The Italians sealed their berth with an entertaining 4-3 win over top seeds Portugal in Group One at Luzhniki Park.

Defeat for Portugal consigned them to a playoff with Spain, where the winner will join the other four European qualifiers from the tournament in the Russian capital.

Switzerland guaranteed themselves a top-two finish in Group Two and with it a place at the World Cup in Paraguay, following their narrow 3-2 victory over Azerbaijan.

The Swiss needed Russia to beat Spain 6-1 in the evening match to join the host nation in progressing to the World Cup.

The home side rarely looked in trouble as they defeated their Spanish opponents to qualify and complete the group stage with a 100 per cent record.

Belarus, who booked their World Cup spot yesterday, were beaten 4-3 by Poland in the day's other game.