Switzerland defeated Bulgaria 4-0 Monday and finished at the top of the UEFA World Cup Qualifiers Group C table while Italy surprised everyone with a goalless draw against Northern Ireland and will go to playoffs. 

Before the matches, both sides had the chance to take the lead in Group C with 15 points each and Italy was at the top of the group and ahead of Switzerland by two goals.

The Nati have now directly qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, finishing at the top of Group C with 18 points, while Azurri finished the group second with 16 points and will wait for their chance to qualify in the playoff round.

The Swiss regularly qualified for the last four World Cups and have grabbed a ticket for the fifth one with this success.

They reached the last 16 three times, in the 2006, 2014 and 2018 World Cups, but were eliminated in the group stage in 2010.

Four-time World Cup champions in 1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006, Italy shocked the whole nation as they failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The European football powerhouse were under fire for their previous fiasco, but Italy won the UEFA EURO 2020 in the summer of 2021 to the delight of their fans.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup may be another shock for the nation if they fail in the coming playoffs.

- Kane scores 4 times as England secure World Cup qualification

England defeated San Marino 10-0 in a UEFA World Cup Qualifiers Group I match Monday.

Undefeated England finished the group in the top spot with 26 points and directly qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup while Poland will wait for the playoffs as second in the group with 20 points.

Tottenham forward Harry Kane scored four goals in the match and became third in the all-time top English National Team scorers with 48 goals.

Wayne Rooney tops the all-time list with 53 goals while English legend Bobby Charlton is in second spot with 49 goals.

- Monday Results:

Scotland-Denmark: 2-0

Switzerland-Bulgaria: 4-0

San Marino-England: 0-10

Northern Ireland-Italy: 0-0

Israel-Faroe Islands: 3-2

Austria-Moldova: 4-1

Albania-Andorra: 1-0

Poland-Hungary: 1-2

//agencies//

Brazil became the first South American nation to book their ticket to the 2022 World Cup with a 1-0 win against Colombia late Thursday.

Lucas Paqueta was the lone scorer at the Corinthians Arena for Brazil, which are comfortably on top of CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying group with 34 points.

They recorded impressive form by winning 11 out of 12 games.

Meanwhile, Chile beat Paraguay 1-0 and Ecuador sealed a 1-0 victory over Venezuela.

Leaders Brazil are followed by Argentina with 25 points, Ecuador have 20, and Chile collected 16.

The top four nations directly seal their places for the World Cup and the fifth-place nation will qualify for an intercontinental playoff to earn a spot in Qatar./aa

Despite being promoted to the next grades, millions of children in Zimbabwe are unable to read or write, due to repeated lockdowns and inability to hook to online education.

Josphat Magosvongwe, 8, had just started schooling when restrictions were imposed to stem the spread of the virus. He is now in second grade, but cannot read or write letters.

“He hasn’t been attending school for the better part of 2020, meaning part of his grade one school learning never took place as the country was under lockdowns for most of the time,” Linda Jonasi, mother of Magosvongwe, told Anadolu Agency.

His 33-year-old father Jonasi Magosvongwe is worried about the child’s illiteracy, despite now studying in class two.

But many fortunate children studying in private schools did afford to switch to digital learning.

“I didn’t miss much during the lockdowns because my school kept us busy through virtual learning. My teacher kept teaching us online using the internet,” said 12-year-old Livson Chigota.

The COVID-19 restrictions have sharpened the divide between wealthy and poor children.

According to the US-based Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resources Center, Zimbabwe reported 133,205 COVID-19 cases with 4,690 deaths. The country has so far administered 6 million doses, but still, just 18.2% population stands fully vaccinated.

Obert Masaraure, who heads the Rural Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe, said it is an uphill task to make up for the loss of education and make children who did not have digital access compete with children who had access.

“We have had learners who were supposed to be in grade one, grade two, and three at the beginning of 2020. They are automatically in next grades but have missed on concepts,” he said.

Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Education treats a person as literate when someone gets into grade three in primary school. It was visualized that till then, a child will be able to understand letters and read and write.

But experts say the COVID-19 has sent this rule upside down. Students in grade three are unable to comprehend letters, leaving parents and teachers worried./agencies

The World Health Organization (WHO) Europe on Friday called for schools to stay open – with appropriate measures in place – as the region reported four straight weeks of growing COVID-19 transmission.

The WHO said the Europe region, extending from Greenland in the northwest to the Russian Far East, accounted for 57% of new cases worldwide in the third week of October.

"Last year's widespread school closures, disrupting the education of millions of children and adolescents, did more harm than good, especially to children's mental and social well-being. We can't repeat the same mistakes," said Dr. Hans Kluge, regional director for WHO Europe.

Last week, with winter approaching, more than half of the European region's 53 countries reported a marked increase in COVID-19 infection rates across all age groups.

While new cases rose 18% in the region, WHO's five other regions reported a decline.

A total of 45 countries and territories recommend that schools remain open for in-person learning with infection prevention and control.

Seven countries opted for full or partial school closures, either at a national or sub-national level, while two recommend distance learning.

Last closed, first open

WHO Europe said if and when restrictions are imposed to decrease or control transmission, schools should be the last places to shut their doors and the first to reopen.

"To reduce the impact of COVID-19 in the coming months, it is vital that decisions by governments and the public alike are based on data and evidence, with the understanding that the epidemiological situation can change and that our behavior must change with it," said Kluge.

"Science must trump politics; the long-term interests of children must remain a priority, especially now that several countries are seeing a spike in transmission. We have more efficient tools to address this spike than closing schools."

WHO Europe quoted Julie Green, a head teacher who works with children age 4 to 11 in Lancashire, England, who supported Kluge's stance.

"Returning to school with face-to-face learning from their teachers has been the one certainty for many children during an uncertain time," said Green.

"As an educator and a mother, I believe that children learn best in the classroom."

She said the pandemic is not over, and measures to keep children and teachers as safe from the virus as possible must stay in place, but schools should remain open for the sake of children's learning and overall development.

The WHO recommends the use of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for children age 12-17. For children under 12, WHO will issue further guidance on the use of vaccines as and when new evidence from vaccine trials emerges.

To date, 76 million cases of COVID-19, and 1.4 million deaths, have been reported in the WHO European Region.

Worldwide, WHO said it has recorded nearly 245 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and is approaching 5 million deaths, while 6.69 billion vaccine doses have been administered./aa