Features

World Cup Finals take shape

Author: Brandon Barker
Date: 14/10/2009
Football betting

There are just two European qualifying places left for next summer's World Cup Finals following an action packed series of games across the continent.

Sportsbook favourites Spain, Denmark, Germany, England, Serbia, Italy, Germany and Netherlands have all topped their sections, but top spots in Groups Two and Three are still up for grabs.

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Switzerland look certain to be joining those seven teams in South Africa as they only need to draw their last qualifier in Basel against Israel to top their group and leave Greece, Israel and Latvia scrabbling for a play-off spot.

The Swiss look set to head their group after beating Luxembourg at the weekend, the same team that caused one of the biggest shocks in European football history when they beat Ottmar Hitzfeld's team in Zurich 2-1 just 13 months ago.

Group Three is wide open after Slovenia surprisingly beat long-time group headers Slovakia on Saturday.

That left Slovenia only two points adrift of Slovakia and they face a San Marino side on Wednesday that has scored only one goal during qualifying and conceded 44.

In contrast, Slovakia travel to Poland in midweek still needing a win to ensure they will be enjoying their first World Cup Finals appearance next summer.

One of Saturday's biggest and most important matches was staged in Copenhagen when Denmark and Sweden locked horns.

The Danes emerged victorious in the Scandinavian clash thanks to Jakob Poulsen's late goal, the Aarhus midfielder's first goal for his country.

The result has left the Swedes contemplating the prospect of missing out on the 2010 tournament. They need to beat Albania and hope Portugal fail to beat Malta in midweek if they are to sneak into the play-offs but it appears to be a very long shot.

In Group Four, Germany's impressive 1-0 win in Moscow guaranteed them top spot while Russia will definitely be in the play-offs and Finland will have to settle for third place.

Events in Dnipro at the weekend turned Group Six upside down. England had already sealed their place in next summer's tournament by beating Croatia 5-1 at Wembley last month, although Slaven Bilic's side were still expected to seal second spot in the group.

However, England's 1-0 defeat to Ukraine in a game which saw Robert Green sent off, has left Croatia hoping for a miracle in midweek if they are to be involved in next month's play-offs.

The top two spots in Group Seven have been confirmed with Serbia finishing top while France will have to try their luck in the seeded play-offs.

Italy's last-gasp equaliser at Croke Park on Saturday ensured they would top Group Eight while Republic of Ireland have done well to finish second.

The five-team Group Nine was sorted out last month with the Netherlands finishing top after winning all eight of their qualifiers.

Although Norway finished second it seems certain that, using FIFA's complicated qualifying system, they will not be in South Africa next summer as they have the worst record of the group runners-up.

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