Bosnia-Herzegovina 3 Belgium 4: Carrasco settles thriller to dent hosts' World Cup dreams

Sarajevo, October 7: Belgium dealt a major blow to Bosnia-Herzegovina's hopes of securing a World Cup qualifying play-off berth with a scintillating 4-3 win in a sodden Sarajevo on Saturday.

Bosnia came into this clash knowing a win coupled with a Greece defeat against Cyprus later on Saturday would assure them of second place, although that would not yet be enough to guarantee them one of the best runners-up spots.

But ahead of Tuesday's trip to Estonia, this defeat leaves Mecha Bazdarevic's side just one point clear of Greece, who host whipping boys Gibraltar on the final matchday.

It was a desperate start for the hosts, who fell behind to Thomas Meunier's fourth-minute goal but, after Marouane Fellaini departed with what appeared to be a left knee injury, Bosnia equalised almost immediately as Haris Medunjanin had the simplest of tasks to tap home.

A dreadful error from Jan Vertonghen - who equalled Jan Ceulemans' record of 96 Belgium caps - let in Edin Visca as Bosnia forged ahead before the break, but Roberto Martinez's men improved after the restart and levelled through Michy Batshuayi.

Vertonghen did atone for that mistake with a simple back-post finish midway through the second half, and the drama was far from over.

Dario Dumic thumped in a header from a corner with eight minutes to play but within two minutes Belgium struck the decisive blow, Yannick Carrasco slotting home at the near post to maintain his side's 100 per cent record in Group H and break Bosnia hearts.

Source: OPTA