Netherlands beat Iceland to qualify for finals

Two early goals put the Netherlands on track for a 2-1 win against Iceland last night and secure their qualification for next year's World Cup finals in South Africa.

Holding midfielder Nigel de Jong headed home the opening goal after eight minutes following a fine cross from Rafael van der Vaart.

Mark van Bommel doubled the lead seven minutes later with a well placed shot from just outside the penalty area.

Kristjan Sigurdsson pulled one back for the home side two minutes before time with a close range header.

Netherlands clinched the top position in Group Nine with 18 points after six matches, 11 more than second placed Scotland, and are the first European country to book their finals place.

England's 7,000-mile round journey to Kazakhstan produced an emphatic 4-0 victory yesterday to leave Fabio Capello's side in sight of qualifying for next year's World Cup finals in South Africa.

The trip was ultimately a comfortable one although England endured some scary moments before goals from Gareth Barry and Emile Heskey just before half-time settled them down.

A 2-0 interval lead flattered the visitors but they improved after the break with Wayne Rooney's hooked shot and Frank Lampard's penalty finishing off their lowly-ranked opponents who arguably played the game's better football.

England's victory means they have won six out of six in Group Six, topping the table comfortably with 18 points from Croatia (11) who were held to a 2-2 draw at home by fourth-placed Ukraine.

Belarus thrashed lowly Andorra 5-1 to keep alive their hopes of reaching their first major finals. They moved into third place with nine points, one ahead of Ukraine and two behind second-placed Croatia.

An England victory over the group's whipping boys Andorra at Wembley on Wednesday will sign off an encouraging season for Capello's team before they return in the autumn to put the finishing touches to their qualification campaign.

"It wasn't easy to play here, the pitch wasn't fast like English pitches and it made passing very hard," Capello told Setanta Sport.

"They started strong, pressed a lot, and for us it was difficult, but that's sometimes what happens when you play against a team who aren't at the same level. It's another big step forward to qualification."

England beat Kazakhstan 5-1 at Wembley in October, a scoreline that did little justice to the losers. For 40 minutes yesterday they again matched a side 126 places higher up the FIFA rankings.

Swedes beaten

In Stockholm, Denmark beat struggling rivals Sweden 1-0 with a first-half goal from Thomas Kahlenberg to move three points clear at the top of Group One.

Kahlenberg took advantage of a mistake from Sweden defender Mikael Nilsson midway through the first half to fire the ball in.

The win put the Danes on 16 points from six matches, three ahead of Hungary in second place.

Things are looking less promising for the Swedes, who missed a penalty in the Denmark game and are down in fourth place with six points from five matches. On Wednesday, Sweden host Malta in Gothenburg.

In Sofia, Bulgaria's hopes of reaching the finals were dented after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Ireland in a Group Eight qualifier.

Ireland went ahead when defender Richard Dunne rose unmarked to head past Dimitar Ivankov after 24 minutes having connected with Stephen Hunt's floated free-kick from the left.

Bulgaria equalised five minutes later when Dimitar Telkiyski latched on to a long pass from Croatian-born defender Igor Tomasic and calmly slotted the ball home.

Italy top the standings with 14 points from six matches, followed by Ireland with 13 from seven games. Bulgaria are third with eight points. The top three are still undefeated.

The group winners qualify for the finals while the best eight runners-up from the nine groups go through to a play-off.

Aussies through

Japan, South Korea and Australia booked their places in the 2010 finals yesterday, leaving just one direct qualification place still up for grabs from Asia.

Japan beat Uzbekistan 1-0 in Group One and were the first team through for the second time in a row, having also set the pace for the 2006 finals in Germany.

South Korea, the 2002 World Cup semi-finalists, outclassed already-eliminated United Arab Emirates 2-0 in their Group Two affair and reached the tournament for the seventh successive time.

Australia advanced via the Asian route for the first time after ditching Oceania two years ago. Yesterday they drew 0-0 with Qatar.