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France tops group to book World Cup berth, Sweden nabs play-off place

REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol

World Cup favourite France ensured its place in an 11th consecutive major tournament after cementing Group A honours Tuesday with a victory over Belarus.

Runner-up Sweden is off to the play-offs after avoiding disaster against the Netherlands in Amsterdam, while the Dutch miss out the quadrennial contest two years after failing to secure a Euro 2016 berth.

Related: Dutch dreams dashed as Netherlands misses out on 2018 World Cup

Les Bleus started the contest against Belarus at the Stade de France on the front foot. Didier Deschamps' lot was set to take a two-goal advantage to the break thanks to tallies from Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud before Anton Saroka's 44th-minute diagonal run through the penalty area and one-touch finish got the better of Hugo Lloris to cut the lead in half.

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

Heading into Tuesday's festivities, France was guaranteed to top Group A with a win, though a draw against Belarus and a victory by the Swedes would have bumped the Euro 2016 finalist to second. Dutch winger Arjen Robben's first-half double against the Scandinavians ensured that permutation wasn't to be, but the Netherlands' World Cup hopes were dashed despite the 2-0 win.

The result in Amsterdam became a moot point as Les Bleus saw out the 2-1 result in the French capital, and despite a qualifying campaign that had its hiccups, they will head to Russia as one of the World Cup favourites.

Related: Everything you need to know about UEFA's World Cup play-offs

Group runner-up Sweden will now look forward to the play-offs draw on Oct. 17.

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