Italy defeat Albania in world cup qualifier
Italy defeated Albania 2-0 in the European leg of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers as the Albanian fans held the game for about eight minutes after throwing smoke bombs and flares on the field. The game was also suspended in second half due to low visibility. Daniele De Rossi's 12th-minute penalty and Ciro Immobile's 72nd-minute header gave Italy their fourth win in five matches.
1000th professional appearance for Gianluigi Buffon
The Group G match between Italy and Albania was the 1000th professional match for Italy's goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. He has 168 appearances for Italy, making him the capped player in the history of the Italian national team and most capped European international player ever.
Spain register a comfortable 4-1 victory over Israel
Israel's attacking threat did not stop Spain to continue their unbeaten strike in Group G of the qualifiers as they won 4-1 at Gijon. David Silva, Vitolo, Diego Costa and Isco scored a goal each to keep Spain on the top of the points table in their group. Israel's only goal came from Lior Refaelov in the 76th minute.
Turkey, Iceland, Croatia win their respective matches
Cenk Tosun's two first half goals gave Turkey a 2-0 victory over Finland in the first Group I match of the day. In the second match, Iceland defeated new comers Kosova 2-1 in Albania. Croatia continued to remain on the top of the points table after a 1-0 win over Ukraine in in Zagreb. Nikola Kalinic scored the only goal in 38th minute.
Wales, Ireland play a goal-less draw
Wales' qualifying hopes were dealt with a blow, after they played a goal-less draw against Republic of Ireland. Gareth Bale will not play in June against Serbia after being shown a second yellow card of the qualifying campaign.