2010 World Cup qualifiers comentery LIVE!

England have qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa after an emphatic 5-1 win over Croatia.

0520 HKT: There's still one game left in Europe - and that's the reigning Euro champs Spain. They are leading Estonia 1-0.
0509 HKT: And it's all over. Dez Corkhill and Abbas Saad can't believe it. The Saudi Arabian fans can't believe too. Twice they took the lead and twice Bahrain came back. The dream is on for Bahrain.
0508 HKT: It can't happen can't it? Bahrain equalises with a last-gasp goal from a corner and they are on their way to meet New Zealand.
0507 HKT: Drama in Saudi Arabia as the home snatch a late, late goal. Game over?
0500 HKT: "England really got a chance in the World Cup. They will be thereor thereabouts." says Steve McMahon whose man-of-the match is Aaron Lennon. Who can disagree with him after the winger's display for England?
0445 HKT: It's all over at Wembley. England have qualified for South Africa.
0437 HKT: David Beckham makes an appearance for England. He comes on for Lennon. Gerrard has been replaced by James Milner.
0434 HKT: ENG 5-1 CRO - Complete disaster for Runje. The Croatian goalkeeper miskicks a backpass ala Paul Robinson and it gave Rooney a simple goal. That's his 25th goal for England.
0429 HKT: ENG 4-1 CRO - Eduardo pulls one back after a fantastic double save from Green. Capello will not be pleased.
0424 HKT: ENG 4-0 CRO - Game over. Rooney was released down the right again and his cross found Gerrard charging into the box. The midfielder looped a perfect header over the 'keeper and a defender on the line to give England a 4-0 lead. Their lead is well-deserved. Both Lampard and Gerrard are on a hat-trick!
0420 HKT: Scotland are virtually out after Holland beat them 1-0 at Hampden while Norway beat Macedonia 2-1 to jump into second place in Group 9.
0415 HKT: ENG 3-0 CRO - Just when Croatia look to turn the tide, England score. Lampard scores his second goal and his 20th goal for England. Nice assist from Johnson from the right. Defoe comes on for Heskey.
0412 HKT: A penalty shout for Croatia. A clumsy challenge by Johnson on Eduardo was deemed fair by referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco. Bilic was understandably livid.
0411 HKT: Holland have taken the lead against Scotland with five minutes remaining. Scotland's dreams lie in tatters.
0408 HKT: And the substitutions seem to be working. Croatia come close to scoring twice. England are yet to make a meaningful attack. Can Croatia come back?
0402 HKT: Croatia restart the game against England at Wembley. Slaven Billic makes his first change - Rakitic on for Pokrivac; Petric on for Olic.
0400 HKT: Bahrain have equalised against Saudi Arabia.
0346 HKT: Half-time at Wembley and England are in full control. They could even have had three more goals if not for Croatia's 'keeper Runje.
0335 HKT: France have equalised against Serbia through Thierry Henry. Game on.
0331 HKT: I take that back. Saudi take the lead against Bahrain after a well-executed counter-attack.
0330 HKT: Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are canceling each other out in midfield at the moment.
0317 HKT: ENG 2-0 CRO - Good goal for England. Steven Gerrard was the architect. Stevie G starts the move with a pass to Lennon on the right. The Spurs man was in acres of space before he crossed to Gerrard at the far post to extend England's lead!
0315 HKT: Scotland have missed some great chances to score against Holland as half-time approaches in that game. Under-pressure Portugal are leading 1-0 at Hungary. France are losing 1-0 at Serbia - they are also a man down - Hugo Lloris was sent off.
0307 HKT: ENG 1-0 CRO - Frank Lampard dispatches the penalty with ease.
0306 HKT: And they do get a penalty! A stone-dead penalty conceded by Simunic on Lennon whose positive run into the box created the chance.
0305 HKT: Storming start by England and they had a couple of penalty shouts already! Meanwhile, Italy go one-up against Bulgaria and Slovakia are leading 1-0 at Northern Ireland.
0300 HKT: England kick-off against Croatia. Will they get revenge today?
0252 HKT: And England do need just a draw against Croatia. Ukraine and Belarus have drew 0-0.
0247 HKT: As it stands, England might just need a draw as Ukraine and Belarus are locked in a 0-0 draw ...
0245 HKT: England vs Croatia line-upsEngland: Green, Johnson, Terry, Upson, Ashley Cole, Lennon, Barry, Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney, Heskey.Subs: Foster, Brown, Bridge, Milner, Defoe, Beckham, Crouch.Croatia: Runje, Srna, Krizanac, Simunic, Pranjic, Mandzukic, Vukojevic, Pokrivac, Kranjcar, Eduardo, Olic.Subs: Subasic, Drpic, Cale, Rakitic, Petric, Leko, Klasnic.Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (Spain)
0227 HKT: Sweden have beaten Malta 1-0 to keep their hopes alive in Group 1. Which means Denmark cannot confirm qualification today.
0222 HKT: Scotland vs Holland team line-ups Scotland: Marshall, Hutton, Weir, McManus, Whittaker, Hartley, Naismith, Brown, Darren Fletcher, Maloney, Miller.Subs: Neil Alexander, Graham Alexander, Gary Caldwell, O'Connor, Steven Fletcher, Commons, Rae.Holland: Vorm, Van Der Wiel, Ooijer, Mathijsen, Van Bronckhorst, Sneijder, De Zeeuw, De Jong, Robben, van Persie, Kuyt.Subs: Velthuizen, Heitinga, Schaars, Braafheid, Van der Vaart, Elia, Huntelaar.
0220 HKT: Be sure to join Dez Corkhill and Abbas Saad as they preside over the play-off second-leg game between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain LIVE on ESPN at 0310 HKT.
0215 HKT: Just as I was saying it's the night of the minnows, Sweden go on to score a late goal against Malta - poor Ian Azzopardi with the own goal.
0215 HKT: It's a night of minnows as the Faroe Islands notched their first victory in Group 7 against Lithuania.
0210 HKT: So no surprises there for Fabio Capello's England selection. He has stuck with Emile Heskey up-front with Wayne Rooney. But I have backing Jermain Defoe to make an appearance in the second-half.
0205 HKT: Cameroon continue their good form in the African qualifiers with a vital win over Gabon.
For the full list of fixtures for the World Cup Qualifying and other International matches click here.
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0200 HKT: England team to play Croatia: Green; Johnson, Upson, Terry, Cole; Lennon, Barry, Lampard, Gerrard; Rooney, Heskey.Subs: Foster, Brown, Bridge, Milner, Defoe, Beckham, Crouch.
0155 HKT: Little Armenia have collected thier first win of their 2010 qualifying campaign with a 2-1 win over Belgium. The Belgians are out of the running for second place in Group Five while Armenia remain rooted at the bottom of the group.
0150 HKT: Northern Ireland striker Kyle Lafferty is out of the game against Slovakia with a knee injury.
0130 HKT: On a side note, Tomas Rosicky made his first competitive appearance in 20 months when he played 56 minutes for the Czechs. Arsenal fans rejoice/lament ...
0120 HKT: Czech Rep have won 6-0 7-0 against San Marino - Baros scored four goals. The Czechs still have a slim chance of second place but they need other results to go their way. In a big way.
0115 HKT: US Open news: Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy have beaten the Bryan brothers!
0105 HKT: The Czechs are on their way to a 6-0 win over San Marino!
0050 HKT: US Open news: Leander Paes and Lukas Dlouhy are close to progressing to the Doubles final at the US Open.
0030 HKT: BPL news - FIFA pres Sepp Blatter has fired a warning shot to poachers.
0018 HKT: BPL news - Portsmouth have signed former Sheff Utd striker Danny Webber on a free transfer.
0015 HKT: Friendlies - Japan have beaten Ghana (match report here) while China were held by Senegal (report).
0010 HKT: Just as we were talking about the Czechs, they are currently cruising against San Marino. Former Milan Baros has scored a hat-trick and the Czechs lead 3-0 at half-time.
0005 HKT: David Marshall will deputise for the injured Gordon for Scotland. Wesley Sneidjer has been passed fit for Holland.
2353 HKT: Isha from Kolkata emails in to Streettalk and backs Croatia to win 2-1! "I 'm sure Eduardo should do well," he says.
2335 HKT: One match is already underway and it's between Czech Rep and San Marino. The once-mighty Czechs are virtually out of contention to qualify. They seemed to have lost their invincibility after the retirements of Paved Nedved and Jan Koller.
2325 HKT: Be sure to join Andy Penders and Steve McMahon as they guide you through England vs Croatia LIVE on STAR Sports at 0255 HKT. McMahon has already predicted a draw in this game. Do you agree?
2330 HKT: By the way, the biggest news today was the parting of ways between Peter Reid and Thailand. Steve Darby will be caretaker for now. Good news for S'pore?
2318 HKT: Whispers from England indicate Emile Heskey will partner Wayne Rooney up front for England against Croatia.
2300 HKT: A blow for Scotland as first-choice Craig Gordon is out of their crunch tie against Holland.
PREVIEW
England, Denmark, Slovakia, Spain and Serbia will qualify for the World Cup if results go their way tonight.
Can England beat Croatia? HAVE YOUR SAY @ streettalk@espnstar.com!
South Africa (hosts), Japan, Australia, South Korea, North Korea, Holland, Brazil and Ghana have already qualified for the 2010 World Cup finals. Who will join them?
ASIA - Play-off second leg
Fixture: Saudi Arabia vs Bahrain (LIVE on ESPN at 0310 HKT)
1st Leg: 1-1 (Winner will face New Zealand in a two-legged play-off)
Click here for Preview
EUROPE
Group 1: Denmark will be on that plane to South Africa if they beat Albania IF Hungary lose to Portugal X Sweden fail to beat Malta.
Teams: Denmark, Hungary, Portugal, Sweden, Albania and Malta
Fixtures: Albania vs Denmark, Hungary vs Portugal, Malta vs Sweden
Click here for Group Preview
Group 2: Switzerland will be favourites to go through if they beat Latvia.
Teams: Greece, Switzerland, Latvia, Israel, Luxembourg and Moldova
Fixtures: Lativa vs Switzerland, Israel vs Luxembourg, Moldova vs Greece
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Group 3: Slovakia can go through if they beat Northen Ireland.
Teams: Slovakia, Northern Ireland, Slovenia, Poland, Czech Republic and San Marino
Fixtures: Northern Ireland, Czech Rep vs San Marino, Slovenia vs Poland
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Group 4: Another closely fought group but Germany and Russia are favourites to go through. Wales will be out if they fail to beat Russia.
Teams: Germany, Russia, Finland, Wales, Azerbaijan and Liechtenstein
Fixtures: Germany vs Azerbaijan, Wales vs Russia, Liechtenstein vs Finland
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Group 5: Spain will go through IF they beat Estonia X Bosnia fail to beat Turkey.
Teams: Spain, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Turkey, Belgium, Estonia and Armenia
Fixtures: Armenia vs Belgium, Bosnia vs Turkey, Spain vs Estonia
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Group 6: It's simple. Three points for England will ensure their passage to South Africa. Belarus have an outside chance of taking second spot.
Teams: England, Croatia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Andorra
Fixtures: England vs Croatia (LIVE on STAR Sports at 0255 HKT), Belarus vs Ukraine, Andorra vs Kazakhstan
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Group 7: Serbia will go through IF they beat France.
Teams: Serbia, France, Lithuania, Austria, Romania and Faroe Islands
Fixtures: Faroe Islands vs Lithuania, Romania vs Austria, Serbia vs France
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Group 8: It's between Italy and the Republic of Ireland in this group although the Italians can consolidate their position with a win over Bulgaria.
Teams: Italy, Republic of Ireland, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Montenegro and Georgia
Fixtures: Italy vs Bulgaria, Montenegro vs Cyprus
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Group 9: Same as last Saturday: Holland have already qualified. The fight goes on for that all-important second spot.
Teams: Holland, Scotland, Macedonia, Norway and Iceland
Fixtures: Norway vs Macedonia, Scotland vs Holland
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