Weekly Football News, October 16 2013
Bosnia-Hercegovina book passage after recent playoff heartbreak
After narrowly missing out on the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 tournaments, both times losing to Portugal in the playoffs, Bosnia-Hercegovina have qualified for their first World Cup finals as an independent nation after beating Lithuania 1-0 to finish top of Group G.
Edin Dzeko, the Manchester City striker, scored the only goal of the game midway through the second half to ensure guaranteed passage to Brazil 2014.
The other contenders in Group G, Greece, beat Liechtenstein 1-0 to finish level on points with Bosnia-Hercegovina but had a vastly inferior goal difference.
Iceland keep their dream alive
Elsewhere in Europe, Iceland, who have never before reached the finals of a major tournament, managed a 1-1 draw with Norway that, together, with Slovenia's 1-0 loss to Switzerland, booked them a playoff place.
In Group H, England's Wayne Rooney and Steve Gerrard scored either side of half-time to overcome Poland and guarantee top position in the table, pushing Ukraine, who dispatched San Marino 8-0, into the playoffs.
In Group B, Italy ended their qualifying campaign unbeaten despite a scare at the hands of Armenia. However, Denmark, who were runners-up after finishing their campaign by thrashing Malta 6-0, missed out on a playoff place as they were the second-placed team with the worst record in games against the teams finishing first, third, fourth and fifth in their group.
Mexico sneak into the playoffs; Panama sent packing
A number of heavyweights will have to overcome a two-legged playoff to reach Brazil, however, including Mexico, Uruguay, France and Portugal.
Of these, Mexico will be thankful for a second opportunity to keep their rich heritage of participating in the World Cup after being just minutes away from missing out on their final finals since 1990.
A brace of late goals from USA rescued Mexico, who lost 2-1 to qualifiers Costa Rica, booking them a playoff with Oceania champions New Zealand next month.
Panama only needed to hold onto their 2-1 lead against USA for the last seven minutes to keep their World Cup dreams alive. However, injury time goals from Graham Zusi and a maiden international goal for Aron Johannsson sent them packing.
Despite overcoming Argentina to pull level on points with Ecuador, Uruguay slipped to fifth place in the South American region because of their inferior goal difference, condemning them to a fourth consecutive play-off, this time against Jordan.
Ghana cruise in CAF playoffs
With all five CAF qualifiers being decided by two-legged playoffs in Africa, Ghana took a huge stride towards competing in Brazil with an emphatic 6-1 victory over Egypt in the first leg of their qualification playoff in Kumasi.
In the other four matches, there were wins for Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Nigeria, while Tunisia and Cameroon played out a goalless draw.
The five African teams heading to Brazil will be decided after the second legs in November.
Compiled by Marc Fox
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