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A round up of the European World Cup qualifying action, with world champions Spain ensuring they will be present in South Africa next summer.

Group 1

Albania earned a 1-1 draw against Group 1 leaders Denmark when striker Erjon Bogdani equalised early in the second half.

Denmark looking nervous at the start and gave away possession, although Albania were unable to produce many shots on target.

The visitors, lacking several players due to injuries, found the net in the 40th minute when Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner calmly headed home a deep cross from Christian Poulsen over Albanian goalkeeper Samir Ujkani.

Albania struck back five minutes into the second half when Bogdani equalised, prodding in a cross which the Danish defence failed to clear.

Denmark remain top of the group with 18 points from eight matches, three ahead of second-placed Sweden.

Buoyed by their 2-1 victory over Hungary on Saturday, Sweden were fancied to beat Malta handsomely but the winner came nine minutes from the end when Marcus Berg's low cross from inside the box was deflected home by Malta defender Ian Azzopardi.

Minutes earlier, Malta had threatened to seize the lead when Michael Mifsud sped clear of Olof Mellberg but his piledriver went over.

Lars Lagerback's men almost made it 2-0 but Rasmus Elm's deflected shot smacked against the crossbar.

Sweden have 15 points from eight matches. Malta are still rooted to the bottom of the table with only one point from nine.

The visitors had come close to breaking the deadlock early in the second half when Zlatan Ibrahimovic passed the ball back to Kim Kallstrom whose shot took a deflection and flashed against the right-hand post.

Portugal struck early and held on for a 1-0 win over Hungary to breathe a bit of life into their bid for a place at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Pepe gave Portugal the lead, towering above the Hungarian defence to head in from Deco's free-kick in the 10th minute.

Hungary almost equalised moments later, but Roland Juhasz's header went wide.

Victory for Portugal took them up to third place in Group 1 with 13 points from eight matches.

They remain in deep trouble but two wins from their last two games could yet see them through

Group 2

Moldova scored a last-minute equaliser to hold Greece to a 1-1 draw and dent their hopes of reaching next year's finals in South Africa.

Valeriu Andronic struck against the run of play in the 90th minute for Moldova, who remained winless and rooted to the bottom of European Group 2 with three points from eight matches.

Fanis Gekas had put the Euro 2004 winners ahead in the 34th minute but the Greeks wasted several good chances to double their lead after the break and paid the price for their misses.

Second-placed Greece trail group leaders Switzerland by three points with two matches remaining. Latvia, who held the Swiss to a 2-2 draw in Riga, also have 14 points, with fourth-placed Israel two points behind.

The result meant Switzerland stayed top of the group, but prevented them from taking a commanding lead. It also kept alive Latvia's hopes of qualifying for their first World Cup finals.

Swiss striker Alex Frei opened the scoring after 43 minutes after a mostly uneventful first half. Latvia upped their pace in the second half, leading to a stunning Alexandrs Cauna strike from outside the box after 62 minutes.

Latvia were hoping for victory after defender Vitalijs Astafjevs slotted home the ball on 75 minutes but Swiss substitute Eren Derdiyok, who was on the pitch for only a couple of minutes, headed home a corner in the 80th minute.

Israel crushed hapless Luxembourg 7-0 in Tel Aviv in a match that restored some lost pride for the hosts after last weekend's defeat to Latvia.

A hat-trick by Elyaniv Barda with goals in the ninth, 21st and 43rd minutes, two from substitute Ben Sahar (63, 84) and one each from Aviran Barukhyan (15) and Omer Golan (58) .

Israel's hopes of a place in next year's finals in South Africa were dented after their 1-0 home loss to Latvia on Saturday and that result kept many home fans away with only 7,038 watching Israel completely dominate proceedings.

Group 5

European champions Spain clinched their place at next year's World Cup when a clinical strike from Cesc Fabregas set them on their way to a 3-0 win over visiting Group 5 rivals Estonia.

Victory on a sweltering night at the Estadio Romano in Merida meant Spain qualified as group winners with two matches to spare and eight wins out of eight.

Fabregas struck in the 33rd minute when he exchanged passes with David Silva on the edge of the penalty area and stroked the ball past Estonia goalkeeper Sergei Pareiko into the far corner.

Santi Cazorla made it 2-0 when he crashed the ball in from close range, and Juan Mata rounded off the scoring in added time.

Bosnia drew 1-1 with Turkey in a tense game during which Turkish coach Fatih Terim was sent off.

Bosnia kept hold of second place in the group and the chance of a play-off place behind leaders Spain. Turkey are third on 12 points, four behind Bosnia with two games to play.

Turkey's Emre Belezoglu stunned Bosnia with a fourth-minute goal but the home side equalised from a Sejad Salihovic free kick in the 25th minute.

The Turks were firm in defence, with Volkan Demirel doggedly defending his goal. They increased pressure in the final moments of the game and Arda Turan hitting the Bosnian post in the 86th minute.

Armenia ended Belgium's World Cup hopes when they beat the visitors 2-1 at home.

Hovhannes Goharyan opened the scoring for the home team midway through the first half and Sargis Hovsepyan added a second seven minutes after the break to give Armenia their first victory in this qualifying campaign.

Daniel Van Buyten pulled one back in added time but it was a small consolation for Belgium, who were thrashed 5-0 by group leaders Spain in their previous match on Saturday.

Belgium, on seven points, stayed in fourth place, eight points behind second-placed Bosnia with two games left, while Armenia remained rooted to the bottom of the group with four points from eight matches.

Group 7

Serbia stayed in the driving seat after a 1-1 draw with 10-man France.

The result left Serbia top with 19 points from eight matches, with France second on 15.

France dominated the match despite having their goalkeeper Hugo Lloris was harshly sent off in the ninth minute.

Lloris was given his marching orders after appearing to make little contact with Serbia striker Nikola Zigic in the penalty area, before Nenad Milijas drilled in the spot kick to give Serbia the lead in front of 55,000 passionate fans.

France soon regained their composure and Thierry Henry tapped in the equaliser in the 31st minute, after Serbia goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic spilled a soft low show by Nicolas Anelka from 18 metres.

The Serbians had substitute Danko Lazovic sent off in the 90th minute for dissent.

Serbia, aiming to qualify for a major tournament for the first time as an independent nation, play Romania at home next month and a win would secure their berth in the finals.

Austria's hopes of qualifying were hit by a 1-1 draw with Romania.

Romania, out of contention for the finals, created many chances and opened the scoring in the second half through forward Gheorghe Bucur.

The visitors equalised eight minutes from time through defender Franz Schiemer and remained third in the group, four points behind second-placed France with two matches left.

Faroe Islands scored a shock 2-1 win at home to Lithuania , leaving the visitors on the brink of elimination.

The hosts took the lead on a windy night when midfielder Suni Olsen struck from a free kick in the 12th minute of the Group 7 qualifier for South Africa 2010.

Lithuania captain Tomas Danilevicius equalised with a penalty soon afterwards, after being fouled by defender Bartal Eliasen, before Arnbiorn Hansen's header restored the home side's lead following a series of corners.

Group 8

Italy moved within a point of qualification after superb goals from Fabio Grosso and Vincenzo Iaquinta sealed an entertaining 2-0 win over Bulgaria.

The world champions, who put on a much improved display compared to recent matches, are now four points clear of second-placed Ireland and with two to play need just a draw against the Irish in Dublin next month to progress.

Left back Grosso volleyed in off the bar after 11 minutes following Andrea Pirlo's delightful dink into the box and Iaquinta finished off a one-two with Alberto Gilardino five minutes before the break.

Bulgaria, whose outside hopes of qualification now rest on finishing second and making the playoffs, thought the ball had crossed the line when Gianluigi Buffon clawed out Stilian Petrov's effort but replays were inconclusive.

Montenegro drew 1-1 with Cyprus to remain without a win in the World Cup qualifying tournament.

Mirko Vucinic put the home side ahead from the penalty spot in the 57th minute but Cyprus equalised soon after through Ioannis Okkas.

Neither team can qualify for next year's finals in South Africa. Montenegro are second from bottom with five points from eight matches and Cyprus are one place above them on six. Italy lead the group with 20 points.

Montenegro threw everything into attack at the start of the match and for the first 45 minutes they dominated the game but failed to create any clear scoring chances.

Cypriot goalkeeper Sofronis Avgousti made good saves from Simon Vukcevic, Stevan Jovetic and Branko Boskovic. After the two goals, both goalkeepers made some excellent saves to keep the score 1-1.

Reuters