live from the bbc sport centre. coming up on the show: germany qualify for next year's world cup with a 3—1win in northern ireland against world cup with a 3—1 win in northern ireland against belfast. england also qualify after a goal against slovenia. and three home runs are hit ina slovenia. and three home runs are hit in a victory against the boston red sox. welcome to the programme. starting with the news that reigning champions germany have qualified for next yea r‘s world cup champions germany have qualified for next year's world cup in russia. they beat northern ireland 3—1 in belfast to guarantee their automatic passage. they won all nine of their qualifiers to date. sebastian rooney fired home the winner for the four—time world champions. the advantage was doubled 20 minutes

later. there was a consolation for the home side and it was a convincing win. translation: as we ta ke convincing win. translation: as we take stock of our qualifying campaign asa take stock of our qualifying campaign as a whole so far, i have to say that as far as i'm concerned everything is positive on all counts. in september of last year we looked at our group, assessed our opponents and told ourselves that we wa nted opponents and told ourselves that we wanted to dominate our qualifying group and not to have to make any compromises. and if possible not drop any points either. so today after winning this game and having qualified against northern ireland by beating them on their own turf, i think we have every reason to be satisfied with our performance. there is the confirmation that germany have made it nine wins out of nine in group c. they had never lost a world cup qualifier away from home in theirfirst lost a world cup qualifier away from home in their first game —— lost a world cup qualifier away from home in theirfirst game —— since their first home in theirfirst game —— since theirfirst game home in theirfirst game —— since

their first game dating back to 1934. their first game dating back to 193a. northern ireland are still looking good for a place in the play—offs. there were wins for the czech republic and norway also. england have qualified for russia thanks to a goal from this man, hurricane. beside remains undefeated in group f. the main thing as far as the fans are concerned is that their team is safely through to the world cup finals next summer, but they didn't exactly finals next summer, but they didn't exa ctly d o finals next summer, but they didn't exactly do it in convincing fashion. in the first half they huffed and puffed to little effect. very few chances. they had a few more after the break, they had to wait until deep into time for their winner. harry kane has had such a run of form the tottenham hotspur and has now scored 14 goals in his last nine matches for the club and country and he was the man who scored the goal which guaranteed england's place in the world cup finals next year. on

paper they've had a very impressive qualifying campaign and are unbeaten, but england fans know that when it comes to the major tournament, the finals, they have disappointed so often in recent yea rs disappointed so often in recent years and gareth southgate and his players certainly have plenty to work on before the finals in russia next summer. it was an amazing performance, one of the most important things was getting a win and qualifying for the world cup and we've done that, so we should be proud of the team and a nation and we should be enjoying the night. yes, an amazing feeling any time you score. it is no easy thing to get into a world cup. many countries around the world have struggled. the tea m around the world have struggled. the team are delighted and to have the game play out like it did, you dream of these things. so for it to happen in wembley is incredible. they have gone on to second place, scotland.

there is still a 3—way fight for the next baht. scotland will claim that if they win against slovenia on sunday. elsewhere, poland were denied the chance to qualify with the game to spare. a hat—trick was scored in armenia. christian eriksen scored in armenia. christian eriksen scored the only goal of the game, as denmark won in montenegro. the danes could still finish top on goal difference. with two matches remaining in south america qualifying, argentina are playing against fourth placed peru who sit above them on goal difference. no goals to show in that one. chile are in a worse off position, currently sixth. they are only a point off the automatic play—off place. they are hosting ecuador and they are leading i—0. columbia are playing parrot way.

brazil have already qualified and are playing against bolivia. uruguay also held to a goalless draw in venezuela. 0ne venezuela. one goal in six games in south america. who would have thought it? syria keep their hopes alive after drawing against australia. this was a home match for syria and was played in malaysia. the winners will then move onto last play—off against then move onto last play—off against the north american team. australia took the lead in the first half. robbie kruse gave them a 1—0 advantage, butjust robbie kruse gave them a 1—0 advantage, but just five robbie kruse gave them a 1—0 advantage, butjust five minutes from full—time the australians were rewarded for this foul in the box. they finished to hand syria a lifeline. the second leg is on tuesday in sydney. we controlled the game probably up to the 60 minute mark. we probably

had enough times to kill the game off and again we are kind of a goal away from doing that. the boys tried really ha rd. away from doing that. the boys tried really hard. the last 20 minutes we re really hard. the last 20 minutes were a bit chaotic, but we still defended strongly and made a couple of good saves, which was good to see. it was just a bit disappointing to concede a goal like we did. the tennis and rafael nadal is through to the quarter—finals in beijing. he made quick work of his russian opponent in the second match. world number one and playing like it. rafael nadal stormed into an early lead, taking the first set. the spaniard hasn't won the title in beijing for 12 years, but playing like this, clinical at both the

baseline and the net, you would be brave to bet against him. the dial through to the quarter—finals. —— rafael nadal. next isjohn is now, the big american who showed off his power and touch against his argentinian opponent ——john power and touch against his argentinian opponent —— john isner. isner took the first set 6—0 and despite more resistance in the second he finished it off 6—3. the main attraction in the women's draw on thursday was a battle between two former world number ones. petra kvitova and caroline wozniacki. petra kavita via had the better of the first set, taking it 6—1. the second was more of a contest, but the same result. kvitova into the quarters. it was a day to forget

for her compatriot who was rushed in straight by an undefeated romanian. the world number four going straight by an undefeated romanian. the world numberfour going home. to golf and the championship is being played in scotland. ireland's paul dunne became his bid for back—to—back european tour titles, with a five under par for 67. that score was matched by nicolas colsaerts, who was playing his first round. happy people. they are both one shot clear of a group of five players, and meanwhile rory mcilroy is still looking for his first victory of the year. he opened up with one over par 73. he is six shots off the lead. i didn't drive the ball as well as i have been, but my play was really solid. i made a

few nice putts on the front nine. the back nine kind of had some opportunities, so it was a little bit disappointing. all in all it's a decent start, but to finish 5—4, with the downwind, is a little disappointing. but there's plenty to build from. a good start. in major league baseball there was a player who is on the 10th person to get three home runs. it is being played on thursday and the red sox' designated winner suffered an apparent knee injury. the cleveland indians who lost out in the world series last year are currently playing at home to the new york yankees. that one is 1—0. midway through, in the best of five series,

the next matches will be played on friday. that's all we have time for this edition of sport today. from myself and the magnificent sport today quim, goodbye for now. —— team. clear skies and light winds out there right now. so certainly pretty chilly. but the good news is if you want a trouble—free day on friday, it is looking sunny through the country. a window of clear skies right now. a weather system is heading our way. that won't arrive until the weekend, unfortunately. there will be rain around on saturday. not in the short—term, in the short—term, high pressure is building as i speak. it will be brief, not around for very long. i hope you enjoy the calm weather. this is what it looks like on friday morning. not much happening out there. temperatures, eight degrees in towns and cities. rural spots and scotland, dipping down to around freezing. this is what it looks like first

thing in the morning. a couple of showers and more of a breeze for 0rkney and shetland. but for mainland scotland, northern ireland, wales, and england, the weather is looking absolutely fine. glasgow and the south, sunny for most. temperatures around 7—9. the winds will be very light. so really a beautiful start to friday for most of us. the weather isn't going to change a lot through the morning or the afternoon. however, later in the day, it looks like things will cloud over in northern ireland and western parts of scotland. some spots of rain getting over into the north—west and into the hebrides. possibly some light around about until sunset in belfast

and late in the evening in glasgow. weather fronts increasing. saturday itself is looking very different. so after a beautiful friday, saturday is looking completely different. 0vercast, quite a changeable day. it's not going to be a wet day. there will be sunshine around, particularly around aberdeenshire, the pennines, in the south. damp weather around in plymouth and london. it will not rain all day long. the weather will wax and wane and won't be especially heavy. a better day on the way for most of us on sunday. less of that cloud. pockets of rain here and there. 17 in london. more like 1a in glasgow. so, let's summarise the weekend. quite a lot of cloud, especially on saturday, with spots of rain. by the time we get to sunday, it should brighten up with some decent weather around then.

bye— bye. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. our top stories: four days after the las vegas shooting, the white house and top republicans consider limited changes to us gun laws. australia's cardinal pell appears in court for a second time, but the abuse allegations against him still aren't known. tropical storm nate kills at least six people in costa rica. it's expected to strengthen as it heads towards the us. the oscar—winning film producer, harvey weinstein, apologises and admits he "caused a lot of pain" following claims he sexually harassed women for decades. and spain's constitutional court suspends monday's meeting of the catalan parliament, in a bid to block any push for independence.