<p>VIENNA, Austria — Denmark could become the first European team to qualify for the 2022 World Cup at this pace.</p>
<p>An impressive 4-0 win in Austria on Wednesday made it a perfect three wins for the Danes in Group F after the first week of the campaign.</p>
<p>Europe’s top-scoring team has netted 14 goals so far — and none by playmaker Christian Eriksen — without allowing an opponent to score against goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.</p>
<p>Denmark is already four points clear with solid away wins against two teams, Israel and Austria, who started last week with realistic hopes of contending. The group runner-up enters a playoff round next year. </p>
<p>Denmark’s next opponent in Copenhagen on Sept. 1 is Scotland, which rose to second place in the standings after beating the Faeroe Islands, also by 4-0.</p>
<p>Austria’s players began the evening holding up a long banner that read “Protect Human Rights” while their national anthem played.</p>
<p>They contained Denmark in the first half then were swept away by four goals in a 16-minute spell midway through the second half.</p>
<p>The 21-year-old forward Andreas Olsen scored twice to bookend strikes by defender Joakim Maehle and midfielder Pierre-Emile Højbjerg.</p>
<p>Højbjerg’s shot into an unguarded net got a spectacular assist from Martin Braithwaite. The Barcelona forward let the ball run on untouched while leaping to hurdle a wild sliding challenge by Austria goalkeeper Alexander Schlager far outside the penalty area. </p>
<p>Before the game, Denmark’s players again wore T-shirts in the “Football Supports Change” campaign by European national teams drawing attention to labor rights issues in World Cup host nation Qatar.</p>
<p>Scotland midfielder John McGinn scored twice against the Faeroes in Glasgow to extend his prolific run under coach Steve Clarke of 10 goals in less than two years.</p>
<p>Israel rose to third place in the standings by winning 4-1 in Moldova, which took the lead in the first half and had forward Ion Nicolaescu sent off when the scores were level.</p>
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