The Netherlands sealed the deal with a 2-1 win in Reykjavik, Iceland on Saturday, pushing the team 11 points ahead of their closest rivals in their group. Winning six straight World Cup qualifiers in a row has given the Oranje an unassailable lead in Group 9.

The Netherlands joins Japan, South Korea, and Australia in qualifying, just over a year before the opening day of the 2010 finals. South Africa, as host qualifies automatically.

While South Korea is a regular at the international championship, this is only the third time Australia has made the cut.

"Qualifying this time around, with the travel and match conditions the team has experienced, is a true measure of the progress football has made," said Ben Buckley, head of the Football Federation Australia.

For other teams, nothing certain

While these five teams can now focus their attention on the World Cup itself, many others must still fight to survive the grueling worldwide qualifying campaign, which started last year and runs through mid-November.

Nothing has been decided in the North and South American sessions, and in Europe the games will continue until 12 other European teams join the Netherlands. England has also had six straight qualifier wins in a row, and have a healthy seven-point lead in their group.

"If we beat Andorra (on Wednesday) we are nearly there," said English midfielder Frank Lampard, who scored one of the four goals against Kazakhstan on Saturday. "It's been a good week."

While the winners of the nine European qualifying groups automatically qualify, the eight best runners-up having to fight through a two-legged playoff to fill four further spots.

While Portugal is struggling in third place in Group 1, behind Hungary and Denmark, Slovakia leads Group 7 with a two-point lead over Northern Ireland. With their 7-0 victory over San Marino, Slovakia is on course to qualify for their first World Cup.

Germany currently heads Group 4 with a four-point lead over Russia.

hf/dpa/Reuters
Editor: Kateri Jochum