Among other matches a single goal by Arsenal's Eduardo Da Silva against Israel was enough to keep Croatia at the top of group E, while Romania enjoyed the same result at home to the Dutch in group G which saw a last minute goal give Luxembourg an unlikely win in Belarus at the wrong end of the table. Germany became the first team to qualify for the finals with a 0-0 draw in Dublin which left Ireland on the brink of elimination with the Czech Republic needing a point from their 3 remaining matches to qualify from group D. Scotland knocked Ukraine out of contention in a 3-1 home win with Kenny Miller and Lee McCulloch scoring in the first 10 minutes and James McFadden adding a third in the second half after Andriy Shevchenko had given Ukraine some hope in the 24th minute. Karim Benzema scored twice after Nicolas Anelka and Thierry Henry had given France a good start in their 6-0 win away to the Faroe Islands while Slovakia thumped San Marino 7-0. Cyprus came from behind with 2 Yiannis Okkas goals to defeat Wales 3-1 in Nicosia. Eidur Gudjohnsen also scored twice, but 2 goals from Maris Verpakovskis saw Latvia beat Iceland 4-2 away from home. Portugal recorded a vital 2-0 win in Azerbaijan with Poland the only other winners of group A beating Kazakhstan 3-1 in Warsaw as Armenia held Serbia to a 0-0 draw and Finland played out a goalless draw in Belgium. Greece enjoyed their narrow 3-2 win at home to Bosnia & Herzegovina as rivals Turkey dropped points in their 1-1 away draw to Moldova. Albert Riera buried Denmark with a superb shot in the last minute to give Spain a 3-1 win in Copenhagen a minute after Jon Dahl Tomasson had finally pulled a goal back for the Danes.
The South American qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup got under way with Uruguay enjoying an easy 5-0 home victory against Bolivia who had Ronald Garcia sent off late in the first half. Chile held on for 35 minutes after the dismissal of Cristian Alvarez, but had already been beaten by 2 superb Riquelme free kicks in the first half to lose 2-0 in Argentina. Venezuela continued their success after hosting the Copa America, with a 1-0 win in Ecuador. Peru and Paraguay played out a goalless draw, as did Colombia and Brazil in rainy Bogota on Sunday.