Czechia's hopes of qualifying for next year's World Cup took a hit on Sunday as they suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to the Faroe Islands.

The Faroe Islands are ranked 136th in the world but are now just one point behind Czechia in Group L, keeping their hopes of at least reaching the play-offs alive.

Hanus Sorensen gave the hosts the lead in the 67th minute with a fine strike, though they were pegged back by substitute Adam Karabec 11 minutes later.

However, within three minutes, Martin Agnarsson took advantage of some terrible Czechia defending to score an 81st-minute winner.

In order to finish second in the group, the Faroe Islands will travel to Croatia for their final group game in November, needing a win, while hoping Czechia fail to beat pointless Gibraltar.

Croatia, meanwhile, took a big step towards securing top spot in the group on Sunday after cruising to a 3-0 win over Gibraltar.

Toni Fruk gave them the lead in the 30th minute, but they failed to double their lead from the penalty spot shortly before the hour as Lovro Majer was denied by Jaylan Hankins.

Luka Sucic and Martin Erlic both scored in the final 20 minutes of the match to secure the three points, though, moving Croatia three points clear of Czechia with two games still to play.

Elsewhere, Denmark moved back to the top of Group C thanks to a 3-1 victory over Greece.

All the damage was done in the first half, with Rasmus Hojlund, Joachim Andersen and Mikkel Damsgaard finding the back of the net.

Christos Tzolis pulled one back shortly after Tasos Bakasetas hit the woodwork, and Denmark failed to add to their tally, despite Joachim Anderson also heading against the frame of the goal.

Austria's perfect start to qualifying was ended by Romania at Arena Nationala, with substitute Virgil Ghita netting a 95th-minute winner for the hosts.

Ralf Rangnick's side remain top of Group H with two games left to play, but failed to extend their two-point lead over Bosnia-Herzegovina.

And Poland cut the Netherlands' advantage at the top of Group G to three points thanks to a 2-0 win over Lithuania.

Sebastian Szymanski broke the deadlock in the first half before setting up Robert Lewandowski in the second to get a vital three points.

Data Debrief: Czechia's World Cup hopes stuttering

Czechia may be left wondering how they have failed to come away from the Faroe Islands without a result, given their attacking push.

They have 15 shots, worth 1.42 expected goals (xG), but only hit the target once, while their hosts had six attempts worth 0.5 xG (three on target).

The Faroe Islands have won their last three matches in a row, and have now won four World Cup qualifiers in their group, having never won more than two in any qualification campaigns before.