World Cup Round-up

Europe
The nine group winners qualify for the finals. The eight best runners-up playoff for the other four places, the remaining runner-up will miss out altogether.

WORLD CHAMPIONS Italy will defend their crown in South Africa next summer after a last minute equaliser gave them a 2-2 draw against Republic of Ireland at Croke Park in Dublin.

Substitute Alberto Gilardino proved to be the Italian hero as he hit a late goal to ensure they won Group Eight.

The Irish had taken the lead early on when Glenn Whelan converted but it was 1-1 midway through the first half when Mauro Camoranesi equalised.

Middlesbrough full-back Sean St Ledger thought he had won it and kept the group alive when he scored with three minutes left before Gilardino's intervention.

But Giovanni Trapattoni should not be too disappointed. Bulgaria's terrible 4-1 loss in Cyprus ensures Republic of Ireland will take part in November's playoffs.

Meanwhile, in Group One, Denmark beat regional rivals Sweden 1-0 to take their place in the finals next summer.

Jakob Poulsen pounced with 12 minutes left to cap an excellent Danish qualifying campaign as they won the group ahead of the Swedes and Portugal with a game to spare.

The Portuguese moved into pole position for a playoff place by beating Hungary 3-0 in Lisbon with goals from two goals from Simao and another from Liedson.

Carlos Queiroz's team are a point ahead of Sweden and play Malta at home in their last match.

In Group Four, Germany qualified after a fine away win in Moscow over their only group rivals Russia.

The Germans took a first half lead through Miroslav Klose but were reduced to ten men when Jerome Boateng was sent off for two bookings with 20 minutes left.

Nevertheless, Joachim Low's team kept the Russians out to ensure the Germans make it for a 13th finals appearance. Guus Hiddink's Russia will contest the playoffs.

Serbia had already put themselves in a good position in Group Seven with their draw against second-placed France in the last round of qualifiers.

A 5-0 thumping of Romania confirmed Serbia's place at next year's finals, rendering redundant the French thrashing of Faroe Isles by the same score. France will be a major threat in the playoffs, however.

Tonight's qualifiers mean Italy, Denmark, Germany and Serbia join Netherlands, England and Spain who had made it previously.

This leaves only two further places up for grabs for group winners before the playoffs produce four further qualifiers.

Switzerland look likely to take one of the remaining group winners' spots having taken firm control of Group Two with a regulation 3-0 win against group minnows Luxembourg.

Greece kept up the pressure on the Swiss with a vital win against Latvia.

But leaders Switzerland need only a home draw against Israel to qualify, regardless of the Greeks' expected win against Luxembourg.

Greece should at least be consoled by securing a playoff place.

Slovakia remain top of the most open contest, Group Three - but their place is far from secure after a 2-0 loss to Slovenia has given the Slovenians hope going into the last round of matches.

Slovenia face whipping boys San Marino while Slovakia must beat Poland away, though they may benefit from a disheartened Polish team who definitely cannot qualify.

The Poles have had a poor campaign with only three wins and lost 2-0 to Czech Republic this weekend.

That result gives the Czechs a very slim hope of a playoff spot - they play Northern Ireland at home on Wednesday with both needing to win and hope for an extraordinary Slovenian slip up.

In Group Five, Bosnia-Herzegovina secured a playoff berth behind group winners Spain by beating Estonia 2-0 in Tallinn.

These qualifiers have been the Bosnians best ever international performance and even if they had lost in Estonia, they would have made it into the playoffs anyway after Turkey's 2-0 loss in Belgium.

In Group Six, Ukraine have suddenly become favourites for a playoff spot after their 1-0 home win over England.

Fabio Capello's Three Lions were reduced to ten men after just 15 minutes when Robert Green brought down Artem Milevskiy for a penalty after a Rio Ferdinand mistake.

Though Andriy Shevchenko then missed the penalty, Ukraine made their man advantage count when Serhiy Nazarenko scored after 29 minutes.

The result brings to an end England's 100% record in the qualifiers but, more importantly, puts Ukraine one point ahead of Croatia with just Andorra away to come for the Ukrainians.

Group leaders/winners: Denmark (Q), Switzerland, Slovakia, Germany (Q), Spain (Q), England (Q), Serbia (Q), Italy (Q), Netherlands (Q).
Current second-placed teams: Portugal, Greece, Slovenia, Russia (P), Bosnia-Herzegovina (P), Ukraine, France (P), Republic of Ireland (P), Norway.
(Q)= Qualified for World Cup 2010; (P)= Definite playoff place


South America
Top four teams qualify for the finals. Fifth-placed team enters a playoff with the fourth-placed North American team for a finals place.

CHILE beat Colombia 4-2 away to qualify for World Cup 2010 in South Africa in some style.

Goals from Waldo Ponce, Humberto Suazo, Jorge Valdivia and Fabian Orellana gave the Chileans the points they needed to join Brazil and Paraguay in the finals.

The home loss killed off the Colombians' slim chance of qualifying but, for some of the other teams, the final automatic place remains an open contest.

Diego Maradona's Argentina moved back into fourth but were fortunate with a 2-1 win over rock-bottom Peru in Buenos Aries.

Gonzalo Higuan gave Argentina the lead just after half time but the hosts failed to build on it and Peru looked to have snatched an incredible point when Hernan Rengifo struck in the 90th minute.

Martin Palermo side-footed home a simple finish in the last minute of stoppage time to give the Argentines the win and 25 points from 17 matches.

Uruguay are ready to pounce from their current position of fifth, just a point behind Argentina, secured after their late show in Ecuador.

Manchester United's Antonio Valencia had given the Ecuadorians the lead but Luis Alberto Suarez replied almost instantly for Uruguay.

Former United striker Diego Forlan then scored in the 94th minute to give the Uruguayans real hope of snatching fourth-spot in Wednesday's winner-takes-it-all contest in Montevideo.

Ecuador have dropped to sixth after that home loss to Uruguay which has dealt a major blow to hopes of a third consecutive finals appearance.

The Ecuadorians must beat Chile by five goals and hope for a draw between Uruguay and Argentina to finish fourth but may yet qualify in fifth for the playoff.

Venezuela are effectively out of even qualifying for a playoff after their 2-1 home loss to Paraguay.

The Venezuelans require Ecuador and Uruguay to be beaten with a turnaround in goal difference of 15 goals against the Uruguayans.

What makes it even more unlikely is the fact that Venezuela are away to leaders Brazil in their last match, though the Brazilians did go down to a surprise 2-1 defeat against Bolivia in La Paz.

Current standings (17 matches of 18): Brazil 33 (Q), Paraguay 33 (Q), Chile 30 (Q), Argentina 25, Uruguay 24, Ecuador 23, Venezuela 21, Colombia 20, Bolivia 15, Peru 10.
(Q)= Qualified


North & Central America/Caribbean
Top three qualify for the finals. Fourth-placed team enters playoff with fifth-placed South American team for a place in the finals.

UNITED STATES and Mexico secured their place at the World Cup finals in South Africa after they both won their latest CONCACAF fixtures.

Mexico qualified first with a fine 4-1 win over El Salvador, ruling out the slim chance of qualifying which the Salvadorans still had.

The comfortable win in the Azteca caps a commendable turnaround by the Mexicans who were in danger of failing to qualify under former England coach Sven Goran Eriksson.

But they have recovered with five consecutive qualifying wins under new coach Javier Aguirre who previously took charge of the national team in World Cup 2002.

United States still lead the group but their 3-2 win against Honduras to secure a finals place was a much closer contest.

After a goalless first half, the Hondurans took the lead before two goals from Conor Casey helped the US into a 3-1 lead.

But Julio de Leon scored his second goal of the game to give the Americans a nervy final ten minutes.

The defeat puts Honduras' hopes of a World Cup finals place in major doubt after Costa Rica easily beat bottom-placed Trinidad & Tobago to take over in third place.

Alvaro Saborio scored twice in two second-half minutes to seal a 4-0 victory for the Costa Ricans, who will qualify if they win their last match against the United States in Washington.

Honduras must beat El Salvador to take advantage of a Costa Rica slip up if they are to qualify for their first finals appearance since 1982.

Current standings (9 matches of 10): United States 19 (Q), Mexico 18 (Q), Costa Rica 15, Honduras 13, El Salvador 8, Trinidad & Tobago 5.
(Q)= Qualified


Africa
Twenty teams divided into five groups of four. The five group winners qualify for the finals.

IVORY COAST captain Didier Drogba scored an equaliser to secure the point the Elephants needed against Malawi to progress to the World Cup finals in South Africa.

In a lacklustre performance, Ivory Coast fell behind to Malawi midway through the second half.

But Drogba scored almost immediately afterwards to put his side on 13 points from five matches in Group E. Burkina Faso beat bottom-placed Guinea 2-1 to secure second place with nine points.

Ivory Coast join Ghana who qualified from Group D last month. The Ghanaians appear to have relaxed this month, however, losing their perfect record after a 1-0 loss to Benin.

Mali took second place back off Benin after a last minute Freddie Kanoute goal gave the Malians a 1-0 win over struggling Sudan.

Groups A, B and C each remain a contest between two teams. In Group A, Cameroon are one point clear of surprise package Gabon.

Cameroon struggled early on in their campaign but beat Gabon home and away in September to head the group.

The Indomitable Lions followed that up with an easy 3-0 win over Togo. But, with the pressure on, Gabon beat Morocco 3-1 to stay in touch.

In Group B, Nigeria's Victor Obinna scored a stoppage time winner to beat Mozambique 1-0, preventing Tunisia from booking their tickets to the finals.

The Tunisians are still two points clear and favourites with a trip to Mozambique next. Nigeria travel to struggling Kenya who were beaten this time by a first-minute Tunisia goal.

Group C will be decided by an almighty clash between Algeria and Egypt in Cairo next month. Both teams had narrow wins this weekend, meaning the Algerians stay three points clear.

The goal difference also remains in Algeria's favour by four after they beat Rwanda 3-1 and Egypt won 1-0 in Zambia.

Current group leaders: Cameroon, Tunisia, Algeria, Ghana (Q), Ivory Coast (Q).


Asia-Oceania playoff, first leg
The playoff winner qualifies for the finals.
Bahrain 0-0 New Zealand

A PLACE in the World Cup finals remains up for grabs after a stalemate at the National Stadium in Riffa between Bahrain and New Zealand.

Bahrain, who have never qualified for a finals in their history, dominated this match but missed four clear chances as the All Whites lived dangerously at times.

But there was also stout defending from New Zealand as they kept the tie level and also kept alive their hopes of a first finals appearance since 1982.

The second leg in Wellington is scheduled for November 14.

Qualifiers
SOUTH AFRICA (hosts), AUSTRALIA, BRAZIL, CHILE, DENMARK, ENGLAND, GERMANY, GHANA, ITALY, IVORY COAST, JAPAN, MEXICO, NETHERLANDS, NORTH KOREA, PARAGUAY, SERBIA, SOUTH KOREA, SPAIN, UNITED STATES. 19 teams out of 32.
Remaining 13 places: Slovakia or Slovenia, Switzerland or Greece, Argentina or Uruguay, Costa Rica or Honduras, Bahrain or New Zealand, Cameroon or Gabon, Tunisia or Nigeria, Algeria or Egypt, four UEFA playoff qualifiers, and one Americas playoff qualifier.