Spain secured their place at the World Cup finals with a 3-0 win over Estonia in Group Five.
With Bosnia-Herzegovina being held by Turkey earlier in the evening, Spain knew a victory over Estonia would be enough to guarantee themselves top spot in Group Five.
And Spain made no mistake as they continued their 100% record in qualifying with an eighth win in eight games.
Unlike Saturday's impressive trouncing of Belgium, it was more of a workmanlike display from Spain and although Fabregas gave the hosts a 33rd-minute lead, Vicente del Bosque's men had to wait until the final 10 minutes to wrap up the game thanks to efforts from substitutes Cazorla and Mata.
Bosnia-Herzegovina's dream of a first appearance at the World Cup finals received a huge boost with their 1-1 home draw against Turkey.
The home side entered the match with a four-point advantage over their visitors and they successfully battled back from conceding an early goal to secure a draw and preserve that priceless cushion, with two rounds of games remaining.
Emre gave Turkey the perfect start when he slid through a crowd of players to score from close range, but the World Cup semi-finalists in 2002 and Euro 2008 semi-finalists were pegged back in the 25th minute as Hoffenheim midfielder Sejad Salihovic levelled.
In the night's other match, Armenia caused a shock with their first victory of the campaign as goals from Hovhannes Goharyan and Sargis Hovsepyan saw off Belgium 2-1.
Italy took a giant step towards World Cup qualification by beating Bulgaria 2-0 in Turin in Group Eight.
Fabio Grosso opened the scoring in the 11th minute before his Juventus team-mate Vincenzo Iaquinta doubled the Azzurri's lead shortly before half-time.
The outcome sees the world champions go four points clear at the top of the group and leaves them needing just a point away to second-placed Republic of Ireland in October to go through.
Montenegro remain without a win in their qualifying campaign after letting a second-half lead slip away against Cyprus.
Captain Mirko Vucinic handed the home side a 57th-minute lead with a penalty, but Cyprus drew level seven minutes later when Ioannis Okkas netted.
Zoran Filipovic's team, like Cyprus, had seen their hopes of a surprise top-two finish disappear much earlier in the campaign so were playing for national pride.
In Group Nine, Norway clinched second place in World Cup qualifying Group Nine after a dominant 2-1 victory over Macedonia at the Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo.
Thorstein Helstad and John Arne Riise scored the goals which saw Egil Olsen's side claim the runners-up spot behind Holland in the standings at the expense of both tonight's visitors and Scotland, who were defeated by the Dutch in their final qualifier.
Portugal boosted their precarious hopes of qualifying with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Hungary in Budapest.
Pepe's goal proved the difference between the sides this evening as Carlos Queiroz's team moved onto 13 points in Group One and leapfrogged their hosts into third spot.
The result leaves the Portuguese five points behind pool leaders Denmark and two adrift of second-placed Sweden with two rounds of matches remaining.
Denmark's were held to a disappointing draw against Albania in Tirana.
Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner gave the Danes the lead five minutes before half-time but Albania fought back and Erjon Bogdani levelled the scores in the 50th minute.
Sweden bolstered their hopes of qualification after a second lucky winner in successive games.
After Zlatan Ibrahimovic snatched a fortunate stoppage-time goal to see off Hungary on Saturday, tonight Sweden needed an own goal from Malta's Ian Azzopardi to clinch three points.
Azzopardi deflected the ball past goalkeeper Andrew Hogg after 81 minutes, after Sweden's Marcus Berg shot across goal.
Serbia edged a step closer to automatic qualification as the Group Seven leaders held nearest challengers France to a 1-1 draw in Belgrade.
Les Bleus recovered from the ninth-minute dismissal of goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to salvage a point as Thierry Henry's effort after half an hour cancelled out Nenad Milijas' 13th-minute penalty opener.
Serbia themselves ended the night with 10 men when Danko Lazovic was dismissed late on.
Austria's slim hopes of reaching South Africa via the play-offs remain alive after they snatched a 1-1 draw in Romania.
Gheorghe Bucur opened the scoring for the hosts after 54 minutes but Austria fought back to snatch a point through Franz Schiemer's 82nd-minute leveller.
Arnbiorn Hansen grabbed the winner as Faroe Islands achieved a rare 2-1 win over Lithuania.
Suni Olsen put the Faroes ahead after 15 minutes and, although Tomas Danilevic equalised eight minutes later, Hansen had the decisive say with the winner for Brian Kerr's team 10 minutes before half-time.
Switzerland passed up the chance to virtually assure their place at next year's World Cup when they managed only a 2-2 draw against Latvia in Riga.
The Swiss needed to come from behind to secure even a draw, with substitute Eren Derdiyok sparing his side's blushes after goals by Aleksandrs Cauna and Vitalijs Astafjevs had overturned Alexander Frei's opener.
The result nevertheless leaves Switzerland firmly in the box seat in Group Two, three points clear of Greece and Latvia with two rounds of matches remaining.
Greece's hopes of reaching South Africa were dented somewhat as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Moldova after a disjointed display at the Zimbru stadium in Chisinau.
Otto Rehhagel's side, displaced by Switzerland at the Group Two summit after losing 2-0 to the Swiss in Basle on Saturday, overcame early nerves to take a 33rd-minute lead through Theofanis Gekas.
But Greece suffered a late blow when Valerui Andronic levelled in the first minute of added time.
In another Group Two match, Elyaniv Barda struck a first-half hat-trick as Israel responded to Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Latvia by recording an emphatic 7-0 victory over Luxembourg.
The Genk forward opened the scoring in the ninth minute and, after Aviram Baruchyan had doubled the hosts' advantage six minutes later, added two more before the interval to put Israel firmly in command.
Omer Golan notched just before the hour mark to make it 5-0 and then a Ben Sahar brace sealed the rout for Israel, who remain fourth in the pool.
Group Reviews
Group One: Portugal keep hopes alive
Group Two: Swiss slip up against Latvia
Group Three: Slovakia top qualification group
Group Five: Spain secure World Cup spot
Group Six: England confirm World Cup place
Group Seven: Serbia close in on Finals place
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