England and Spain reach finals

England cruised into next year's World Cup finals when two goals each from Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard and one from Wayne Rooney gave them a superb 5-1 win over Croatia at Wembley Stadium yesterday.

Lampard scored with an early penalty and a 59th minute header while Gerrard scored with headers after 18 and 66 minutes.

Rooney added a fifth 13 minutes from time to give England their eighth successive victory in the group and a place in the finals with two matches to spare.

Eduardo da Silva scored a second-half consolation for the visitors.

England have qualified with 24 points from their eight games, with Croatia second on 17 points with one match to play and still with hopes of landing a place in the two-legged play-offs.

European champions Spain also qualified for the finals following a 3-0 win over Estonia in Merida late last night.

Bosnia Herzegovina's 1-1 draw with Turkey earlier in the evening meant Spain could book their ticket to South Africa and they did not disappoint making it a perfect eight wins from eight to top Group Five.

Spain clinched their place thanks to goals from Cesc Fabregas, Santi Cazorla and Juan Mata on a sweltering night at the Estadio Romano.

In Turin, 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 in Group Eight 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.

Serbia stayed in the driving seat for a place at next year's finals after a 1-1 draw with 10-man France in Group Seven.

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 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.

France soon regained composure and Thierry Henry tapped in the equaliser in the 31st minute. 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.

Slovakia also moved closer to reaching the World Cup for the first time with a 2-0 victory in Northern Ireland, severely denting the hosts' qualifying chances in the process.

Goals in either half from forwards Stanislav Sestak and Filip Holosko put the Slovakians five points clear at the top of Group Three and sent Northern Ireland into third place, behind Slovenia on goal difference having played a game more.

In Budapest, Portugal struck early and held on for a 1-0 win over Hungary to breathe a bit of life into their bid for qualification.

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

Striker Miroslav Klose scored twice in 10 minutes to help Germany beat Azerbaijan 4-0 and stay top of Group Four.

Klose, a second-half substitute for Mario Gomez, fired in his first from close range on 55 minutes, after Azerbaijan had been reduced to 10 men following a second booking for Samir Abasov.

From the same group, Russia brushed aside Wales 3-1 at the Millennium Stadium to set up a crunch match against Germany next month. Goals either side of half-time from Igor Semshov and Sergei Ignashevich helped mute the patriotic Welsh crowd.

Bahrain in play-off

Bahrain drew 2-2 with Saudi Arabia yesterday to go into a qualifying play-off with New Zealand for a place in the 2010 World Cup finals. The first leg ended 0-0 and Bahrain progressed on the away goals rule.