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A first-half strike by Miroslav Klose sent 10-man Germany to next year's World Cup finals as the visitors beat Russia 1-0 in their top-of-the-table Group 4 qualifier in Moscow.

The forward capitalised on a defensive mix-up and fired into an empty net in the 35th minute to put his team ahead after a clever pass by Mesut Ozil left Russia goalkeeper Igor Akenfeyev off his line. It was Klose's 50th goal for Germany.

Germany, who have 25 points from nine games, will finish top of the group with second-placed Russia, on 21 points, still able to join them in next year's finals with a win in the play-offs.

The home side, urged on by a partisan 80,000 capacity crowd, dominated much of the first half with Vladimir Bystrov and Alexander Kerzhakov coming close before the visitors sored.

They also had chances after the break but goalkeeper Rene Adler made several fine saves to deny Russia captain Andrei Arshavin twice, Bystrov and Igor Semshov.

Russia coach Guus Hiddink sent on Roman Pavlyuchenko, who scored both goals in a 2-1 win over England in a Euro 2008 qualifier on the same Luzhniki pitch two years ago, and fellow striker Pavel Pogrebnyak after the break.

The hosts had a strong case for a penalty late in the game when Germany captain Michael Ballack appeared to foul Arshavin but Swiss referee Massimo Busacca waved play on.

Despite the pressure the Germans, who had defender Jerome Boateng sent off for a second yellow card in the 69th minute, held on to secure a ticket to South Africa.

"I was sure all week the team would be focused and would play to win," said Germany coach Joachim Loew. "No team in the world can play for a draw, and that certainly includes us.

"We said before the match we had one hand on the ticket to South Africa and we'd be able to book our ticket ourselves. I think tonight they'll be allowed to celebrate a bit."

"Adler showed a lot of calm back there and incredible reflexes," added Loew. "He made a very good impression all in all. I'd pay him a big compliment for this performance."

GROUP ONE

A late second-half goal by midfielder Jakob Poulsen gave Denmark a 1-0 win over Sweden in Copenhagen and a place in the finals.

Poulsen struck 12 minutes from time when he found the net with a precise low shot after a cross by Nicklas Bendtner.

Sweden were the more aggressive side at the start of the second half against Denmark with two big chances in the first two minutes. Denmark's best effort came five minutes after the hour with a shot by Bendtner from the edge of the area.

Sweden's Henrik Larsson did find the net after 69 minutes when strike partner Zlatan Ibrahimovic threaded a pass through the defence into the area but he was ruled offside.

Denmark looked increasingly nervous and gave the ball away too easily but managed to hang on for a priceless victory.

Denmark have not lost a World Cup qualifier at home since 1981 and return to the World Cup after missing out last time.

Two goals by Simao Sabrosa and one by Liedson earned Portugal a 3-0 victory over Hungary in Lisbon that took them within one win of clinching a play-off berth.

Portugal, second in the group and a point ahead of Sweden, will secure a play-off place if they beat Malta at home on Wednesday.

Without having created any chances until then, Portugal opened the scoring on 18 minutes. Cristiano Ronaldo's cross was blocked by Hungarian keeper Gabor Babos, but Simao pounced on the rebound to score with with a left-footed first-time shot.

Buoyed by the goal, Portugal created three chances almost immediately. Simao's low drive was booted away by Babos, who moments later had to tip away a header by team mate Vanczak. From the ensuing corner, Bruno Alves headed just over.

But that rhythm was broken when Ronaldo limped off in the 27th minute, clutching the sprained ankle that had threatened to keep him out of the match.

The Hungarians took heart from seeing the winger depart and almost equalised when Balazs Dzsudzsak's low drive flew just wide of Eduardo's goal. Just before the interval Zoltan Gera's header hit the bar after the keeper missed the ball when coming out for a cross.

But Portugal took control of the match again, with Pedro Mendes putting in a fine performance in midfield to prevent the Hungarians from posing any further danger in the second half.

The Portuguese forced Babos to make several good saves, but Liedson headed a deserved second goal from a chipped cross by Bruno Alves in the 74th minute.

Five minutes later Simao capped a fine performance by scoring again with a powerful volley from a Duda pass.

GROUP TWO

Defender Philippe Senderos celebrated his Switzerland return by heading two early goals which helped beat Luxembourg 3-0 and put his country on the brink of a World Cup place.

The Swiss, who top the group with 20 points from nine games, need a point at home to Israel on Wednesday to win the group and make sure of their place in South Africa.

Senderos, dropped for the September games against Greece and Latvia because of a lack of match practice at Arsenal, opened the scoring with a looping header following a free-kick on the right after six minutes.

Two minutes later he headed another, this time from a Tranquillo Barnetta free kick from the left. The third goal was another header from a set play as midfielder Benjamin Huggel scored at the far post following a corner.

Theofanis Gekas scored four goals to inspire Greece to a 5-2 win over Latvia that boosted their hopes of securing a place in the play-offs.

Gekas opened the scoring with a fourth-minute header from a cross by Georgios Karagounis.

Maris Verpakovskis, who plays his club football in Greece with Ergotelis, levelled with a superb bicycle kick eight minutes later before putting Latvia ahead just before half-time.

The hosts equalised with a 47th-minute penalty from Gekas after Georgios Samaras was fouled by Oskars Klava.

The Bayer Leverkusen player then sparked frenzied celebrations by heading in a Vasilis Torosidis cross 10 minutes later before Samaras converted another smart overhead kick.

Gekas sealed a memorable display by prodding home his fourth goal in the first minute of added time to push second-placed Greece three points ahead of Latvia with one match to go.

To go through automatically to next year's finals the Greeks must beat Luxembourg in their final game on Wednesday while the Swiss need to lose at home to Israel.

Elyaniv Barda scored twice to lead Israel to a 3-1 win over Moldova, keeping alive their outside chances of reaching the playo-ffs.

Israel must now win at Switzerland in their last match on Wednesday and hope for a draw between second from bottom Luxembourg and second-placed Greece.

Two goals from striker Barda in the 22nd and 70th minutes and another from defender Dedi Ben Dayan in the 65th were enough for Israel.

Denis Calincov's consolation strike in added time was the best goal of the night, his long-range effort beating Israel goalkeeper Dudu Aouate from 20 yards.

GROUP THREE

Slovakia's hopes of qualifying for the finals will go down to the wire after they were upstaged 2-0 at home by Slovenia in Bratislava.

The Slovaks had enjoyed a five-point cushion going into the penultimate match of their campaign but with their lead over second-placed Slovenia trimmed to just two points, the two nations will be out to secure top spot and a place in South Africa in their final qualifiers on Wednesday.

Valter Birsa stunned the Slovaks when he scored the opening goal in the 56th minute and Nejc Pecnik hammered home three minutes into injury time to complete the win.

Slovakia, who have 19 points, will travel to Chorzow knowing they will probably need to beat Poland as Slovenia will be favourites to rout basement nation San Marino, who have lost all nine of their qualifiers to date and have conceded 44 goals in the process.

Czech Republic defeated Poland 2-0 in Prague.

Tomas Necid came off the bench at half-time to put the Czechs ahead with a trickling shot that found the back of the net in the 51st minute. Midfielder Jaroslav Plasil's header completed the scoring 21 minutes later.

With one game remaining, the Czechs are third, four points behind Slovakia and two behind Slovenia. To have a chance of qualifying, they would need to beat Northern Ireland on Wednesday and hope that San Marino take a point off Slovenia.

GROUP FIVE

Bosnia wrapped up a place in the play-offs by winning 2-0 in Estonia.

The visitors broke through in the 32nd minute when Zvjezdan Misimovic created the opening goal, a header by VfL Wolfsburg striker Edin Dzeko.

Bosnia then made it 2-0 in the 62nd minute when Estonia goalkeeper Sergei Pareiko was caught out of position and Hoffenheim forward Vedad Ibisevic put the ball into an empty net.

The Bosnians, with 19 points and only one game left, have secured second place in the group behind already-qualified Spain.

A neat finish from Cesc Fabregas and a Juan Mata penalty gave Spain a 2-1 win over Armenia in Yerevan.

The European champions had already secured their place in South Africa next year as group winners and coach Vicente del Bosque rested a number of key players including first-choice goalkeeper and captain Iker Casillas.

Xavi led the side in rainy Yerevan and the Barcelona midfielder's chipped pass in the 33rd minute allowed Fabregas to lose his marker and lift the ball over Armenia keeper Roman Berezovski into the net.

Armenia were level on 58 minutes when Carles Puyol appeared to head into his own net, although the goal was credited to defender Robert Arzumanyan, but Spain restored their lead six minutes later from the spot.

Berezovski felled Juan Mata and the Valencia forward converted the penalty low to the keeper's left. Spain's final match of the group is against Bosnia in Zenica on Wednesday.

Two goals from striker Emile Mpenza gave new Belgium coach Dick Advocaat's side a 2-0 win over Turkey in Brussels.

Mpenza opened the scoring after just eight minutes when he spun and fired home after being left unmarked near the penalty spot following a lapse by the Turkish defence.

His second goal in the 83rd was a fine individual effort in which he beat the last defender in the centre of the pitch and ran towards goal before slotting the ball past goalkeeper Volkan Demirel to wrap up a fine 2-0 victory.

GROUP SEVEN

Serbia secured a berth in the finals after earning an impressive 5-0 home win over Romania in Belgrade.

The result ensured Serbia reached their first major tournament as an independent nation. They had reached the 2006 finals as Serbia & Montenegro.

Striker Nikola Zigic gave Serbia the lead with a 37th-minute header before second-half goals by Marko Pantelic, Zdravko Kuzmanovic and a Milan Jovanovic brace completed the rout.

Serbia had the Romanians on the back foot from the start and missed several good chances before Zigic fired them ahead, when he headed home a Milos Krasic corner.

Krasic turned provider again shortly after the break, when his defence-splitting pass enabled Pantelic to send the 50,000 home crowd into raptures with a crisp finish from 10 metres.

Second half substitute Kuzmanovic added the third in the 78th minute, when he drilled in a shot off the underside of the bar after he was set up Pantelic.

Jovanovic then rifled in an unstoppable shot from 20 yards in the 87th minute and put an icing on the cake with a superb solo effort in injury time.

Striker Andre-Pierre Gignac struck twice within five minutes to help France crush the Faroe Islands 5-0 in Guingamp and secure a play-off berth.

France will finish second whatever the outcome of their last group game against Austria on Wednesday in Paris.

Gignac opened the scoring from close range on 34 minutes and doubled the advantage with a superb angled shot from just inside the box five minutes later.

Defender William Gallas made it 3-0 with a headed goal early in the second half before striker Nicolas Anelka and substitute forward Karim Benzema wrapped it up with late efforts.

Roman Wallner converted an 80th-minute penalty to give Austria a token 2-1 win over Lithuania in Innsbruck.

Austria, who last played in the finals in 1998, went ahead in the 16th minute with a volley from towering striker Marc Janko.

Italian-based Marius Stankevicius drilled in Lithuania's equaliser in the 66th minute but Austria snatched the points when Wallner scored after a foul on Franz Schiemer.

Reuters