London, October 9:

Fourteen more teams qualified for next year’s World Cup finals, with England, Italy and the Netherlands leading the way in Europe. Three other European teams also made it on Saturday — Portugal, Croatia and Poland — while Ukraine and host Germany had already advanced.

All five African spots were also filled, with Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Angola qualifying for the first time. Tunisia claimed the final spot from the region. Also, Paraguay and Ecuador joined already-uualmfied Brazil and Argentina from South America, while Costa Rica beat the United States 3-0 to earn the third berth out of CONCACAF. Mexico and the United States have already qualified.

Four Asian teams — Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia and South Korea — have already qualified for the tournament.

The Netherlends qualified with a 2-0 victory against the Czech Republic. Their win also meant England and Poland reached the finala of the 32-team tournament in Germany.

England defeated Austria 1-0 on Frank Lampard’s 24th-minute goal. Poland did not play but is guaranteed — along with England — of either winning Group 6, or finishing as one of the two best second-place teams. England survived after David Beckham was sent off in the 58th minute.

In Group 8, Croatia took the lead and guaranteed its place with a 1-0 victory over Sweden on Darijo Snra’s penalty. Croatia’s 23 points was enough for it to qualify at least as one of the two best second-place teams.

Italy qualified for the 12th straight time with a 1-0 win over Slovenia in Group 5. Portugal, which needed only a draw to win Group 3, beat Liechtenstein 2-1. Portugal improved to 27 points.

Four teams are still in the chase in Group 4. Israel leads with 18 points, followed by France and Switzerland with 17 and Ireland with 16. Ireland stayed alive with a 1-0 win at Cyprus.

Switzerland and France played a 1-1 draw, while Israel defeated the Faeroe Islands 2-1. In other European games, it was: Finland 0, Romania 1; Denmark 1, Greece 0; Georgia 0, Kazakhstan 0; Ukraine 2, Albania 2; Russia 5, Luxembourg 1; Slovakia 1, Estonia 0; Norway 1, Moldova 0; Scotland 0, Belarus 1; Northern Ireland 2, Wales 3; Belgium 0, Spain

2; Bosnia-Herzegovina 3, San Marino 0; Lithuania 0, Serbia-Montenegro 2; Bulgaria 2, Hungary 0; and Croatia 1, Sweden 0.

In South America, Paraguay clinched its berth by beating Venezuela 1-0. Ecuador needed only a 0-0 draw against Uruguay to advance, while Colombia held Chile to a 1-1 draw in the other match.

Togo was the biggest surprise in Africa, advancing at the expense of 2002 World Cup quarter-finalist Senegal. The tiny west African country twice came back to beat Republic of Congo to 3-2, improving to 23 points in Group One. Senegal beat Malawi 3-0 to give itself a chance, but Togo needed only a draw.

Angola beat Rwanda 1-0 and advanced to the finals because of its better head-to-head record against Nigeria. Both teams finished with 21 points in Group Four.

Ghana had little trouble at Cape Verde Islands, winning 4-0 to secure first place in Group Two with 21 points. Ivory Coast won Group Three after beating Sudan 3-1. The win, combined with Cameroon’s 1-1 draw with Egypr, kept the Indomitable Lions from reaching the World Cup finals for an African record sixth time.

Tunisia held Morocco to a 2-2 draw in Group Five. In other African games, it was: South Africa 2, Congo 2; Uganda 2, Burkina Faso 2; Gabon 0, Algeria 0; Botswana 1, Guinea 2; and Malawi 3, Kenya 0.

In Asia, Uzbekistan and Bahrain drew 1-1 in a rematch of the first leg of their playoff. Uzbekistan won the first leg 1-0 on September 6 but FIFA ordered a replay because of

a “technical error” by the referee. The second leg will be played on Wednesday in Bahrain. The winner will face the fourth-place team from CONCACAF in a two-leg playoff for a berth in the finals.