Iran, Japan qualify for 2006 World Cup

Updated: 2005-06-09 08:38

Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia and South Korea became the first four nations to qualify for next year's World Cup, joining host Germany in the 32-nation field.

Iranian national soccer team player Ali Karimi, right, and Bahrain's national soccer team player Talal Yusuf Mohamed in action during the Iran and Bahrain Asian World Cup qualifying for the 2006 World Cup in Tehran, Iran Wednesday June 8, 2005. [AP]

Argentina and Brazil also were in position to clinch berths later Wednesday. Brazil was at Argentina in the biggest of the day's 24 qualifiers.

The United States was at Panama in a late game, Mexico hosted Trinidad and Tobago, and Guatemala was at Costa Rica.

Japan gained the first berth, beating North Korea 2-0 in a game played in Bangkok, Thailand, in a stadium closed to fans. FIFA, soccer's governing body, last month shifted the game, originally scheduled for the North Korean capital Pyongyang. FIFA made its decision to play the game at Bangkok's Supachalasai Stadium after fans in North Korea rioted following a World Cup qualifying loss to Iran at Pyongyang.

Japan got goals from Atsushi Yanagisawa in the 73rd minute and Masashi Oguro in the 88th.

Iran beat visiting Bahrain 1-0 on Mohammad Nosrati's 47th-minute goal before 100,000 at Sazadi Stadium in Tehran. With one game remaining, Iran (4-0-1) and Japan (4-1) cannot be caught in Asia Group B with Bahrain (1-3-1) and North Korea (0-5).

Saudi Arabia qualified for its fourth straight World Cup by beating Uzbekistan 3-0 at Riyadh. Sami al-Jaber scored in the eighth and 60th minutes before 75,000 at King Fahd Stadium.

South Korea, a semifinalist in the 2002 World Cup, earned its sixth straight berth with a 4-0 victory at Kuwait. In hot weather and a sand storm, South Korea go goals from Park Chu-goung in the 18th minute, Lee Dong Gook in the 29th, Kim Sang Sik in the 54th and Park Ji Sung in the 61st. Officials suspended play for eight minutes after South Korea's second goal as fans hurled stones and empty water bottles.

Saudi Arabia (3-0-2) and South Korea (3-1-1) earned the berths from Group B. Bahrain will play either Kuwait (1-3-1) or Uzbekistan (0-3-2) in a playoff to determine which nation will play the No. 4 team from North and Central America and the Caribbean for another berth.

In South America, Colombia got its second straight lopsided win, 3-0 over Ecuador. Tressor Moreno scored two goals within four minutes, while Martin Arzuaga completed the rout. Colombia, which routed Peru 5-0 on Saturday, has 20 points in 15 games. Ecuador has 23 points.

In Europe, Ireland won 2-0 at the Faeroe Islands on goals by Ian Harte in the 51st minute and Kevin Kilbane in the 58th. The fog that often blankets the 18-island archipelago between Scotland and Iceland forced several planes with Irish fans to be diverted to Denmark or Norway. Only about 300 Irish fans made it to the Torsvollur Stadium.

Ireland (3-0-4) moved into the Group Four lead with 13 points, one ahead of Switzerland (3-0-3), two in front of Israel (2-0-5) and three ahead of France (2-0-4).

The eight European group winners and top two second-place teams qualify, and the other six second-place teams go to playoffs.

Ukraine moved closer to its first World Cup appearance with a 1-0 victory at European champion Greece, getting a goal from Andriy Husin with nine minutes left at Piraeus. Ukraine (7-0-2) leads Group Two with 23 points, seven ahead of Turkey (4-1-4) and eight in front of Greece (4-2-3).

Jan Koller scored four goals to lead the Czech Republic over visiting Andorra 8-1, and the Netherlands won 4-0 at Finland on goals by Ruud van Nistelrooy, Dirk Kuijt, Phillip Cocu and Robin van Persie. The Dutch (7-0-1) lead Group One with 22 points, one ahead of the Czechs (7-1).

Spain needed an equalizer from Carlos Marchena in the sixth minute of second-half injury time to gain a 1-1 tie against visiting Bosnia-Herzegovina, which finished two men short after Nedim Halilovic and Mirsad Beslija were ejected.

Zvjezdan Misimovic gave Bosnia the lead seven minutes before halftime in Valencia, the first goal in 686 minutes against goalkeeper Iker Casillas, a Spanish national team record. Spain (3-0-4) leads Group Seven, one point ahead of Serbia-Montenegro (3-0-3).

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