Telkiyski 29 Rep of Ireland1 Dunne 24

SCOTLAND were the main beneficiaries as FYR Macedonia and Norway played out a goalless draw in yesterday's Group 9 World Cup qualifier.

JAPAN became the first team to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa when they beat Uzbekistan 1-0 in an Asian Group 1 qualifier yesterday.

THE build-up to Scotland's World Cup qualifier on 12 August is proving divisive. Or, more accurately, the fact there won't be a build-up to speak of.

Azerbaijan 0 Wales 1 Edwards 42

Kazakhstan 0 England 4 Barry 40; Heskey 45; Rooney 73; Lampard 77 pen

It really is a magnificent seven. Asia’s most successful team has booked a place at the World Cup yet again. South Korea defeated UAE 2-0 in the early hours of Sunday morning Seoul time to seal a place in South Africa. First, the details. It was a comfortable win against the bottom team of the group. Park Chu-young finished well after eight minutes to put the Taeguk Warriors on their way. Eight minutes before half-time, Ki Sung-yung took advantage of a goalkeeping mistake to make it 2-0. The host, with one point from a previous six matches, was never likely to recover and thanks to the fact that Iran and North Korea tied 0-0 earlier in the day, it was enough.

After the latest round of World Cup qualifiers Japan, Australia, the Netherlands and South Korea have all booked their places in South Africa. Denmark, Slovakia, Germany, England, Spain and Italy look certain to join them for the European qualifying zone. In South America, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina are firm favorites to progress along with the USA and Costa Rica from the CONCACAF region. Perennial powerhouse Mexico may miss out.