Argentina, Honduras, Switzerland, Slovakia qualify for World Cup

Argentina, Honduras, Switzerland reach World Cup

Argentina survived a shaky qualifying World Cup campaign to earn South America’s final automatic berth for next year’s tournament, and Honduras, Switzerland and Slovakia also earned spots in the 32-nation field.

Mario Bolatti scored in the 84th minute, and Argentina defeated Uruguay 1-0 Wednesday night in Montevideo.

Brazil (9-2-7) finished first in South America with 34 points, one ahead of Chile and Paraguay (10-5-3), which had earlier clinched the first three berths from South America.

Argentina (8-6-4), which would have missed its first World Cup since 1970 if it had lost, wound up fourth with 28 points and will go to the tournament for the 10th straight time.

“Thanks to my players, today I was consecrated as a coach,” Argentina’s Diego Maradona said defiantly during post-match remarks laced with profanities. “We are in the World Cup with full honors.”

Maradona said Argentina media had treated him “like garbage.”

Uruguay (6-6-6) was fifth with 24 points and will meet Costa Rica in a home-and-home playoff next for another berth, playing in Central America on Nov. 14 and hosting four days later.

Costa Rica was seconds from qualifying when Jonathan Bornstein headed in a corner kick in the fifth minute of stoppage time, giving the United States a 2-2 tie at Washington.

In a match played simultaneously, Honduras won 1-0 at El Salvador on Carlos Pavon’s goal in the 64th minute and qualified for the first time since 1982.

The United States (6-2-2) topped North and Central America and the Caribbean for the second straight qualifying cycle by finishing one point ahead of Mexico (6-3-1), which tied 2-2 at last-place Trinidad and Tobago. Honduras and Costa Rica were both 5-4-1 and the Catrachos finished third on goal difference, plus-2 to even.

While Switzerland and Slovakia gained Europe’s last two automatic berths, Portugal, Greece, Slovenia and Ukraine finished second in their groups and joined Bosnia-Herzegovina, France, Ireland and Russia in Europe’s playoffs. The eight teams will be drawn into four pairs on Monday, and the winners of home-and-home, total-goals matches on Nov. 14 and 18 will qualify for next year’s 32-nation field.

Twenty-three of 32 nations have been determined for next year’s tournament in South Africa.

Denmark, England, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Serbia and Spain had earlier clinched berths in Europe, while Australia, Japan, North Korea and South Korea won Asia’s spots. Ghana and Ivory Coast joined host South Africa, which qualified automatically as host.

At Basel, Switzerland qualified for its second straight World Cup, clinching with a 0-0 tie against Israel.

Eliminated by Ukraine on penalty kicks in the second round at the 2006 tournament, Switzerland (6-1-3) extended its unbeaten streak to eight matches and finished atop Group Two with 21 points. Greece (6-2-2), which won 2-1 against visiting Luxembourg (1-7-2), was one point back in second.

“This qualification means a lot to me,” Switzerland coach Ottmar Hitzfeld said. “Now we are with the best teams in the world. But first we want to enjoy this evening.”

At Chorzow, Slovakia qualified for its first World Cup, beating Poland 1-0 on a third-minute own goal by defender Seweryn Gancarczyk, who attempted to clear a cross but kicked the ball past goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek.

“It was an unlucky play,” Dudek said. “It took a bad bounce, and it was bad luck to surrender an own goal so early.”

Before it split into two nations, Czechoslovakia appeared in every World Cup from 1930-90 and lost the final in 1934 and 1962. Czechoslovakia also won the 1976 European Championship.

Slovakia (7-2-1) won Group Three with 22 points, while Slovenia (6-2-2) finished second with 20 following a 3-0 win at San Marino and will go to the European playoffs.

After getting eliminated in the first round of the 2006 World Cup despite an opening 3-0 win over the United States, the Czech Republic failed to qualify for next year’s tournament. The Czechs (4-2-4) finished third in Group Three.

At Guimares, Portugal won its third straight qualifier as Nani scored one goal and assisted on another.

Simao Sabrosa, Miguel Veloso and Edinho also scored for Portugal (5-1-4), which finished second in Group One with 19 points, two behind Denmark (6-1-3).

Nani started in place of FIFA player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo, who injured an ankle in Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Hungary. Nani scored on a left-footed volley in the 14th minute, Sabrosa doubled the lead in the 45th and Veloso scored off Nani’s cross in the 52nd. Edinio scored in the 90th.

At Wembley, Peter Crouch scored in the fourth and 76th minutes, David Beckham assisted on Shaun Wright-Phillips’ 59th-minute goal after entering as a second-half substitute and England (9-1) completed qualifying with a 3-0 victory over Belarus.

At Parma, Alberto Gilardino scored in the 78th, 81st and 90th minutes, rallying defending champion Italy (7-0-3) over Cyprus 3-2. Cyprus had built a 2-0 lead on goals by Ioannis Okkas in the 12th minute and Chrysostomos Michail in the 48th.

At Hamburg, Lukas Podolski scored in the 90th minute, giving Germany (8-0-2) a 1-1 tie against Finland, which had gone ahead on Jonatan Johansson’s goal in the 11th minute.

At Zenica, European champion Spain (10-0) completed a perfect qualifying campaign with a 5-2 victory at Bosnia-Herzegovina as Alvaro Negredo scored twice, and Gerard Pique, David Silva and Juan Manuel Mata got one goal each.

At Saint-Denis, Karim Benzema, Thierry Henry and Andre-Pierre Gignac scored for France (6-1-3) in a 3-1 win over Austria.