You know something special has happened when the Chinese start playing football on Tiananmen Square. While such irreverent activity would normally be banned in the symbolic heart of China, a special exception was made for half-a -million ecstatic soccer supporters last night.

Jubilant fans poured onto the streets of the Chinese capital to celebrate the country's qualification for the World Cup finals for the first time, after years of near misses and disappointments.

Under the watchful eyes of Chairman Mao, whose huge portrait overlooks Tiananmen Square, a fan threw a football into the crowd and a spontaneous game of soccer got under way, to wild cheers and roars.

China's qualification was all the sweeter coming three months after Beijing was awarded the 2008 Olympic Games. Last night's wild street party almost matched the Olympic victory celebrations on July 8th.

Millions of fans poured onto streets in cities all over the country minutes after China's 1-0 victory against Oman in the Wulihe Stadium in Shenyang, a hotbed of football fanaticism in the northeast.

The 60,000 vocal fans in the stadium exploded in joy at the final whistle, cheering the team and its charismatic Yugoslav coach, Bora Milutinovic.

When asked by an Irish journalist at the post-match press conference about China's chances in the finals in Japan and South Korea next summer, Milutinovic said: "I hope Ireland qualify too".

This will be a record fifth time Milutinovic has brought a national team to a World Cup.

In Beijing, televisions had been placed out on the streets of the trendy central Sanlitun bar district. As soon as the final whistle blew, Beijingers were treated to a massive fireworks display.

Thousands of fans poured onto the streets of the capital, blowing car horns and cheering wildly. Within half an hour, an estimated half-a-million fans had converged on Tiananmen Square, decked out with flowers and fountains marking the October 1st National Day.

Hundreds of riot police ringed the square armed with batons as the fans celebrated shouting "China has won. China is great."

In Shenyang, fans danced with joy in the city's People's Square, having watched the match on a huge television screen.

The victory was glorious redemption for China's soccer team which had become a national embarrassment after failing six times to reach the World Cup finals.