Croatia 1 - Serbia 1; Belgium 2 - Scotland 0; Macedonia 2 - Wales 1

Skopje was the scene as Macedonia hosted Wales.  Wales manager Chris Coleman arrived a day after his team because he forgot his passport.  The hosts grabbed the lead after twenty minutes from a free kick situation.  Macedonia smashed a free kick into the wall, but the ball fell behind the wall for Ivan Trickovski, who made no mistake with his finish to give the home side the lead.  Wales responded well, with Craig Bellamy hitting the post off a free kick.  A quarter hour after having conceded the Welsh had a penalty kick chance.  Aaron Ramsey had done a spin on the end line to get around Trickovski and was taken down in the box.  Ramsey converted the penalty.  The match was poised at 1-1 going into the break.

In the second period, the affair was pretty even with possession being split nearly equally.  With ten minutes to go, Macedonia forced a turnover.  Darko Tasevski made a couple defenders miss in tight space before leaving the ball for Aleksandar Trajkovski.  Trajkovski scored from the half circle to put Macedonia ahead for good.  Macedonia win 2-1 and eliminate Wales from the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Belgrade was the scene as eternal rivals Croatia made the trek to hostile Serbia.  Aleksandar Mitrovic missed a golden chance to punch Serbia ahead, but he directed his fierce shot from five yards under little pressure flush into the post to his disbelief.  A few minutes later, Moran Tosic hit a low roller to the far post, but Croatia goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa tipped the ball around the post and just out of Mitrovic's reach on the rebound.  Croatia were lucky to be tied at 0-0 after the first half.

Dario Srna gave Croatia a chance against the run of play.  His long through ball beat the defense, leaving Mario Mandzukic alone with a chance at goal that he finished splendidly inside the near post.  Miralem Sulejmani curled into a nice free kick cross for Serbia, and Mitrovic rose to meet it with his head.  The result was his first international goal and a tie game.  Then, the physical tackles began to mount.  The hosts went down a man in minute 75 when Nemanja Matic picked up a second yellow card.  Josip Simunic decided to even the affair again with a horror tackle in the midfield to stop a Serbian break.  He was ejected in minute 80 with a red card after a scissor kick plus elbow combination was used to take down Sulejmani.  The match ends 1-1 and without a fistfight, though nine cards were produced.  However, Serbia are eliminated from the tournament along with Macedonia due to this result.

Belgium were in Glasgow to take on Scotland knowing that a win would all but clinch their berth in Brasil 2014.  The rain had left the pitch rather soaked, but the teams tried to block that out of their minds.  Scotland nearly grabbed a lead from a screamer off the boot of Scott Brown just beyond the half hour mark, but his low drive flew just wide of goal.  Belgium punished the miss soon thereafter.  Kevin de Bruyne sent in a cross that saw three Scottish defenders follow the natural run but Belgium midfielder Stefen Defour drop into space. De Bruyne's cross went into that space, so Defour had a relatively simple finish to give Les Diables Rouges the lead.  Belgium led 1-0 at halftime.

Belgium were the more talented side and that showed through their composure on the ball.  They took a while to seal the deal, waiting until the penultimate minute to double their lead.  Christian Benteke (pictured, red) threaded a pass to Kevin Mirallas at the half circle.  Grant Hanley went for the interception but missed, leaving Mirallas free to turn and run in before providing the finish to end the match.  Belgium win 2-0 and now need only two points to assure qualification.

Belgium 22 pts +13
Croatia 17 pts +6
Serbia OUT
Macedonia OUT
Wales OUT
Scotland OUT

Goals
Macedonia
Ivan Trickovski 21
Aleksandar Trajkovski 80

Wales
Aaron Ramsey 39 PK

Croatia
Mario Mandzukic 53

Serbia
Aleksandar Mitrovic 66

Belgium
Steven Defour 38
Kevin Mirallas 89

Match Reports:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23964942
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/06/macedonia-wales-world-cup-qualifier-matchreport
http://us.soccerway.com/news/2013/September/06/macedonia-2-1-wales-ramsey-penalty-not-enough-for-disappointing-visitors/n238999/
http://inserbia.info/news/2013/09/fifa-world-cup-brazil-2014-serbia-croatia-1-1/
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/soccer-croatia-hold-serbia-highly-charged-1-1-222852261--sow.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23962691
http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/latest/scotland-0-2-belgium-strachan-s-men-well-beaten-1-3081125
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/06/scotland-belgium-world-cup-qualifier-match-report

Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny-QolQn_bA (Macedonia v. Wales)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnH2Wm9ig9c (Croatia v. Serbia)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22SxbDOp9o8 (Belgium v. Scotland)