the return match Wednesday in New Zealand against New Caledonia -- the All Whites secured the championship of the four-team final group and now face a two-leg series against the fifth-placed team in Asian qualifying to earn a spot in South Africa. However, as Oceania champions, New Zealand have already booked a ticket for next summer's FIFA Confederations Cup.
New Zealand took the lead 15 minutes into the match, when defender Ben Sigmund stabbed home from close range following a corner.
After the break, New Caledonia's Luther Wahnyamalla rounded New Zealand goalkeeper Glen Moss only to watch Ryan Nelsen somehow clear his shot off the line. But in the 55th minute, Michael Hmae coolly finished off a well-worked move for the leveller.
But Shane Smeltz scored twice to give the All Whites the victory and guarantee at least one trip to South Africa. Duncan Oughton (Columbus Crew) played the entire match for New Zealand, while Jarrod Smith (Toronto FC) started and played 89 minutes. Andrew Boyens (New York Red Bulls) was an unused substitute.
In South American qualifying, Peru beat Venezuela 1-0 in front of a sparse crowd in Lima on Saturday to claim their first win of the qualifying campaign. Striker Piero Alva scored the winner in the 38th minute.
Peru, who last qualified for the FIFA World Cup in 1982, have six points. Venezuela, the only South American team never to have played at a FIFA World Cup, remained on seven points after their second defeat in a row. Jorge Rojas (New York Red Bulls) started and played 55 minutes, as Alejandro Moreno (Columbus Crew) took his place in the vinotinto side.
Ecuador defeated Bolivia 3-1 on Saturday helped by an early sending-off for their opponents and a controversial penalty at the start of the second half.
Ecuador, who have qualified for the last two FIFA World Cups, have eight points from seven games in the South American group while Bolivia have four.
Bolivia midfielder Alejandro Gomez was dismissed after committing two bookable offences in only 18 minutes, and Ecuador went ahead two minutes later with a well-taken goal by Felipe Caicedo. The visitors stunned Ecuador five minutes before halftime, when forward Joaquin Botero broke clear to score the equaliser.
Ecuador regained the lead five minutes into the second half when Edison Mendez converted a penalty after Christian Benitez was judged to have been fouled. Benitez scored the third in the 72nd minute, when he latched on to a long pass forward, sped past goalkeeper Carlos Arias and tapped the ball into the net.
D.C. United striker Jaime Moreno was not in Bolivia's 18-man gameday squad.
In Europe, Joe Cole came off the bench to score two goals in the space of six minutes early in the second half as England finally overcame the minnows of Andorra in their opening World Cup qualifier in Barcelona's Olympic Stadium.
England manager Fabio Capello made four changes from the side held 2-2 at home by the Czechs, the most significant of which was to leave out David Beckham after starting him in the previous four friendlies. Beckham came on as an 80th-minute substitute for Frank Lampard as England will now take on Croatia at home on Wednesday.
In Cardiff, teenage substitute Sam Vokes scored his first international goal to give a youthful Wales a 1-0 victory over Azerbaijan. Toronto FC midfielder Carl Robinson was brought on in place of Jason Koumas with two minutes to go.
In Africa, Algeria took a vital 3-2 victory against Senegal, to take the lead in Group 5. Goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul (Colorado) was an unused substitute for Senegal.
Algeria have nine points from five matches, one more than Senegal and The Gambia, with one match to play. Senegal play host to The Gambia on Oct. 11, while Algeria travel to Liberia.
