Miroslav Klose scored the only goal of the game in the 34th minute as Germany weathered early and late storms and rode their luck after Jerome Boateng was sent off on his debut in the 69th minute.

But Joachim Low's side held on to open up an unassailable four-point lead at the top of Group Four with one game remaining, leaving Guus Hiddink's Russia with the consolation of a place in the play-offs.

Denmark join Germany at next summer's Finals as Jacob Poulsen's first goal for his country secured them a 1-0 victory over Sweden.

The AGF Aarhus midfielder struck from long range, with goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson partly at fault.

The visitors had two second-half strikes disallowed and were unable to capitalise on their dominance after the break, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic a central figure.

Serbia were the third side to book their spot in South Africa with a 5-0 thrashing of 10-man Romania.

Nikola Zigic put the home side in front after 37 minutes and Marko Pantelic, Zdravko Kuzmanovic and a double from Milan Jovanovic - all in the second half - completed the rout.

A miserable night for Romania was completed by a red card for captain Cristian Chivu in the 84th minute.

The win puts Serbia four points clear at the top of Group Seven, so France will have to content themselves with a place in the play-offs after also winning 5-0 against the Faroe Islands.

Andre-Pierre Gignac, who had scored his first goal for France against the Faroes in the 1-0 victory last year, set Les Bleus on their way with a first-half brace and William Gallas extended their lead shortly after the break.

Late goals from Nicolas Anelka and substitute Karim Benzema put the icing on the cake and helped ease the pressure on under-fire coach Raymond Domenech.

Roman Wallner converted a penalty 10 minutes from time as Austria defeated Lithuania 2-1 in Innsbruck to secure third place in Group Seven.

Marc Janko fired the hosts into a 16th-minute lead but Marius Stankevicius levelled for the visitors after 66 minutes.

However, Wallner stepped up to confidently stroke in the winner from the spot after Franz Schiemer was brought down in the penalty area.

Portugal overcame the early loss of Cristiano Ronaldo to move into pole position for a Qualifying play-off with a 3-0 victory over Hungary in Group One.

Two goals from Simao Sabrosa and a header from Liedson earned the hosts their first home win in the qualifying campaign.

That, coupled with Sweden's 1-0 defeat away to group winners Denmark, saw Carlos Queiroz's side move into second place, a position they can wrap up if they beat Malta in Guimaraes on Wednesday.

Spain remained on course to complete a perfect record in qualifying as they made it nine wins from nine with a 2-1 victory over Armenia in a rain-drenched Yerevan.

In a clash between a Spanish side who had already secured their spot in next year's World Cup finals and an Armenia team whose outside hopes of going to South Africa had vanished long ago, it was the European champions who came out on top thanks to Juan Mata's second-half penalty.

Mata coolly slotted home what would prove to be the winning goal from the spot in the 64th minute, just six minutes after Armenia had stunned their visitors by equalising through Robert Arzumanyan.

Spain had earlier taken the lead with a brilliant goal from Cesc Fabregas midway through the first half.

The Czech Republic picked up a hollow 2-0 victory over Poland as Slovenia's 2-0 win over Slovakia left them needing a San Marino miracle to keep their dreams alive.

Substitute Tomas Necid and Jaroslav Plasil scored the second-half goals as Ivan Hasek's team did their bit, but they were frustrated by events elsewhere.

Slovenia's triumph in Bratislava, courtesy of goals from Valter Birsa and Nejc Pecnik, meant they remain two points clear of Hasek's men with only group minnows San Marino - who have lost all nine of their matches, scoring just one goal and conceding 44 - to play.

Goals from Edin Dzeko and Vedad Ibisevic ensured Bosnia-Herzegovina will finish second in Group Five as they beat Estonia 2-0 to progress to the play-offs for a place in South Africa.

Miroslav Blazevic's side had won the first meeting between the sides 7-0 last September but they were made to work harder for victory this time around in Tallinn.

A cagey opening was played in an unusual atmosphere as the away fans remained quiet for 24 minutes to remember Sarajevo fan Vedran Puljic, who was killed in violence ahead of his team's match at Siroki Brijeg in the domestic league on Sunday.

Emile Mpenza's double earned Belgium a 2-0 win against Turkey in their Group Five qualifier in Brussels.

The result moved fourth-placed Belgium to within two points of the third-spotted Turks ahead of Wednesday's final round of matches.

Theofanis Gekas netted four goals as Greece all but assured themselves of a place in the qualifying play-offs after coming from behind to defeat Latvia 5-2 at the Olympic Stadium in Athens.

Gekas opened the scoring for the hosts after four minutes but Maris Verpakovskis levelled with a superb bicycle kick before putting Aleksandrs Starkovs' team ahead just before half-time.

Gekas then netted a penalty two minutes after half-time after Giorgos Samaras was fouled by Oskars Klava, and the 29-year-old headed home Vasilis Torosidis' centre to put Greece ahead for the second time in the match.

Celtic frontman Samaras then scored with a clever overhead kick with 17 minutes left before Gekas tapped home his fourth and Greece's fifth goal in the first minute of added time

Two goals in as many minutes from defender Philippe Senderos teed up a comfortable 3-0 victory for visiting Switzerland as their hopes of qualification from Group Two were boosted in Luxembourg.

Arsenal centre-half Senderos netted in the sixth minute to put his side ahead before repeating the feat just two minutes later to put the Swiss firmly in control.

Benjamin Huggel made it three after 22 minutes and the hosts were unable to muster a response.

Elyaniv Barda struck twice for Israel as the hosts maintained their slim chances of qualifying for next year's World Cup finals from Group Two with a convincing 3-1 over Moldova.

The Genk forward notched either side of a David Ben Dayan goal as Israel established a three-goal cushion at Ramat Gan national stadium before Denis Calincov's late consolation for the visitors.

Bulgaria's slim hopes of clinching a play-off place were ended as Cyprus ran out comfortable 4-1 winners in their Group Eight qualifier in Larnaca.

Constantinos Charalambides' early brace put the hosts in the ascendancy and, although Dimitar Berbatov halved the deficit on the stroke of half-time, second-half goals from Michalis Constantinou and Stathis Aloneftis sealed the rout.

The result meant Bulgaria were unable to catch second-placed Republic of Ireland and moved fourth-placed Cyprus to within two points of their third-spotted opponents with one round of matches remaining on Wednesday.

Andrija Delibasic scored the winner on his debut as Montenegro earned their maiden qualifying triumph with a 2-1 defeat of Georgia.

Radoslav Batak put Montenegro ahead after 13 minutes at Podgorica City Stadium but Georgia levelled in first-half stoppage time through Vladimir Dvalishvili.

Delibasic found the net 12 minutes from time to secure Montenegro's first win of qualifying Group Eight and leave Georgia without a win at the bottom of the standings.

Belarus completed their home fixtures in Group Six with a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Kazakhstan in Brest.

Timofei Kalachev scored twice for the hosts with Maksim Bordachev and Leonid Kovel also getting on the scoresheet.

The result was vindication for home coach Bernd Stange's decision to omit several big-name players, including Alexander Hleb, his brother Vyacheslav and BATE Borisov midfielder Igor Stasevich, in an attempt to look to the future.

Azerbaijan moved off the bottom of Group Four courtesy of a 2-0 victory over Liechtenstein in Vaduz.

Vagif Javadov and Elvin Mammadov were the men on target in the second half at the Rheinpark Stadion as Berti Vogts' side secured their first ever away win.