Spare a thought for Venezuela, who were sitting in the play-off spot going into the final round of qualifying in South America, with a first ever place in a World Cup finals in their sights.

A Venezuela side that included former West Brom, Newcastle and Everton striker Salomon Rondon in their ranks held a one-point advantage over Bolivia in the table.

They entertained a talented Colombia XI in their final game, while Bolivia were playing Brazil in the high altitude of their home stadium in El Alto.

Things were looking promising for Venezuela when they twice took the lead in the opening stages, but a four-goal burst either side of half-time from Sporting striker Luis Suarez took the game away from them.

Rondon did manage to get on the scoresheet to make it 5-3 with 14 minutes to play, but a Colombia side that included Crystal Palace midfielder Jefferson Lerma and former Premier League players Luis Diaz and James Rodriguez quickly restored their three-goal advantage and ran out 6-3 winners.

Bolivia, meanwhile, stole in to book their place in the play-offs thanks to a 1-0 win over Brazil that was decided by a first-half penalty from Santos midfielder Miguel Terceros.

Image source, Getty Images

Craig Nelson
BBC Sport reporter

Just a reminder folks that you can watch our World Cup analysis show by clicking on the play icon at the top of this page.

The final rounds of qualifying in South America took place in this international break.

Countries in the top six all qualified automatically, with their places already assured before the final round of fixtures.

Argentina topped the group, while there was just a point between Ecuador in second and Paraguay in sixth, with Colombia, Uruguay and Brazil completing the qualifiers.

Bolivia, meanwhile, won 1-0 at home to Brazil to finish seventh and book their place in an intercontinental play-off tournament in March, which will also include sides from the Concacaf, Asian, African and Oceania regions.

Image source, Getty Images

There are 305 days to go until the 2026 World Cup gets under way with a record 48 nations set to be involved.

Qualifying campaigns are taking shape across the globe with many sides still pushing to earn their spot, but some places have already been sealed.

Let's take a look at who can already start looking at flights and logistics:

Host nations:

• USA
• Canada
• Mexico

Asia:

• Australia
• Iran
• Japan
• Jordan
• South Korea
• Uzbekistan

Oceania:

• New Zealand

South America:

• Argentina
• Ecuador
• Colombia
• Uruguay
• Brazil

• Paraguay

Africa:

• Morocco
• Tunisia

Craig Nelson
BBC Sport reporter

Right, I hope all that makes sense.

Coming up we will have a rundown of the next round of World Cup qualifying fixtures for all the home nations, and take a look at some of the stories bubbling under elsewhere in Europe and beyond.

Can I also draw your attention to a live World Cup show that will be streaming in this page from around 10:15 BST.

Presenter Olly Foster will be joined by David Cameron Walker, from the England pod, and BBC Sport's football tactics correspondent Umir Irfan.

Just click on the play icon to follow.

As a reminder, the 12 group winners in European qualifying progress to the World Cup finals.

And the 12 group runners-up will take part in play-offs in March.

They will be joined by the four best-placed group winners from the recent Nations League tournament that have not already qualified for the World Cup or made it into the play-offs as runners up in their group.

The play-offs are split into eight semi-finals and four finals.

Winners of the four play-off finals will qualify for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Believe it or not, but before Tuesday's hammering by England, Serbia had proved a tough nut to crack in front of their fanatical home support.

They were supposed to provide the Three Lions with their toughest test in Group K, yet now face a battle with Albania to even reach the play-offs.

Serbia host second-placed Albania before England play their next qualifier, away to Latvia on 14 October.

Should Albania win in Belgrade then the Three Lions would be confirmed group winners - and qualify for the 2026 World Cup finals - with victory in Riga.

Even if Serbia win against Albania, victory for England in Latvia would be enough for them to qualify with two games to spare, should Serbia drop points away to Andorra in their next match.

Image source, Getty Images

In a time of change, captain Harry Kane has provided a constant for new England head coach Thomas Tuchel, as he did for Gareth Southgate before him.

The 32-year-old Bayern Munich striker, who played a season under Tuchel when he moved from Tottenham to the Bundesliga, nodded home his 74th goal for England in Serbia in what was his 109th appearance for the Three Lions.

His goal broke the deadlock and provided the foundation for England to produce their most impressive performance yet under Tuchel.

By doing so, Kane also moved above another great leader, Bobby Moore, and into the top five England appearance makers.

Most capped England internationals in the men's senior team:

• Peter Shilton (125)
• Wayne Rooney (120)
• David Beckham (115)
• Steven Gerrard (114)
• Harry Kane (109)

John Murray
BBC football correspondent

There was a lot going on in and around the famous stadium of Red Star Belgrade, besides England’s performance.

A huge section of the stands was closed as a punishment for discrimination and racist abuse at Serbia’s last home match. Pleas had been sent out to supporters in advance of the match and on the public address system in the ground on the night to behave. There was a very high profile presence of riot police in attendance. There are political tensions in Belgrade just now and there was chanting related to that during the match.

The home supporters became angry as England racked up the goals, and called for coach Dragan Stojkovic to go. Scuffles broke out in the home sections, one ill-advised man tried to get to the England supporters and was quickly hustled away.

Green laser lights were being shone on the England players, at one point causing Ezra Konsa to halt in his tracks. Someone else was blowing a referee’s whistle, which was quite distracting. And it looked like Morgan Rogers was upset by something that was said to him immediately after the end of the match.

So with all that going on it was all the more to England’s credit that they were able to ignore it all and really produce the goods for the first time, in what was the sixth match of Thomas Tuchel’s tenure.

On this Belgrade morning there is a very different feeling around Tuchel’s England.

Thoughts on a friendly against Wales?

Feels a little like missing an open goal in a World Cup year.

Would you rather see England take on a team from another continent?

England

Two of England's remaining three qualifiers are away from home, while their final fixture of the campaign at Wembley is the return match against Serbia, who will certainly have a point to prove after Tuesday night's humiliation.

So while the Three Lions' tails are up, Thomas Tuchel will be keenly aware that there is still work to be done.

England's upcoming fixtures:

• 09 Oct: England v Wales - friendly
• 14 Oct: Latvia v England
• 13 Nov: England v Serbia
• 16 Nov: Albania v England

John Murray
BBC football correspondent on BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast

That was quite a night. It goes straight on to the list of famous England away wins. It was the toughest match that England faced in the group but they made that look a nonsense with the way they played.

They imposed themselves from the first whistle and did exactly what Thomas Tuchel wanted - dominated from the first whistle.

Tuchel told me on the eve of the match that he felt this performance was coming and he was happy to point that out to me after the match.

England

Five wins and no goals conceded, capped off by a five-goal hammering of Group K danger team Serbia in their own back yard.

Could England's start to World Cup qualifying have been any more impressive under new head coach Thomas Tuchel.

OK, performances until Tuesday night's benchmark 5-0 win in Belgrade had been underwhelming, but with only five points now needed to qualify from the final three group games, does the World Cup countdown start now?

England results under Tuchel:

• 21 Mar: England 2-0 Albania
• 24 Mar: England 3-0 Latvia
• 07 Jun: Andorra 0-1 England
• 10 Jun: England 1-3 Senegal - friendly
• 06 Sep: England 2-0 Andorra
• 09 Sep: Serbia 0-5 England

Image source, Getty Images

England's World Cup qualifier against Serbia in Belgrade was briefly paused by the referee after a laser pen was shone from the crowd in Ezri Konsa's face.

The incident occurred in the 38th minute of the match at the Stadion Rajko Mitic in Belgrade - which the Three Lions went on to win 5-0 - when Konsa threw his head back after seemingly being dazzled by a green light.

A few moments earlier a beam had been directed towards fellow defender Reece James as he prepared to take a free-kick.

French referee Clement Turpin stopped the game momentarily after Konsa reacted and spoke to the fourth official on the touchline.

Shortly after the resumption, there was a message over the public address system which warned fans against the use of laser pens and other pyrotechnics.

In a separate incident, riot police entered the stands midway through the second half after home fans began chanting anti-government songs, while there were also chants related to Kosovo throughout the match.

At least 15% of Belgrade's stadium was closed to home supporters as a Fifa punishment for racist chanting in a game against Andorra.

A statement from the Serbian FA (FSS) said it has been fined more than £600,000 by Fifa and Uefa in the past five years.

Teamwork makes the dream work...