Rate it!

5 votes

A round-up of the day's World Cup qualifying action, with France held to a 1-1 draw by Romania in Paris.

Group 1

Portugal kept alive their World Cup qualifying hopes when they held Group 1 leaders Denmark to a 1-1 draw thanks to Liedson's 86th-minute equaliser.

The hosts opened the scoring three minutes before halftime when striker Nicklas Bendtner controlled a high ball from Michael Silberbauer in the middle of the penalty area and blasted it into the top right corner.

Portugal had many chances to score but Denmark goalkeeper Stephan Andersen made one save after another until Liedson finally headed the ball in from inside the penalty area to equalise with four minutes to go.

Denmark, bidding for a return to the World Cup after missing out in 2006, top the group with 17 points from seven matches, four ahead of second-placed Hungary who lost 2-1 at home to third-placed Sweden, who have 12 points. Portugal are fourth with 10.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's goal four minutes into stoppage time gave Sweden a dramatic 2-1 victory over Hungary.

The visitors took the lead after eight minutes through defender Olof Mellberg, who grabbed his fifth international goal when he headed in a corner from Kim Kallstrom.

Hungary came close early in the second half as Balazs Dzsudzsak shot over from 10 metres.

Sweden went even closer when Kallstrom curled the ball on to the crossbar with keeper Gabor Babos beaten.

The home team equalised in the 79th minute when Dzsudzsak was brought down by Mikael Nilsson and Szabolcs Huszti converted the penalty.

Sweden, though, had the last laugh in injury time.

Ibrahimovic's first shot was saved by Babos but the Barcelona striker rolled the rebound into an open goal.

The Swedes are third in the table with 12 points from seven matches, five behind leaders Denmark. Hungary are second on 13 points.

Group 2

Switzerland scored twice in the last 10 minutes to beat 10-man Greece 2-0 and go top of their World Cup qualifying group.

Defender Stephane Grichting broke the deadlock with a header following a free kick and midfielder Marco Padalino added the second in the 88th minute after a break down the left.

The visitors played the entire second half with 10 men after Loukas Vyntra was sent off for a second bookable offence in the 42nd minute of a scrappy, uninspiring European Group Two game.

Switzerland have 16 points from seven games, three more than their opponents who began the weekend on top of the group on goal difference.

Latvia's Kaspars Gorkss scored against Israel to secure a 1-0 win in Group 2 as the visitors maintained their World Cup qualifying hopes.

Latvia's victory kept them in with a chance of an automatic place at next year's finals in South Africa and inflicted Israel's first home loss in a World Cup qualifier in 16 years.

After seven games, Switzerland top the group with 16 points following Saturday's 2-0 home win over Greece, who are level on 13 points with Latvia. Israel remain fourth on nine points.

Latvia defender Gorkss rose high to head home a corner just before the hour mark to put the visitors ahead in the 59th minute on a warm night at the National Stadium.

Their victory was achieved largely against the run of play as Israel had the majority of possession but failed to find the finishing touch on a number of occasions.

The tall Latvia defence had to deal with repeated Israeli assaults on their goal but the home side's forays lacked spark and the visitors comfortably soaked up the pressure.

Israel coach Dror Kashtan's failure to foster any urgency among his players and his decision to substitute captain Yossi Benayoun in the 66th minute added to the home crowd's dismay.

Group 4

Roman Pavlyuchenko netted twice to steer Russia to a 3-0 win over Liechtenstein which lifted them within one point of Group 4 leaders Germany.

The home team, missing several injured players including Arsenal forward Andrei Arshavin and Chelsea winger Yuri Zhirkov, scored three first-half goals at the rain-soaked Petrovsky stadium.

Defender Vasily Berezutsky struck with a powerful drive in the 17th minute before Tottenham Hotspur striker Pavlyuchenko converted two penalties in the 39th and 45th minutes.

Second-placed Russia, who have 18 points from seven matches, visit Wales on Wednesday. Finland are third on 13 points after their 2-1 win in Azerbaijan on Saturday.

Bottom of the table Liechtenstein have one point.

Finland came from behind to earn a hard-fought 2-1 win at Azerbaijan to keep alive their faint hopes of reaching next year's finals in South Africa.

Petri Pasanen struck the 85th-minute winner for the visitors after a goalmouth scramble following a corner.

Finland's all-time leading scorer Jari Litmanen, who replaced the injured Teemu Tainio just before the break, set up Markus Heikkinen for the equaliser in the 75th minute.

Elvin Mamedov had put the home team 1-0 ahead three minutes after the re-start, scoring Azerbaijan's first goal in this qualifying campaign.

Group 5

David Silva and David Villa scored two goals apiece as Spain destroyed Belgium 5-0 to maintain their six-point lead in Group 5.

Villa missed a penalty after 22 minutes but then helped set up Silva for the first goal for the European champions just before the break.

Spain ran away with it after the restart when Villa and Gerard Pique added two inside a minute. Silva and Villa then grabbed two more in a one-sided second half.

Vicente del Bosque's side maintained their 100 per cent record to lead the group by six points from second-placed Bosnia, who beat Armenia 2-0 earlier in the day.

Turkey beat Estonia 4-2 with two goals for Tuncay Sanli helping the hosts keep their faint qualifying hopes alive.

Turkey are chasing Bosnia for second-place in the group behind runaway leaders Spain and face a critical match on Wednesday away to Bosnia who beat Armenia 2-0 earlier on Saturday and still enjoy a four-point lead over the Turks.

Estonia's Vladimir Voskoboinikov stunned Turkey with a seventh-minute goal from just outside the penalty area, leaving Turkey struggling to find their rhythm until Tuncay grabbed an equaliser in the 29th minute with a strike into the corner of the net.

Sercan Yildirim made it 2-1 in the 37th minute as Turkey looked in control. But a sloppy start to the second half saw Konstantin Vassiljev strike home for Estonia from long range in the 53rd minute, testing the nerves of an anxious home crowd.

Turkey regained the lead in the 62nd minute when Arda Turan scored from a Hamit Altintop corner and Tuncay made it safe 10 minutes later.

Bosnia dominated from the start to beat Armenia 2-0.

Senijad Ibricic put Bosnia ahead in the third minute and Bosnia controlled the game from then on, though Edin Dzeko missed a penalty for them.

Armenia, who are bottom of the group, tried to fight back in the second half but never seriously threatened Bosnian goalkeeper Nemanja Supic.

Bosnia's Zlatan Muslimovic, who came on to replace Vedad Ibisevic, secured the visitors' victory by scoring in the 74th minute.

Group 6

Croatia beat Belarus 1-0 with a first-half goal by Ivan Rakitic in their Group 6 World Cup qualifier as they held on to second place.

Midfielder Rakitic struck a fierce 25-metre drive that took a slight deflection off Belarus defender Dimitry Verkhovtsov to wrongfoot goalkeeper Yury Zhevnov.

Croatia have played a game more than their rivals with 17 points from eight matches, four behind group leaders England and three ahead of third-placed Ukraine who beat Andorra 5-0.

Croatia face England at Wembley on Wednesday and must avoid defeat to have any chance of topping the group.

They deserved their lead on Saturday having created several early chances, with Dario Srna firing past the post in the 15th minute after an indirect free kick just inside the area.

Belarus upped the pace after the break as the hosts mostly defended their lead - a task that became harder after defender Vedran Corluka was sent off in the 79th for two bookings. But Croatia held on with 10 men to secure an important victory.

Ukraine thrashed Andorra 5-0 in their World Cup qualifier Group 6 to draw level in second place on 14 points with Croatia, seven points behind leaders England.

Ukraine now look to Croatia to slip up at home to Belarus later on Saturday and away to England on Wednesday.

Impressive 19-year-old Ukraine debutant Andriy Yarmolenko opened the scoring 18 minutes into the first half, smartly finishing off from a corner kick.

The home side hit the bar three times before Artem Milevskiy made it 2-0 on the stroke of halftime, heading home a perfect cross from Andriy Voronin.

Andriy Shevchenko, recently moved from Chelsea back to Dynamo Kiev, scored from the penalty spot on 71 minutes after a foul by Marc Vales on Milevskiy just inside the area.

Milevskiy, the driving force in the Ukrainian team, earned another penalty in injury time to make it 4-0 and yet another penalty completed the rout after a Vales handball in the area.

Group 7

France did their World Cup qualifying hopes few favours after being held to a 1-1 draw by Romania.

The former world and European champions have 14 points from seven matches, four behind leaders Serbia. The two teams now meet in Belgrade on Wednesday, with only the Group 7 winners certain to qualify.

France wasted several opportunities before captain Thierry Henry put them ahead three minutes into the second half, nodding a William Gallas header into the net from close range.

The visitors levelled on 54 minutes when defender Julien Escude deflected a cross into his own goal to leave France facing the prospect of finishing second in the group, which would mean a likely playoff place.

Captain Marc Janko netted twice to guide Austria to a comfortable 3-1 victory over Faroe Islands which kept alive their slim hopes in the other Group 7 game.

Austria (10 points from seven games), who drew 1-1 with the Faroes last year, needed to win to keep in touch with the top teams.

The hosts got off to a perfect start when Stefan Maierhofer headed in a cross from Jakob Jantscher in the first minute.

Aware that another draw against the islanders would hit their qualifying hopes severely, the Austrians kept up the pressure and doubled the lead on 16 minutes when Janko struck from close range.

The home team missed a string of chances before Janko added a third with a 59th-minute penalty.

The islanders, defending in numbers, rarely ventured out of their half but pulled a goal back through substitute Andreas Olsen seven minutes from time.

Reuters