World Cup qualification comes to its climax over the next week, with live matches from Europe, Africa and the Americas available on television and online.
For Roy Hodgson’s England side, only two wins in home matches against Montenegro and Poland will guarantee them top spot in Group H, although the result of Friday’s match between Ukraine and Poland in Kharkiv will have a big bearing on England’s fortunes.
ITV will show both matches live and will be expecting bumper audiences, starting on Friday evening with the Montenegro match from Wembley (k/o 8pm).
Roy Hodgson’s men have the opportunity to win Group H and qualify for next year’s World Cup in Brazil if they overcome the Montenegrins and then Poland in their final game four days later.
Montenegro held England to a 1-1 draw in Podgorica in March, when Wayne Rooney’s early header opened the scoring but Dejan Damjanovic scrambled home the equaliser with 13 minutes to go.
After recent criticism for the way they played in drawing 0-0 with the Ukraine in Kiev, England will hope to produce a top-level performance against the team which is third in their group.
For Montenegro, new Manchester City signing Stevan Jovetic and Juventus striker Mirko Vucinic will hope to unlock England’s defence and improve their own chances of qualification for the World Cup finals.
England can then seal their place next year’s World Cup if they beat the Poles on Tuesday night, providing they also secure a victory against Montenegro at Wembley four days previously.
Wayne Rooney gave England the lead in last year’s corresponding match in Warsaw, but England were denied victory by Kamil Glik’s second-half equaliser.
Meanwhile, Poland go into the match following a game in Kiev on October 11, to be played behind closed doors after a FIFA disciplinary committee investigation into racist behaviour during Ukraine’s game against San Marino.
Familiar faces who may feature for Poland include Southampton goalkeeper Artur Boruc, Leicester City defender Marcin Wasilewsky, and striker Robert Lewandowski who will be looking to add to his tally of 18 international goals.
Joining Adrian Chiles in the ITV studio for both games at Wembley are regular analysts Lee Dixon and Roy Keane.
Injured England midfielder Theo Walcott joins the team in the studio for the Montenegro game while Terry Butcher is the special guest for the Poland clash.
Commentary comes from Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend, plus reports and interviews by Gabriel Clarke.
All the other home nations are all out of the reckoning for qualifying for next summer’s showpiece in Brazil.
Though the battle for Group A supremacy could be dependent on Tuesday’s matches between Belgium and Wales (k/o 8pm) and Scotland and Croatia (k/o 8pm), both live on Sky Sports, if Croatia defeat Belgium in Zagreb on Friday.
Before then, Craig Bellamy will play his final home match for Wales as Chris Coleman’s side take on Macedonia in Cardiff on Friday night, live on Sky Sports 3 (k/o 7.45pm).
That match is preceded on the same channel by Azerbaijan against Northern Ireland (k/o 5pm), though neither side are able to qualify.
The Republic of Ireland face a tricky task in Germany on Friday night which no British broadcaster will be showing.
However, should they pick up a shock victory in Cologne they may still be able to qualify with another win at home to Kazakhstan on Tuesday evening, live on Sky Sports (k/o 7.45pm).
No broadcaster has yet picked up the rights to Northern Ireland’s final qualifying match in Israel on Tuesday.
Elsewhere, Spain require four points from two home matches to finish top of Group I ahead of the French, with both matches shown live on BT Sport.
Vicente del Bosque’s side host Belarus on Friday (k/o 9.00pm) live on BT Sport 1, with coverage available free-to-air on Freeview channel 57.
Spain finish their campaign at home to Georgia on Tuesday night, also on BT Sport (k/o 8.00pm), but will be aware that they have not yet won a home match in qualifying, having conceded late equalizers against France and Finland last season.
Meanwhile, BT Sport have picked up the rights to show all the first legs of what promises to be a lively round of play-offs in Africa.
These include a mouth-watering contest between Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal on Saturday (k/o 6.00pm) and the heavyweight clash of Ghana vs Egypt on Tuesday (k/o 5.00pm). The return legs will be played in November.
Brazil are touring Asia, facing South Korea in Seoul on Saturday (k/o 12.00pm) and Zambia in Beijing on Tuesday (k/o 12.45pm) with both matches will be on BT Sport 1.
Details of how to follow the final rounds of 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying on UK TV and online below.
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Friday 11th October Azerbaijan v Northern Ireland – Group F | k/o: 17:00 LIVE: 4.55pm-7.30pm Sky Sports 3 Wales v Macedonia – Group A | k/o: 19:45 LIVE: 7.30pm-10.00pm Sky Sports 3 Highlights: 11.05pm-11.45pm BBC Two Wales England v Montenegro – Group H | k/o: 20:00 LIVE: 7.30pm-10.10pm ITV Highlights: 10.45pm-11.45pm ITV Spain v Belarus – Group I | k/o: 21:00 LIVE: 8.30pm-11.30pm BT Sport 1 Saturday 12th October South Korea v Brazil – Friendly | k/o: 12:00 LIVE: 11.30am-2.00pm BT Sport 1 Argentina v Peru - CONMEBOL Qualifier Delayed: 1.00pm-3.00pm Premier Sports Burkina Faso v Algeria – World Cup Play-off, 1st Leg | k/o: 17:00 LIVE: 5.00pm-7.00pm BT Sport 2 Ivory Coast v Senegal – World Cup Play-off, 1st Leg | k/o: 18:00 LIVE: 6.00pm-8.00pm BT Sport 1 Sunday 13th October Ethiopia v Nigeria – World Cup Play-off, 1st Leg | k/o: 14:00 LIVE: 2.00pm-4.00pm BT Sport 2 Tunisia v Cameroon – World Cup Play-off, 1st Leg | k/o: 18:00 LIVE: 6.00pm-8.00pm BT Sport 1 Tuesday 15th October Brazil v Zambia – Friendly | k/o: 12:45 LIVE: 12.45pm-2.45pm BT Sport 1 Ghana v Egypt – World Cup Play-off, 1st Leg | k/o: 17:00 LIVE: 5.00pm-7.00pm ESPN Germany U21 v Faroe Islands U21 – UEFA Under-21 Qualifier | k/o: 17:30 LIVE: 5.30pm-7.30pm British Eurosport 2 England U21 v Lithuania U21 – UEFA Under-21 Qualifier | k/o 18:00 LIVE: 5.30pm-8.30pm BT Sport 1 Republic of Ireland v Kazakhstan – Group | k/o: 19:45 LIVE: 7.30pm-10.00pm Sky Sports 2 England v Poland – Group H | k/o: 20:00 LIVE: 7.30pm-10.25pm ITV Highlights: 11.00pm-12.00am ITV Scotland v Croatia – Group A | k/o: 20:00 LIVE: 7.30pm-10.15pm Sky Sports 1 Highlights: 10.35pm-11.25pm BBC One Scotland Belgium v Wales – Group A | k/o: 20:00 LIVE: 7.55pm-10.15pm Sky Spots 3 Spain v Georgia – Group I | k/o: 20:00 LIVE: 7.45pm-10.30pm BT Sport 2 ..As always, the Qualifiers 2014 channel on YouTube carries live coverage of a multitude of matches from around Europe.
These including crucial matches on Friday between Croatia and Belgium in Group A (live in the player above), Armenia and Bulgaria in Group B, Greece and Slovakia in Group G and Portugal and Israel in Group F.
Bet365 website carries live coverage of Friday’s matches from South America.
Venezuela must beat Paraguay at home (k/o 9.30pm) in what is their final match or they will be eliminated, while Uruguay need to avoid defeat in Ecuador to guarantee themselves a play-off spot at worst.
Colombia and Chile will both expect to qualify and meet in Barranquilla.
WORLD CUP QUALIFYING LIVE on YouTube
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Friday 11th October
16:00 Armenia v Bulgaria (Group B)
16:30 Lithuania v Latvia (Group G)
17:00 Moldova v San Marino (Group H)
17:00 Croatia v Belgium (Group A)
18:30 Malta v Czech Republic (Group B)
19:00 Bosnia-Herzegovina v Liechtenstein (Group G)
19:30 Iceland v Cyprus (Group E)
19:30 Slovenia v Norway (Group E)
19:30 Greece v Slovakia (Group
19:30 Andorra v Romania (Group D)
19:30 Luxembourg v Russia (Group F)
19:30 Estonia v Turkey (Group D)
20:30 Portugal v Israel (Group F)
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Tuesday 15th October
18:00 Lithuania v Bosnia-Herzegovina (Group G)
18:00 Greece v Liechtenstein (Group G)
18:00 Azerbaijan v Russia (Group F)
18:00 Portugal v Luxembourg (Group
19:00 Latvia v Slovakia (Group G)
19:00 Switzerland v Slovenia (Group E)
19:00 Romania v Estonia (Group D)
19:00 Hungary v Andorra (Group D)
19:00 Turkey v Netherlands (Group D)
19:00 Bulgaria v Czech Republic (Group B)
19:30 Serbia v Macedonia (Group A)
20:00 Montenegro v Moldova (Group H)
20:00 San Marino v Ukraine (Group H)
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