England maintained their one hundred percent winning record in World Cup qualifying while Spain and Netherlands also won to make it maximum points on Wednesday.
Portugal's stuttering form continued as a goalless draw at home to 10-man Albania left them in third place in Group One.
![England' Wayne Rooney (L) fights for the ball with Belarus' Igor Stasevich during World Cup 2010 qualifying soccer match at the Dinamo stadium in Minsk October 15, 2008. [Xinhu/Reuters]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20081016/000802c98ccc0a60ecf41c.jpg "England' Wayne Rooney (L) fights for the ball with Belarus' Igor Stasevich during World Cup 2010 qualifying soccer match at the Dinamo stadium in Minsk October 15, 2008. [Xinhu/Reuters]") |
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England' Wayne Rooney (L) fights for the ball with Belarus' Igor Stasevich during World Cup 2010 qualifying soccer match at the Dinamo stadium in Minsk October 15, 2008. [Xinhu/Reuters]
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The Portuguese have now gone three qualifiers without a win and lie two points behind joint group leaders Denmark and Hungary, which jumped from fifth to second after winning 1-0 at Malta.
Two goals from Wayne Rooney and one from Steven Gerrard lifted England to a 3-1 win at Belarus, their fourth straight victory.
The side under Fabio Capello now enjoy its best start in a World Cup qualifying, heading into a six-month break with a five-point lead over Group Six rivals Ukraine and Croatia, who beat underdogs Andorra 4-0.
David Villa scored a late winner as European champions Spain overcame Belgium 2-1, stretching their unbeaten run to 27 matches and made it four wins from four in Group Five.
Spain were dealt with early setbacks as they fell behind just after seven minutes through Wesley Sonck's opener and then lost Liverpool striker Fernando Torres in the 16th minute to a tweaked leg muscle injury.
Andres Iniesta netted in the 36th minute to level the score but Vicente del Bosque's side had to wait until two minutes from time for the final victory when Villa headed in substitute Daniel Guiza' s cross.
![England's Steven Gerrard (L-2) reacts after his goal, during the World Cup group 6 qualifying soccer match against Belarus in Minsk, Belarus, Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008. England won 3-1. [Xinhua/Reuters]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20081016/000802c98ccc0a60ed441d.jpg "England's Steven Gerrard (L-2) reacts after his goal, during the World Cup group 6 qualifying soccer match against Belarus in Minsk, Belarus, Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008. England won 3-1. [Xinhua/Reuters]") |
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England's Steven Gerrard (L-2) reacts after his goal, during the World Cup group 6 qualifying soccer match against Belarus in Minsk, Belarus, Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008. England won 3-1. [Xinhua/Reuters]
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Spain lead Group Five by four points and in the same group, Turkey jumped above Belgium into second place after a 0-0 tie in Estonia.