Ukraine first to make it through

DESPITE being held to a 1-1 draw in Georgia on Saturday, Ukraine became the first European nation to qualify for the next year’s World Cup.

The former Soviet republic can now start to prepare for the tournament proper, a luxury the Netherlands are close to enjoying after beating Armenia 1-0. The result takes Marco van Basten's side four points clear of the Czech Republic, who fell to a shock 2-0 defeat in Romania.

It took a goal from Ruud van Nistelrooy to give the Dutch a precious 1-0 victory over Armenia, while Finland struggled in Andorra and could only come away with a goalless draw.

As well as Andorra performed the real surprise came when Adrian Mutu netted twice to give Romania victory over the Czechs. That takes the Romanians up to second place, albeit having played two games more than their rivals, but the most important detail is that the Dutch now hold a comfortable four-point lead over Karel Bruckner's men. They can book their ticket to Germany in their next two home games without having to worry about their final-day trip to Prague.

As far as entertainment goes, there was nothing to beat the 2-2 draw Denmark earned against Turkey in Istanbul. The Danes pulled themselves level with practically the last kick of the match, and so assured Ukraine a place in the finals for the first time in their history as Group 2 winners.

Such eventualities were far from Danish minds and they must have thought only of their own improved prospects when they surged in front through Claus Jensen. Okan Buruk pegged them back just before the break, and the home side seemed to have grabbed a vital victory when Tumur Metin put them ahead nine minutes from the end. But Soren Larsen fired in a stoppage-time leveller to condemn the Turks to vying for a place in the play-offs.

While that last-gasp equaliser helped Denmark's cause no end, it guaranteed the Ukrainians their berth in next summer's showpiece, despite their failure to overcome Georgia. Ruslan Rotan netted a memorable goal for the visitors, and though Georgi Gakhokidze made it 1-1 late on, Ukraine now look forward to an unprecedented first appearance at the global event. Elsewhere in the group, Albania earned a 2-1 victory over a Kazakhstan team still searching for their first win.

In Group 3, two goals from Alexander Kerzhakov helped Russia beat Liechtenstein and move level with Slovakia on 18 points in the race for a play-off spot. Leaders Portugal are five points clear after beating Luxembourg 6-0 while Estonia beat Latvia 2-1 to consolidate their grip on fourth place.

In Group 5, Norway struck late to collect a 3-2 win in Slovenia beating their closest rivals for second place. Blackburn's Morten Gamst Pedersen struck the winner and the Norwegians can now start thinking realistically about the play-offs, if not direct qualification, should Italy lose their way.

That looks rather unlikely, though, especially after the Italians again demonstrated their strength by coming away from Scotland with a worthy draw. Kenny Miller gave the Scots the lead over their illustrious visitors, but with 14 minutes left Fabio Grosso found the target to prove that Italy remain formidable opponents. Elsewhere in the same group, Moldavia sealed their first success by beating Belarus 2-0.

As expected, Serbia and Montenegro were too strong for Lithuania in Group 7. Goals from Mateja Kezman and Sasa Ilic gave the home side a comfortable win, and they now head for Spain as group leaders for what looks like being a decisive clash in the battle for automatic qualification. Bosnia-Herzegovina, meanwhile, picked up their second win of the campaign, 1-0 against Belgium.

The top three sides in Group 8 all won. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was among the scorers as Sweden beat Bulgaria 3-0, all the goals coming in the second half. Bosko Balaban struck twice as Croatia recovered a 1-0 half-time deficit to prevail 3-1 in Iceland. And Hungary defeated Malta 4-0 in Budapest. Croatia have 19 points to Sweden's 18, with the Hungarians a further five points behind.