Argentina, Switzerland, Slovakia qualify for World Cup

Argentina, Switzerland, Slovakia 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 Switzerland and Slovakia gained Europe’s final two guaranteed spots in the 32-nation field.

Mario Bolatti scored in the 84th minute, and Argentina defeated Uruguay 1-0 Wednesday night in Montevideo. Coach Diego Maradona’s much criticized team, which lost three straight qualifiers before beating Peru 2-1 last weekend, finished fourth in South America with 28 points, trailing Brazil (9-2-7), Chile (10-5-3) and Paraguay (10-4-3).

Uruguay (6-6-6) was fifth with 24 points and will meet Costa Rica or Honduras in a home-and-home playoff next month for another berth.

Costa Rica played at the United States, which clinched its sixth straight berth last weekend, and the Ticos hoped to stay ahead of Honduras and gain the final automatic place from North and Central America and the Caribbean.

Portugal, Greece, Slovenia and Ukraine finished second in their groups and joined Bosnia-Herzegovina, France, Ireland and Russia in the European playoffs. They 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.

By the end of Wednesday, 23 of the 32 nations will have been determined for next year’s tournament in South Africa.

In addition to the U.S., Mexico had ensured a berth in CONCACAF, while Denmark, England, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Serbia and Spain had clinched automatic berths in Europe. 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.