World Cup 2014 Betting: Home nations still hoping

Robbie Keane celebrates a much-needed win in the Faroe Islands

England may have been washed away but all the other home nations were in action. Christian Crowther assesses their respective campaigns...

Northern Ireland
Easily the pick of the results from the home nations last night saw Northern Ireland hold Euro 2012 semi-finalists Portugal to a 1-1 draw in Porto. All credit must go to Michael O'Neill for overseeing this shock result with an injury-plagued squad. The draw leaves Portugal five points adrift of Russia at the top of Group F and trailing Israel on goal difference, with their chances of automatic qualification now rated at around 2.8815/8. Northern Ireland's chances remain slim, but four successive home fixtures now present an opportunity to stake a claim.

Republic of Ireland
A manager under immense pressure going into last night's fixtures was Giovanni Trapattoni, following Ireland's humbling in Dublin against Germany. However, an ultimately convincing win against a spirited Faroe Islands team which had just ran Sweden close, has reinvigorated their campaign. The rather harsh calls for Trapattoni's head haven't been silenced though as the FAI refused to comment on his future. They now sit third, a point behind Sweden following the latter's remarkable comeback in Germany, and are rated at around 2.8815/8 to finish in the top two. The games against Sweden will be defining.

Scotland
Any smouldering Scottish hopes of qualifying for Brazil were effectively extinguished against Group A favourites Belgium as Craig Levein's side went down 2-0. The result against Marc Wilmots' star-studded team was one Scotland could have swallowed had their far easier opening three games returned more than a meagre two points. After squandering the opportunity to gain at least one vital win from two home matches, the subsequent loss to Wales all but put the writing on the wall. Surely Levein will now pay the price for a second successive qualification failure with his job, Gordon Strachan among the names mentioned as a potential successor.

Wales
Chris Coleman's air of optimism after beating Scotland was quickly transformed into resignation as the gulf in class with Croatia led to a third defeat in four for Wales in Group A. With seven points now the gap to Croatia, who currently occupy the play-off spot, Wales' chances of a top-two finish are understandably lean at around 75.074/1. Coleman has refused to give up all hope but his job is far from safe.