The European champions Spain and a rejuvenated England book their World Cup places with two games to spare by both maintaining their perfect records in qualifying. Cesc Fabregas, Santi Cazorla and Juanma Mata earned the goals that clinched Spain's 3-0 victory over Estonia and top spot in Europe's Group 5. England secured their place in South Africa next June with a 5-1 victory over Croatia, the team which stopped them reaching the 2008 European Championship.
While they joined the Netherlands in next year's 32-nation finals, 11 more European berths are undecided. Like England last year, the 1998 World Cup winners France might miss out on a major tournament after a second straight draw. Group 7 leaders Serbia held the French to 1-1 draw in Belgrade to leave them trailing by four points with two matches to go. Portugal could also be relying on capturing second place and a play-off to reach South Africa, although the side - featuring world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo - boosted their chances by leaving Hungary with a 1-0 win.
World champions Italy enjoyed a 2-0 victory over Bulgaria to leave them needing only a draw in Ireland next month to qualify. The result that pleased World Cup organisers the most was England's, with organising chief Danny Jordaan responding to its victory by stressing the importance of the presence of Fabio Capello's team of star names and - as importantly for the country - their travelling fans. Although England needed only a point to guarantee a trip to South Africa, they raced into a 2-0 lead inside 18 minutes courtesy of Frank Lampard's penalty and Steven Gerrard's close-range header. Lampard and Gerrard each added another after the break. Wayne Rooney scored a fifth when goalkeeper Vedran Runje passed straight to him after Eduardo da Silva scored a consolation goal for the hapless Croatians.
Capello has nine months to prepare to deliver England's first major title since the 1966 World Cup. "Let's not forget it has taken us a year or so to get to this level," the captain John Terry cautioned. "We have a lot of improvements to make in this squad." Croatia will hope England does them a favour against third-placed Ukraine next month. Ukraine drew 0-0 with Belarus to close the gap on Croatia to two points having played a game less with two to go.
Spain's win over Estonia ensured a ninth straight appearance at football's showcase event. A win was all Spain needed after Bosnia drew with Turkey hours earlier and remained four points ahead of their visitors in second place. Belgium interim coach Frank Vercauteren offered to resign following a 2-1 loss to Armenia that eliminated his team from contention. Italy moved closer to the finals after Fabio Grosso and Vincenzo Iaquinta scored against Bulgaria to give the world champions a four-point lead over Ireland.
Germany overcame a sluggish first half to rout Azerbaijan 4-0 as Miroslav Klose scored twice, and Michael Ballack and Lukas Podolski claimed one each to stay in control of Group 4. Germany and Russia, who won 3-1 in Wales, play on October 10 in Moscow in a match that will decide the winner of the group and the team that qualifies directly for the World Cup. In Group 1, leaders Denmark damaged their chances of earning a direct route to the World Cup by drawing 1-1 with Albania. Portugal are a further two points adrift after Pepe's early header clinched the 1-0 win over Hungary, which is also on 13 points. Ian Azzopardi's own-goal gave Sweden a 1-0 win over Malta that lifted it to within three points of Denmark with two matches to go.
France had been trailing by a goal and a player in Belgrade after Nenad Milijas gave Serbia the lead in the 14th minute from the penalty spot after France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris brought down Nikola Zigic and was sent off. Thierry Henry equalised 17 minutes later, though, after picking up a rebound by Serbia keeper Vladimir Stojkovic. Serbia lead Group 7 by four points ahead of France with two rounds to go. Serbia need three points from its two remaining matches, against Romania at home or Lithuania away, to clinch a direct World Cup spot.
France needs to beat the Faeroe Islands and Austria, which still has a theoretical chance of capturing a play-off spot, to maintain their chance of direct qualification. Group 3 leaders Slovakia strengthened their chances of automatic qualification by winning 2-0 in Northern Ireland. Slovenia are second on goal difference ahead of Northern Ireland after beating Poland 3-0 and could still take top spot by winning its two remaining matches. Northern Ireland must win their last match in the Czech Republic next month and hope the Slovenians slip up to earn a play-off. Slovenia's 3-0 victory over Poland resulted in Poland's coach Leo Beenhakker being fired.
Group 2 leaders Switzerland could have virtually assured their World Cup place, but could only draw 2-2 with Latvia. The Swiss are three points clear of Greece and Latvia with two matches to go. The Netherlands won 1-0 at Scotland to complete their qualifying campaign with a perfect record and end its opponents hopes of reaching the tournament. Thorstein Helstad and John Arne Riise scored in the first half as Norway beat Macedonia 2-1 to finish second in Group 9. The nine European group winners qualify, and the eight teams with the best record of the nine second-placed sides go to play-offs.
*AP
