London, March 29:

World Cup holders Italy joined fellow football powers Germany and the Netherlands in a strong position to qualify for the 2010 tournament in South Africa by beating Montenegro 2-0 on Saturday.

Andrea Pirlo and Giampaolo Pazzini scored to give Italy the lead in their group after Ireland were held to a 1-1 draw by visiting Bulgaria. Germany easily stayed four points clear at the top of their European qualifying group with a 4-0 win over Liechtenstein, while the Netherlands built an eight-point advantage by beating Scotland 3-0 in Amsterdam.

France won at Lithuania 1-0, while European champions Spain beat visiting Turkey 1-0 and Portugal drew 0-0 with Sweden.

Pirlo put Italy into an 11th-minute lead with a deftly lobbed penalty kick after Montenegro defender Radoslav Batak had stopped a cross with his hand. After both sides missed opportunities, Pazzini headed in Pepe Simeone’s 74th-minute cross for a goal on his debut.

With Ireland drawing with Bulgaria despite having taken the lead after just 36 seconds through defender Richard Dunne, Italy went two points clear at the top of Group 8. Ireland are next with 11 points, with Bulgaria seven back.

Roman Pavlyuchenko and Konstantin Zyryanov gave second-place Russia a 2-0 win over Azerbaijan. Finland effectively ended Wales’ chances with a 2-0 win.

The Netherland’s latest victory means they could move to the brink of qualification on Wednesday if they beat Macedonia.

With Group 6 idle until Wednesday, England beat Slovakia 4-0 in a friendly. David Beckham set up one of the goals after entering the game as a halftime substitute for a 109th appearance, the most ever for an outfield England player.

Serbia continued to lead Group 7 with a 3-2 win at Romania. Gerard Pique scored in the 60th minute to preserve Spain’s perfect record as Group 5 leaders and stretch their lead to six points. Bosnia-Herzegovina overtook Turkey for second place with a 4-2 win at Belgium. Portugal and Sweden played a 0-0 draw. Denmark won at Malta 3-0, while Hungary won at Albania 1-0.

Switzerland joined Greece at the top of Group 2 with a 2-0 win at Moldova. Greece drew 1-1 at Israel. Northern Ireland were the surprise Group 3 leaders after beating Poland 3-2, while Czech Republic were held to a 0-0 draw by Slovenia.

Lionel Messi set Argentina on their way to a 4-0 victory over Venezuela with a goal in the 26th minute. He then provided the cross to Carlos Tevez in the 47th minute. Maximiliano Rodriguez and Sergio Aguero completed the rout.