LONDON, Sept 7: Cristiano Ronaldo and Miroslav Klose stole the limelight on a busy night of World Cup qualifying fixtures on Friday that saw several European nations edge closer to a place at the finals in Brazil.

Ronaldo rescued Portugal with a speedy hat-trick to avoid a slip-up in Northern Ireland, while veteran Klose took his tally to 68 goals for the Germany — level on the all-time list with Gerd Mueller.

Germany, Spain and Italy moved to the brink of qualification but it was not all plain sailing for the big boys, with the Netherlands having to scramble to draw 2-2 in Estonia.

Reigning world champion Spain seized the initiative in their battle with France for top spot in Group ‘I’ by beating Finland 2-0 away thanks to goals by Jordi Alba and Alvaro Negredo. The French drew 0-0 at Georgia and are three points back in second with two matches left.

Germany and Italy could secure first place in their groups with wins in the next round of qualifiers on Tuesday after beating Austria 3-0 and Bulgaria 1-0 respectively.

England moved level on points at the top of Group ‘H’ with Montenegro after marching to a 4-0 home win over Moldova that came as their rivals were held 1-1 in Poland.

In Belfast, Portugal were in serious danger of being knocked off the top of Group ‘F’, after second-placed Russia had earlier thumped Luxembourg 4-1 with Alexander Kokorin of Dynamo Moscow scoring a brace, as they found themselves trailing 2-1 to Northern Ireland.

Their hosts had previous form for upsets having stunned Russia 1-0 last month and it looked like they were heading for another when Portugal’s Helder Postiga was shown a straight red card for a headbutt on Gareth McAuley just before half-time.

Northern Ireland, already out of qualifying contention, made the man advantage count early in the second-half when Jamie Ward scored after a corner but Portugal’s fortunes turned when Kevin Brunt was shown a second yellow to make it 10 against 10.

Then followed 15 minutes of trademark Ronaldo brilliance as he headed in two goals and scored another from a free kick to turn the match around and put Portugal on 17 points from eight games with Russia on 15 having played one game fewer.

“I would like to dedicate this victory to my father that has left us 8 years ago,” Ronaldo said on Twitter.

Germany were far too strong for Austria in Munich with the 35-year-old Klose setting them on their way with the 68th international goal of his career, before Bayern Munich pair Toni Kroos and Thomas Mueller got the other goals for the hosts on the night.

“The goal means an awful lot to me but I don’t want to put myself on a level with Gerd,” said Klose, who had been stuck on 67 international goals for 11 months.

Germany are now five points clear of Sweden, who won 2-1 in the Republic of Ireland with Johan Elmander and Anders Svensson getting their goals after Robbie Keane had put the home side in front. Austria dropped to third in Group ‘C’ on 11 points, level with the Irish.

“We did our homework, we knew how Austria would play and we took the sting out of them,” said Germany coach Joachim Loew, whose team will qualify on Tuesday if they win in the Faroe Islands and Sweden fail to win in Kazakhstan.

The same could not be said of Group E leaders Switzerland, who let slip a 4-1 lead to draw 4-4 with Iceland, allowing second-placed Norway to close the gap on them to four points after they beat Cyprus 2-0.

Netherlands also had defensive questions to answer after they saw a first-minute lead secured by Arjen Robben evaporate in Tallinn where they stood seconds away from an embarrassing 2-1 defeat after a Konstantin Vassiljev double for the hosts before they were rescued by an injury-time penalty from Robin van Persie.

“We know we are better so it makes it a frustrating evening,” Robben told Dutch NOS radio with his side on 19 points from seven games — a six-point lead over Romania who leapfrogged Hungary into second place after beating them 3-0 at home.

“We have to be a little down on ourselves if we lead in the first minute and then walk off the pitch with the score at 2-2.”

With home matches remaining against the bottom two of Georgia and Belarus, only a major implosion would stop the Spanish advancing in first place to defend their world title in Brazil.They finally created some breathing space from France as Alba scored in the 19th minute and Negredo sealed the win in the 86th when he lashed home a cross from Manchester City teammate Jesus Navas.

“It was a very difficult game because they were very compact and we found it difficult to find spaces,” Spain boss Vicente del Bosque admitted afterwards. “We have a three-point lead now and we’re in a great position to qualify.”

The French couldn’t keep pace, with Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema extending his international drought to 15 games in Tbilisi.

“If you want to win, you need to score,” France coach Didier Deschamps said. “It’s not the result we came for.”

Italy are seven points ahead of Bulgaria with three games left thanks to Alberto Gilardino’s 38th-minute winner in Sicily and a victory for the Azzurri over the Czech Republic in Turin on Tuesday will book their ticket to Brazil from Group ‘B’.

Behind them, the race for second and a prospective play-off berth remains open, particularly after Armenia won 2-1 in the Czech Republic.

Meanwhile, England took control of Group ‘H’ thanks to their defeat of whipping boys Moldova which featured a brace from Manchester United’s Danny Welbeck.England lead the section on goal difference from Montenegro, also have 15 points but have played one game more than England, with Ukraine a further point back in third.

Ukraine hammered hapless San Marino 9-0 and England must go to Ukraine on Tuesday without Welbeck, who is suspended.

“The booking for Danny Welbeck has overshadowed the night, that’s for sure,” England manager Roy Hodgson said. “It takes the gloss off a good team performance.”

Elsewhere, Belgium are on the brink of qualifying from Group ‘A’ after a 2-0 win in Scotland coupled with Croatia’s 1-1 draw in Serbia left them five points clear at the summit and Bosnia-Herzegovina slipped up 1-0 at home to Slovakia to allow Greece — 1-0 winners at Liechtenstein — to draw level on points at the top of Group ‘G’.

Results:

Group ‘A’:

Macedonia 2 Wales 1

Scotland 0 Belgium 2

Serbia 1 Croatia 1

Group ‘B’:

Czech Republic 1 Armenia 2

Malta 1 Denmark 2

Italy 1 Bulgaria 0

Group ‘C’:

Kazakhstan 2 Faroe Islands 1

Republic of Ireland 1 Sweden 2

Germany 3 Austria 0

Group ‘D’:

Romania 3 Hungary 0

Turkey 5 Andorra 0

Estonia 2 Netherlands 2

Group ‘E’:

Norway 2 Cyprus 0

Switzerland 4 Iceland 4

Slovenia 1 Albania 0

Group ‘F’:

Russia 4 Luxembourg 1

Northern Ireland 2 Portugal 4

Group ‘G’:

Bosnia-Herzegovina 0 Slovakia 1

Liechtenstein 0 Greece 1

Latvia 2 Lithuania 1

Group ‘H’

Ukraine 9 San Marino 0

Poland 1 Montenegro 1

England 4 Moldova 0

Group ‘I’:

Georgia 0 France 0

Finland 0 Spain 2

—Agencies