WORLD champion France booked its place at next year’s World Cup in Qatar in style as Kylian Mbappe fired in four goals in an 8-0 thrashing of Kazakhstan at the Parc des Princes on Saturday. Karim Benzema scored twice and there were further goals for Adrien Rabiot and Antoine Griezmann, whose penalty marked his 42nd goal for France, taking him ahead of Michel Platini. Only Thierry Henry (51) and Olivier Giroud (46) have scored more for France. The French will be joined at the finals by neighbor Belgium as the world’s top-ranked team saw off Estonia 3-1 in Brussels to ensure top spot in Group E ahead of Gareth Bale’s Wales, which beat Belarus 5-1 in Cardiff. The Netherlands, which missed out on the 2018 World Cup, looked on course to join them as the side led Montenegro 2-0 going into the last 10 minutes of their encounter in Podgorica. However, the Dutch conceded two goals in the last 10 minutes to draw 2-2. They still top Group G but are just two points ahead of Turkey and Norway. On the sixth anniversary of the 2015 attacks in Paris that claimed the lives of 130 people, The French put on a spectacular show for their supporters. Mbappe set the ball rolling when he put the world champions ahead after just six minutes. The Paris Saint-Germain star added a second six minutes later and completed his hat-trick with a thundering header just after the half-hour. Leading 3-0 at the break, France turned up the heat even more in the second half as Benzema struck twice before Rabiot and Griezmann had their moments in the spotlight. It was fitting that Mbappe had the final say, stroking home his fourth to complete the rout three minutes from time. France tops Group D, leaving Finland and Ukraine to scrap over second place. “A World Cup is a dream, an aim, it’s everything and it’s a unique chance to play in a team that can win it. We’re going over there to win it,” Mbappe said. The Finns have a two-point advantage going into the final round of matches after seeing off Bosnia-Herzegovina 3-1. The Finns had Jukka Raitala sent off before half-time but goals from Brentford forward Marcus Forss, Robin Lod and Daniel O’Shaughnessy sealed the win. Belgium had dropped just a single point in qualifying up to this point and knew that victory over Estonia in Brussels would guarantee the side top spot in Group E. (SD-Agencies) | 