World Cup Qualifying Round-up : GROUP ONE: The Netherlands guaranteed themselves a place in the play-offs at worse with a 1-0 win in Armenia on Saturday thanks to a 63rd minute goal from Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Romania beat the Czech Republic 2-0 in Bucharest in the same group with two goals from Juventus forward Adrian Mutu to move a point above the Czechs, who have two matches in hand.
GROUP TWO: Ukraine qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time despite conceding a goal a minute from time to draw 1-1 in behind closed doors in Georgia.
An 89th minute goal from Georgi Gakhokidze cancelled out Ruslan Rotan's 44th-minute strike for Ukraine and it seemed they would have to wait for Wednesday's match with Turkey to go through.
Qualification came earlier, however, when Denmark drew 2-2 with Turkey on Saturday evening after an injury-time equaliser from substitute Soren Larsen.
That result meant that neither Turkey or Denmark can match Ukraine's total of 24 points, and although Greece, who did not play on Saturday, can still do so, they have an inferior head-to-head record.
GROUP THREE: Russia kept the pressure on Portugal and Slovakia with a 2-0 win over Liechtenstein with Alexander Kerzhakov scoring goals either side of half-time.
Pauleta and Simao Sabrosa hit two goals apiece to help Portugal crush Luxembourg 6-0 in Saturday's late kick-off to move five points clear at the top, but Latvia's hopes ended after they lost 2-1 to Baltic neighbours Estonia in Tallinn.
GROUP FIVE: Norway kept the pressure on Italy at the top after grabbing an injury-time 3-2 win in Slovenia, who are now all but out of the running.
Italy now have 14 points with Norway on 12 and Slovenia on nine. Scotland have seven points, along with Belarus, who surprisingly lost 2-0 in Moldova.
GROUP SIX: Celtic striker Maciej Zurawski squeezed home a penalty rebound to give Poland a 3-2 victory at home to Austria that keeps them above England.
Goals from Euzebiusz Smolarek and Southampton's Kamil Kosowski had put the Poles 2-0 up inside 22 minutes before a fightback by Austria, for whom substitute Roland Linz grabbed a second-half double.
The Poles lead the group with 21 points from eight games, two ahead of England who have played a game less.
GROUP SEVEN: Serbia and Montenegro set a record by going seven qualifying matches without conceding a goal to beat Lithuania 2-0 and move two points clear of Spain, where they now travel to play on Wednesday.
Bosnia moved to 10 points after beating Belgium 1-0 and retain a slither of interest, as do Lithuania (nine) who they visit on Wednesday.
GROUP EIGHT: Top two Sweden and Croatia both won to keep it just a point between them with three games each remaining. Croatia have 19 points after coming from behind to win 3-1 in Iceland, with the Swedes on 18 after beating Bulgaria 3-0, as they did in Sofia in March.
With Croatia visiting Malta and Sweden in Hungary, two more wins can be expected on Wednesday - leaving the October 8th clash between the leaders in Zagreb likely to be decisive.
