Spain, England and Russia reach the WCup
Print Edition
Defending champion Spain secured its place at the 2014 World Cup by beating Georgia 2-0 on Tuesday in Albacete, pushing France into the playoffs.
England, Russia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, which earned its first berth as an independent nation, also qualified for a trip to Brazil.
Spain’s victory rendered France’s 3-0 win against Finland meaningless as Spain needed just one point to secure passage to Brazil.
Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema scored either side of Joona Toivio’s own-goal as France advanced to the playoff among the eight best second-place finishers.
Andres Iniesta marked the match played near his hometown by feeding Alvaro Negredo for Spain’s first-half opener, and substitute Juan Mata doubled Spain’s advantage after the break.
“It may look practically routine but it’s important to remember how successful we’ve been at qualifying,” Spanish manager Vicente Del Bosque said. This is not an easy competition.”
Wayne Rooney scored in the 41st minute and Steven Gerrard in the 88th to give England a 2-0 win over Poland at Wembley Stadium and first place in Group H by one point over Ukraine. The English qualified for their 14th World Cup and fifth in a row.
“We have a great togetherness, are there for each other and proved we can perform under pressure,” Gerrard said.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal, Greece, Ukraine, Romania and Iceland placed second in their groups, winding up in next Monday’s draw for the eight-team European playoffs next month along with Sweden and Croatia. The four playoff winners also will earn berths.
With a population of just over 300,000, Iceland would be the smallest nation to qualify for a World Cup. Trinidad and Tobago, at about 1.3 million, currently holds the record after making the 2006 tournament.
Bosnia won 1-0 at Lithuania on Vedad Ibisevic’s 68th-minute goal to win Group G on goal difference over Greece.
Russia won Group F with a 1-1 draw at Azerbaijan as Roman Shirokov scored in the 15th. Portugal finished a point back after defeating visiting Luxembourg 3-0.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
