Associated Press

London, March 27:

England, the Netherlands and Italy posted comfortable wins in World Cup qualifying, but 1998 champion France was held to a 0-0 draw by Switzerland. France could have a hard time guaranteeing itself a berth in the next year’s World Cup finals. It is tied at the top of Group 4 with Israel and Ireland, which drew 1-1. All three teams have nine points. England scored four goals in 15 minutes in a 4-0 win over Northern Ireland, the Dutch got goals from Philip Cocu and Ryan Babel to beat Romania 2-0, and Italy beat Scotland 2-0 off two free kicks from Andrea Pirlo. Freddie Ljungberg scored two goals for Sweden in a 3-0 win over Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic needed an 87th-minute winner from Vratislav Lokvenc to edge Finland 4-3. World Cup host Germany, which qualifies automatically, beat Slovenia 1-0 in a friendly. France labored to a 0-0 draw with Switzerland, with striker David Trezuguet, Patrick Vieira and Sylvain Wiltord all missing chances. Goalkeeper Fabien Barthez made several key stops.

In Tel Aviv, Abas Suan scored in injury time to give Israel a 1-1 draw against Ireland, who took lead through Clinton Morrison.

After Ireland, France and Israel, Switzerland has six points, with Cyprus and Faeroe Islands one point each. Italy was the only team in Group 5 to play and its 2-0 win over Scotland increased its lead to 12 points, five more than Norway. In Manchester, Joe Cole celebrated his first competitive start with England’s opening goal in the 46th minute. Michael Owen scored his 29th international goal and Frank Lampard added another. England’s fourth was through a Chris Baird own-goal. England leads Group 6 with 13 points, one more than Poland. Austria, which topped Wales 2-0, is third with eight points. Northern Ireland is next with three points. Milan Baros, Tomas Rosicky and Jan Polak all scored for the Czech Republic in its Group 1 win. Finland got three goals off three shots in the second half, from Jari Litmanen, Aki Riihilahti and Jonatan Johansson.

The Netherlands increased its lead in Group 1 with its win in Bucharest. Also in the group, Armenia beat Andorra 2-1. The Netherlands leads with 13 points, followed by Czechs (12), Romania (10), Finland (9), Macedonia (5) and Andorra and Armenia with four. Sweden extended its lead in Group 8 with its win in Sofia. Second-place Croatia beat Iceland 4-0 in another Group 8 match. In Group 5, Michalis Kapsis, Zissis Vryzas, and Stelios Giannakopoulos scored a goal each to lead Greece over Georgia 3-1. Turkey registered a 2-0 win over Albania; Denmark defeated Kazakhstan 3-0. Ukraine leads the group with 14 points, followed by Greece with 11, Denmark and Turkey with nine. In Group 7, Emile Mpenza scored twice and Koen Daerden and Thomas Buffel added a goal each to give Belgium a 4-1 win over Bosnia-Herzogovina. In Group 3, Slovakia beat Estonia 2-1. Slovakia and Portugal lead with 13 points each.