Top-ranked Belgium slammed eight goals against Belarus and the Netherlands crashed seven past Gibraltar but Portugal suffered a scare before beating Luxembourg as the World Cup qualifying matches continued on Tuesday.
There were also victories for Croatia, Serbia and Norway while Slovakia shocked Russia and Wales got their campaign up and running with a late winner against the Czech Republic.
Belgium had been held 1-1 by the Czechs at the weekend but claimed their second Group E win in emphatic fashion.
Coach Roberto Martinez gave chances to several of his fringe players and was rewarded with a rampant display as Hans Vanaken and Leandro Trossard scored twice while Michy Batshuayi, Jeremy Doku, Denis Praet and Christian Benteke were also on target.
Belgium top the group with seven points from three games, three points ahead of the Czech Republic who fell to a 1-0 defeat in Wales after Daniel James headed a late winner from a cross by Gareth Bale. The Welsh have three points. Both sides ended with 10 men after Patrik Schick saw red for the Czechs just after halftime, while Connor Roberts was sent off for the hosts shortly before the winning goal. The Netherlands could not quite match their neighbours Belgium but four goals in nine second-half minutes helped them demolish Gibraltar in Group G.
Only Steven Berghuis’s goal separated the sides at halftime but Luuk de Jong, Memphis Depay, Georginio Wijnaldum and Donyell Malen all scored in quick succession before Donny van de Beek added a sixth and Depay got his second to give the Dutch their biggest away win since a 7-0 success over San Marino in 1993.
