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Australia scored twice in seven minutes to defeat Uzbekistan 2-0 at the Olympic Stadium in Sydney to leave them on the verge of a place at next year's World Cup finals in South Africa.

Substitute Josh Kennedy (pictured) broke the deadlock after 66 minutes with a header before forward Harry Kewell sealed the win in the 73rd with a penalty.

Australia, who ended a 32-year drought by qualifying as the last team for the 2006 World Cup, are now on the brink of becoming the first country to join the host nation at the 2010 World Cup.

Yet to concede a single goal after five matches in the fourth round of Asian qualifiers, Australia need to collect just one more point from their remaining three matches in June to secure their place at the finals.

"There was a lot of pressure on today's game because we knew we had to win the game," Australia captain Lucas Neill said.

"It was there for us to win but we've sent a statement out to the rest of the group now and possibly the world that we might be the first team to qualify for the World Cup."

Both teams squandered chances to find the net in a scoreless first half but the Australians began to assert their control after the break with Uzbekistan starting to show signs of fatigue.

Kennedy opened the scoring midway through the second half when he connected with a perfectly-timed cross from Mark Bresciano then Kewell put the result beyond doubt when he converted from the spot after a clumsy challenge by Hayrulla Karimov on Richard Garcia.

Uzbekistan looked to have grabbed a consolation goal in stoppage time when Anvarjon Soliev found the back of the net only to have the goal disallowed for offside.

Bahrain 1-0 Qatar

Bahrain beat Qatar 1-0 to boost their hopes of earning a play-off berth and deny Australia the chance to become the first team to qualify for the finals.

Fouzi Aaish's free kick seven minutes after the halftime sealed victory for Bahrain who held on to third place in Group One, three points ahead of Qatar and Uzbekistan.

After a first half stalemate, Bahrain went close when Jaycee Okwunwanne blasted his shot into the side netting from a tight angle.

The pressure paid off and Bahrain went ahead on 52 minutes when Aaish struck a low free kick past the unsighted keeper.

Qatar fought hard and came close to equalising on 68 minutes when Khalfan al-Khalfan sneaked behind the Bahrain defence and forced a save from Sayed Jaffer at the near post.

Bahrain had a chance to put the game beyond Qatar six minutes later when the dangerous Aala Hubail went clean through on goal but keeper Mohamed Ahmed saved well.

The win bolstered Bahrain's bid to reach the play-offs for the second time in a row after going out to eventual qualifiers Trinidad and Tobago in an inter-confederation decider for a place at the 2006 World Cup.

South Korea 1-0 North Korea

South Korea beat North Korea 1-0 with a late goal in a World Cup qualifier clouded by Pyongyang's plans to shoot off a rocket that Seoul says is a disguised long-range missile test.

With the win South Korea leap-frogged North Korea to take top spot in Asia's Group Two. North Korea are trying for their first World Cup finals since their surprise run to the final eight in 1966.

South Korea's goal came in the 87th minute when a left-footed free kick from substitute Kim Chi-woo slid off the hand of North Korean goalkeeper Ri Myong-guk into the net.

South Korea dominated play but failed to break through despite numerous chances including two close-range shots from Lee Keun-ho.

Prior to the game, South Korea's coach said he would like to see both Koreas, still technically at war, advance for the first time together to the World Cup finals, which will be played in South Africa next year.

The South Korean fans stood for the anthem of rival North Korea prior to the start of the game at Seoul's World Cup Stadium and politely cheered the opposing side.

Venezuela 2-0 Colombia

Venezuela scored twice in the last 15 minutes, including a stunning Juan Arango free kick, to beat 10-man Colombia 2-0 and keep alive their chances of qualifying for their first World Cup.

Nicolas Fedor, who plays for Salamanca in the Spanish second division, broke the deadlock when he turned in a low cross from Anyelo Pena in the 77th minute, only two minutes after coming on as a substitute.

Four minutes later Arango curled a free-kick in off the underside of the crossbar as the hosts made Colombia pay for their ultra-defensive tactics.

Colombia, who have scored only six goals in their 12 World Cup qualifiers, had midfielder Abel Aguilar sent off in the 27th minute for a violent lunge at Alejandro Moreno.

However, it made little difference as they were incapable of putting any sort of attacking moves together before or after his dismissal.

The win left Venezuela with 13 points from 12 games in the 10-team group, one behind Colombia, three behind fifth-placed Uruguay and five behind fourth-placed Brazil.

The top four teams qualify directly for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the fifth play off against the fourth CONCACAF team. Uruguay visit Chile on Wednesday while Brazil host Peru.

Venezuela's chances nearly all came from Arango's left foot.

The captain was close three times in the first half, all from outside the penalty area, and missed a sitter midway through the second when he side-footed across the face of goal from a free position.

Reuters