Tuesday 10 October 2017 23:13, UK
Portugal and France secured their places at next summer's World Cup finals but Holland will miss out on a second successive major tournament.
Holland, who also failed to qualify for the last European Championships, had to beat Sweden by seven goals to finish behind France in the runners-up spot but they could only manage a 2-0 win against the Swedes, who will head to the play-offs.
The unthinkable looked more possible when Arjen Robben scored from the penalty spot after 16 minutes but the Bayern Munich winger's second strike just before half-time was the only other goal of the game.
Portugal's 2-0 win over Switzerland, and France's 2-1 victory over Belarus, mean both sides have qualified for the finals in Russia next summer.
Luxembourg's point in a 1-1 home draw with Bulgaria meant they did not finish bottom of Group A. That distinction fell to Belarus after Olivier Thill's early opener for the hosts. However, they were denied a rare win by Ivaylo Chochev's equaliser.
Greece, European champions in 2004, made sure they were in the play-offs after beating Gibraltar 4-0, with Konstantinos Mitroglou scoring twice in between goals from Vassilis Torosidis and Giannis Gianniotas.
Belgium were already assured of winning Group H and they also finished their qualifying campaign with a 4-0 home victory over Cyprus. Thorgan Hazard scored in between two goals from his brother Eden - the second from the penalty spot - before Romelu Lukaku also got his name on the scoresheet.
The other match in the group saw Estonia lose 2-1 at home to Bosnia-Herzegovina as Izet Hajrovic scored twice for the visitors either side of Ilja Antonov's equaliser.
