Scotland's Che Adams and Scott McTominay scored in each half to beat Belarus 2-1 on Sunday, to move onto ten points from four matches in World Cup qualifying Group D.
Denmark, who also have ten points from four matches, beat third-placed Greece 3-1 later on Sunday to reclaim top spot on goal difference - with Rasmus Hojlund, Joachim Andersen and Mikkel Damsgaard on target during the first half in Copenhagen in a win that also eliminates the Greeks. The group winners qualify for the 2026 World Cup, while the runners-up progress to playoffs.
Bottom side Belarus pressed the hosts early, earning three corners in the first 10 minutes with a Pavel Zabelin header going just over the crossbar.
But Scotland scored five minutes later, with Jack Hendry's through ball finding Adams at the edge of the box for a left-foot finish. The Torino forward was initially flagged offside, but a VAR video review showed he was onside.
Belarus, looking better than their world ranking of 100th, had 22 shots in the game and thought they had equalised through Yevgeny Malashevich in the 63rd minute, but the goal was ruled out after a VAR check due to a foul on McTominay in the build-up.
Napoli midfielder McTominay scored from Andy Robertson's cross in the 84th minute, as Belarus suffered their fourth straight loss despite Gleb Kuchko's strike in added time, eliminating them from the race for the top two spots.
Scotland finish their group campaign next month with matches against Greece and Denmark.
Memphis Depay extended his record-breaking scoring streak for the Netherlands as they cruised to a 4-0 win over Finland.
The victory kept them comfortably in the lead in Group G and a step closer to booking a berth at next year's finals in North America. They have 16 points from six games, three more than Poland, who won 2-0 in Lithuania later on Sunday.
Donyell Malen got the scoring going at the Johan Cruyff Arena with an eighth-minute strike, followed by a header from Virgil van Dijk nine minutes later.
Depay tucked away a 38th-minute penalty to take his tally of goals for the Dutch to 54, having gone past Robin van Persie’s previous record of 50 last month, before Cody Gakpo made it 4-0 six minutes from fulltime.
The Faroe Islands, ranked 136th in the world, stunned Czech Republic 2-1, thanks to a late winner from substitute Martin Agnarsson a minute after coming on.
The North Atlantic archipelago with a population of about 55,000 had also shocked Montenegro 4-0 on Thursday and now sit third in Group L, one point below the second-placed Czechs with one match to go.
Hanus Sorensen put Faroe Islands ahead in the second half, with Adam Karabec equalising for the visitors in the 78th minute. Then a defensive mistake from 39th-ranked Czech Republic allowed Agnarsson to shoot into an empty net three minutes later, sealing the win.
Faroe Islands, who have won four World Cup qualifiers in a single cycle for the first time, will look to keep their dream of reaching a maiden World Cup finals alive when they visit group leaders Croatia on 14 November.
The Croatians are three points clear of Czech Republic with a game in hand after a comfortable 3-0 victory over Gibraltar.
Elsewhere, Cyprus thrashed San Marino 4-0 away but neither side are in contention to finish in the top two in Group H.
Austria remain top, two points ahead of Bosnia & Herzegovina, but lost 1-0 to third-placed Romania with Virgil Ghita scoring a 96th minute for the home side.
In Africa, Ghana became the 21st team to qualify for next year's World Cup as Mohammed Kudus tucked away a close-range effort early in the second half to earn a 1-0 win over Comoros and send an overflowing Accra stadium into rapturous celebration.
Kudus tapped in a square pass from Thomas Partey in the 47th minute to secure victory in front of an expectant crowd, although Ghana would have qualified even in defeat as closest rivals Madagascar were beaten 4-1 in Mali at the same time.
The Black Stars are the fifth African nation to confirm their participation at the finals in Canada, Mexico and the US after Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Algeria.
They have been to four previous tournaments, reaching the quarter-finals in 2010.
