European Qualifiers for World Cup: what to look out for on Thursday

The European Qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup resumed on Wednesday and continue on Thursday, having begun with a triple-header in March prior to pausing for UEFA EURO 2020.

UEFA.com picks out the key game and important subplots, including newly crowned European champions Italy restarting a group campaign which is so far perfect.

Wednesday 1 September

Group A: Luxembourg 2-1 Azerbaijan, Portugal 2-1 Republic of Ireland
Group D: Kazakhstan 2-2 Ukraine, France 1-1 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Group F: Denmark 2-0 Scotland, Faroe Islands 0-4 Israel, Moldova 0-2 Austria
Group G: Latvia 3-1 Gibraltar, Norway 1-1 Netherlands, Turkey 2-2 Montenegro
Group H: Malta 3-0 Cyprus, Russia 0-0 Croatia, Slovenia 1-1 Slovakia

Thursday 2 September

Group B: Georgia vs Kosovo (18:00 CET), Sweden vs Spain
Group C: Italy vs Bulgaria, Lithuania vs Northern Ireland
Group E: Czech Republic vs Belarus, Estonia vs Belgium
Group I: Andorra vs San Marino, Hungary vs England, Poland vs Albania
Group J: Iceland vs Romania, Liechtenstein vs Germany, North Macedonia vs Armenia

All games 20:45 CET unless stated

The big match 

Hungary vs England
After the heartache of their UEFA EURO 2020 final shoot-out loss to Italy, England are back in action as they visit another venue from the summer tournament, Budapest's Puskás Aréna, to take on Hungary, who themselves were six minutes from the knockout stage until they let in a late German equaliser in Munich.

England boss Gareth Southgate is under no illusions about the task facing his Group I pacesetters. "We know that Hungary's performances for a few years have been very good and very positive, even going back to the previous European Championship when they played so well in France.

"We know they were in the most difficult group in this European Championship and they had excellent results, really. Even in the game with Portugal that they lost, it was 0-0 until 84 minutes, so we're expecting a very difficult game and we need to be at our best possible level to go and win."

Worth looking out for

• Italy play their first match as European champions in Florence against Bulgaria, whom they beat 2-0 in March as one of three qualifying wins they managed that week. Another victory would set up the Azzurri nicely for Sunday's crucial trip to Switzerland.

• With only group winners assured of a place in Qatar, there are big stakes in several top-two meetings. On Thursday, Sweden vs Spain falls into that category as does the encounter between the shock frontrunners in Group J, North Macedonia and Armenia.