsteiner got his head to the ball, and the equalizer fell.  Haris Seferovic smoked a line drive into the legs of Iceland forward Kolbeinn Sigthorsson, but the ball fell perfectly for Fabian Schar to tap in with the goalkeeper on the ground.  The Swiss did not wait long to turn 2-1 into 3-1.  Three minutes later, a Xherdan Shaqiri breakaway led to a simple pass to Lichtsteiner, whose finish from medium range made it three goals in fifteen minutes for the home side.  Switzerland led 3-1 at halftime.

Birkir Saevarsson clipped the ankles of Switzerland midfielder Valentin Stocker inside the penalty area, and the Swiss converted the penalty kick for a 4-1 lead ten minutes into the second half.  That's when it all started to go right for Iceland.  Schar was caught in possession in central defense by Sigthorsson, who then took a few extra yards before shooting into the far corner for a goal with no build-up.  Iceland were within one goal after Gudmundsson picked up a partially blocked shot from distance and then drove a shot into the goal off the long rebound.  In stoppage time, the Swiss defense for some reason were not covering Gudmundsson on the right hand side, so he stepped to his left and swung in a heavily-swerving shot that rounded its way into the far corner from eighteen yards away.  Gudmundsson scored all three of his goals with his left foot, and his left foot earns Iceland a 4-4 road draw.

Slovenia needed a win at home in Ljubljana against Albania to reconnect with their fellow competitors for the potential playoff place from Group E.  Kevin Kampl scored the opening goal for Slovenia with a shot from twenty-two yards out that evaded the block attempt of Admir Teli.  There were few other chances, and Albania managed only one shot on frame in the half.  Slovenia were up 1-0 after the opening forty-five minutes.

Valoet Rama had a heavy shot on goal for Albania, but Slovenia goalkeeper Samir Handanovic was able to chest the ball away while diving to stop the bounce shot.  Albania really should have equalized when Hamdi Salihi got goal-side of Branko Ilic and then turned off him after receiving a pass, but Handanovic made a fantastic save along the ground.  Another Rama shot was headed goalbound, but Handanovic read the slight deflection perfectly and parried the ball away for a corner.  Slovenia somehow managed not to break under the heaps of pressure put on them in the second half, and they win 1-0.

Switzerland 15 pts +7
Norway 11 pts +2
Albania 10 pts 0
Iceland 10 pts -1
Slovenia 9 pts -1
Cyprus 4 pts -7

Goals
Norway
Tarik El Younoussi 43
Joshua King 66

Iceland
Johann Gudmundsson 3, 68, 90+1
Kolbeinn Sigthorsson 56

Switzerland
Stephan Lichtsteiner 15, 30
Fabian Schar 27
Blerim Dzemaili 54 PK

Slovenia
Kevin Kampl 19

Match Reports:
http://www.uefa.com/worldcup/season=2014/matches/round=2000294/match=2008650/postmatch/report/index.html
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/soccer-swiss-squander-three-goal-lead-4-4-204813780--sow.html
http://www.kansascity.com/2013/09/06/4462388/switzerland-held-4-4-by-thrilling.html
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=2168720/index.html
http://www.uefa.com/worldcup/season=2014/matches/round=2000294/match=2008637/postmatch/report/index.html

Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmBcHwpPevs (Norway v. Cyprus)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8utNWLpA4uA (Iceland v. Switzerland)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht0FID6Ir7k (Slovenia v. Albania)