This weekend was host to another round of World Cup qualifying, and unfortunately some tragedy too.

On Sunday, the Côte d’Ivoire team thrashed Malawi 5 – 0 in what can only be described as a very one sided match. However, any cause for celebration was immediately dissipated when a collapsing wall in the Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Ethiopia caused the crowd to stampede. The police and security officials were ill-equipped to deal with the violence and 22 people were left dead, with a further 132 injured.

Cited reasons for the tragedy include an over-crowded stadium and poor emergency preparations.

Thankfully, the actual football from the weekend was excellent.

The match of the weekend was a fascinating contest between Northern Ireland and Poland. The match ended 3 – 2 in Northern Ireland’s favor, and the deciding goal was a Polish own goal.

Other interesting results included a disappointing 0 – 0 draw between Portugal and Sweden, which leaves Portugal facing possible exclusion from the World Cup. Russia is continuing their form from Euro 2008 with a solid 2 – 0 win over Azerbaijan. Ecuador found a goal in the 89th minute to deny Brazil the win and gain a point in the process.

All the other results from the weekend were either routine wins or disinteresting, but heres the complete rundown of all the matches.

African Qualifiers:
Egypt 1-1 Zambia
Ghana 1-0 Benin
Nigeria 0-0 Mozambique
Morocco 1-2 Gabon
Côte d’Ivoire 5-0 Malawi
Rwanda 0-0 Algeria
Togo 1-0 Cameroon
Kenya 1-2 Tunisia
Guinea 2-4 Burkina Faso
Sudan 1-1 Mali

Asian Qualifiers:
Japan 1-0 Bahrain
Uzbekistan 4-0 Qatar
Korea DPR 2-0 United Arab Emirates
Iran 1-2 Saudi Aria

North and Central American Qualifiers:

Mexico 2-0 Costa Rica
Honduras 1-1 Trinidad and Tobago
United States 2-2 El Salvador

South American Qualifiers:

Uraguay 2-0 Paraguay
Argentina 4-0 Venezuela
Colombia 2-0 Bolivia
Ecuador 1-1 Brazil
Peru 1-3 Chile

European Qualifiers:

Malta 0-3 Denmark
Albania 0-1 Hungary
Portugal 0-0 Sweden
Latvia 4-0 Luxembourg
Moldova 0-2 Switzerland
Israel 1-1 Greece
Poland 2-3 Northern Ireland
Slovenia 0-0 Czech Republic
Russia 2-0 Azerbaijan
Wales 0-2 Finland
Germany 4-0 Liechtenstein
Armenia 2-2 Estonia
Belgium 4-2 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Spain 1-0 Turkey
Romania 2-3 Serbia
France 1-0 Lithuania
Cyprus 2-1 Georgia
Italy 2-0 Montenegro
Bulgaria 1-1 Republic of Ireland