Croatia qualifies for World Cup by beating Faroe Islands and Netherlands move closer

Croatia secured a place at next year's World Cup with a 3-1 win that ended tiny Faroe Islands' dream on Friday and the Netherlands moved closer to qualification by drawing in Poland.

Croatia knew before kickoff that avoiding defeat in Rijeka would guarantee qualification but it was caught cold in the 16th minute when Geza Dávid Turi scored with a deflected shot.

The 2018 World Cup runner-up quickly recovered, however, as Joško Gvardiol leveled in the 23rd. Making his return to the national team after two years away, Petar Musa put Croatia ahead 2-1 after halftime from Josip Stanišić's assist. In complete control, Croatia added a third goal when Nikola Vlašić volleyed in a precise cross from Ivan Perišić at the far post.

“Our goal was achieved with a game to spare in the qualifiers. We can proudly say we’ve qualified,” Gvardiol said. "We’ll travel to Montenegro for the final match in a relaxed manner but with the intention of taking all three points, as every game is preparation for what awaits us in the summer.”

It was Faroe Islands' final match in Group L and the team will finish behind runner-up the Czech Republic. The second-placed team advances to the playoffs for the World Cup co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Montenegro beat Gibraltar 2-1 in the group's other game.

Coach Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands came from behind in Warsaw to draw with Poland 1-1 and take a major step toward direct qualification in Group G.

With one match left to play, the Dutch top the group, three points clear of the Poles after Memphis Depay’s second-half equalizer canceled Jakub Kamiński’s opener. The Netherlands also has a much better goal difference before the final match against Lithuania. Poland takes on Malta on Monday.

“I am more disappointed than happy but on the other hand we made another step toward qualification," Koeman said. "It is not easy to play against teams who defend very deep. We had to be patient, we had to try to attack in different ways, but we did not create enough good opportunities.”

In Group A, Germany is guaranteed of a top-two finish after Nick Woltemade scored twice in a scrappy 2-0 win at Luxembourg. Slovakia scored late to beat visiting Northern Ireland 1-0.

“In the second half, the commitment was noticeably better, and we also scored two good goals,” Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann said. “We might have deserved to concede but we didn’t, so we can consider ourselves lucky.”

Germany and Slovakia are level on points and will face off on Monday in Leipzig in a match that will decide the group winner. Slovakia had two goals disallowed before Tomáš Bobček broke the deadlock in added time.

Malta snatched its first win in 2026 World Cup qualifying, converting its only shot on target to stun Finland 1-0 in Helsinki in Group G. According to the Malta Football Association, this was only the fourth win ever by Malta in World Cup qualifying.

Midfielder Jake Grech came off the bench in the 79th minute and scored the decisive goal three minutes later from the edge of the area. It was only Malta's second goal in seven qualifiers, against 16 conceded.

Malta rose to fourth in Europe Group G, five points behind Finland, which can't qualify.

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The Netherlands players, background, celebrate after Memphis Depay, center, scored their first goal during a World Cup 2026 group G qualifying soccer match between Poland and the Netherlands in Warsaw, Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Germany's Nick Woltemade, center, fights for the ball with Luxembourg's Laurent Jans, right, during the 2026 World Cup group A qualifying soccer match between Luxembourg and Germany in Luxembourg, Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Croatia's Petar Musa scores during a World Cup 2026 group L qualifying soccer match between Croatia and Faroe Islands in Rijeka, Croatia, Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Croat players celebret as they qualified for the World Cup aftre defeating Faroe Islands in Rijeka, Croatia, Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Finland's Teemu Pukki, left, and Oiva Jukkola react the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group G qualifying soccer match between Finland and Malta in Helsinki, Finland, Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (Heikki Saukkomaa/Lehtikuva via AP)

Malta's goalkeeper Henry Bonello, left, stops the shot from Finland's Joel Pohjanpalo during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group G qualifying soccer match between Finland and Malta in Helsinki, Finland, Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (Heikki Saukkomaa/Lehtikuva via AP)

Players of Malta celebrate a goal by Jake Grech during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group G qualifying soccer match between Finland and Malta in Helsinki, Finland, Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (Heikki Saukkomaa/Lehtikuva via AP)

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — A mass shooting carried out Saturday by multiple suspects in an unlicensed bar near the South African capital left at least 12 people dead, police said. The victims included three children aged 3, 12 and 16.

Another 13 people were wounded and being treated in the hospital. Police didn’t give details of the ages of those who were injured or their conditions.

Police adjusted the death toll after they said a 12th victim died in the hospital.

The shooting happened at a bar inside a hostel in the Saulsville township west of the administrative capital of Pretoria in the early hours of Saturday. Ten of the victims died at the scene and two others died at the hospital, police said.

The children killed were a 3-year-old boy, a 12-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl. Police said they were searching for three male suspects.

“We are told that at least three unknown gunmen entered this hostel where a group of people were drinking and they started randomly shooting,” police spokesperson Brig. Athlenda Mathe told national broadcaster SABC. She said the motive for the killings was not clear. The shootings happened at around 4.15 a.m., she said, but police were only alerted at 6 a.m.

South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.

The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, authorities say.

There have been several mass shootings at bars — sometimes called shebeens or taverns in South Africa — in recent years, including one that killed 16 people in the Johannesburg township of Soweto in 2022. On the same day, four people were killed in a mass shooting at a bar in another province.

Mathe said that mass shootings at unlicensed bars were becoming a serious problem and police had shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.

Recent mass killings in South Africa have not been confined to bars, however. Police said 18 people were killed, 15 of them women, in mass shootings minutes apart at two houses on the same road in a rural part of Eastern Cape province in September last year.

Seven men were arrested for those shootings and face multiple charges of murder, while police recovered three AK-style assault rifles they believe were used in the shootings.

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa

A man sits outside a scene where the bodies of the victims of a mass shooting were found, at a bar near Pretoria, South Africa, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/STR)

Forensic personnel is seen at a scene where bodies of the victims of a mass shooting where found at a bar near Pretoria, South Africa, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo)

Police officers carry the body of a person on a stretcher after a mass shooting at a bar near Pretoria, South Africa, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (AP Photo)