Natasha Harding scores on 100th Wales cap | Scotland lose to Spain | Republic of Ireland draw with Sweden | Football News

Wales kept alive their hopes of a Women’s World Cup qualification play-off place as Natasha Harding marked her 100th cap with a goal in a comfortable 3-0 win away to Kazakhstan.

With France in charge of Group I, Wales are competing with Slovenia and Greece for second place.

Gemma Grainger’s side cantered to victory in Nur-Sultan as Kayleigh Green opened the scoring before Harding struck and Jess Fishlock sealed the win after the break.

Harding was holding back the tears during the national anthem as she reached her century of appearances.

It took Wales until just before the half-hour mark to break the deadlock, a low strike from Green setting the visitors on their way.

Sophie Ingle then hit the crossbar before Harding toasted her landmark cap, doubling the lead with a close-range finish from Ceri Holland’s cross.

Fishlock wrapped up the points with a well-taken third, opening up her body and scoring from 12 yards to leave Wales with the prospect of qualifying for their first World Cup.

With a play-off place the most likely path, Wales face a trip to Greece and a home tie against Slovenia in September knowing two wins would still have them in the hunt for a place at the 2023 finals in Australia and New Zealand.

Improved Scotland beaten by Spain

Scotland put in a resilient performance in front of almost 8,000 fans at Hampden Park but were beaten 2-0 by Spain in Women’s World Cup qualifying.

Two goals from Jennifer Hermoso extended Spain’s unbeaten run to 21 games and confirmed their place at the World Cup with two games left to play.

In front of 7,804 fans – a record attendance for a home competitive match for Scotland, Pedro Martinez Losa’s side produced a spirited display but struggled to create any clear-cut chances.

They remain second in Group B with two games remaining and now face fixtures against Ukraine and the Faroe Islands.

Two wins will be enough to secure second place and guarantee a play-off position.

Republic of Ireland denied famous win in Sweden

Kosovare Asllani’s strike 11 minutes from time denied the Republic of Ireland a famous win in Sweden as the sides settled for a 1-1 draw in their Women’s World Cup qualifier.

Sweden, second in FIFA’s world rankings, have blazed a trail in Group A, scoring 26 goals and conceding only once in their previous six matches, but they fell behind on the stroke of half-time in Gothenburg.

Katie McCabe put the Republic ahead in the 44th minute with a left-foot shot that took a sizeable deflection off a Sweden defender and the visitors had to weather some intense pressure thereafter.

Sweden had 78 per cent possession and 20 shots at goal – although only four on target – and they drew level when Real Madrid’s Asllani chested down a pass from Olivia Schough before beating Republic goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan.

Sweden’s 100 per cent record in the group therefore came to an end and their lead was cut to nine points after Finland defeated Georgia 6-0 to leapfrog the Republic into second place.