Cup Berths on Line for Glamour Teams

Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy and Uruguay have something in common: In the 71-year history of the World Cup, only those seven nations have won soccer’s most sought-after prize.

The presence of former champions in the quadrennial tournament adds vastly to its appeal, and so far two of them--Argentina (1978, 1986) and France (1998)--are assured a place in Korea/Japan 2002.

Today, three other former winners have the opportunity to join them as World Cup qualifying in Europe reaches its climax.

The winners of the nine European qualifying groups advance directly to the May 31-June 30 tournament, while the nine runners-up are joined by the yet-to-be-determined third-place Asian team in a playoff that will produce five more of the 32 World Cup finalists.

So far, only Poland, Spain and Sweden have won their groups, but the following teams are poised to qualify today:

* Former champion England (1966) will qualify if it defeats Greece in Manchester, England. If it slips up, three-time winner Germany (1954, 1974,1990) can qualify by defeating Finland in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, forcing England into the playoffs.

* Three-time champion Italy (1934, 1938, 1982) can clinch its place by defeating Hungary in Parma, Italy, but even a tie should be enough for it to finish ahead of Romania and qualify.

* A tie against Switzerland in Moscow is all Russia needs to qualify, while Slovenia appears likely to edge Yugoslavia for second place.

* Portugal and Ireland are tied in points, but Portugal’s better goal difference will earn it the World Cup place if it beats Estonia in Lisbon, with Ireland finishing second even if it defeats Cyprus in Dublin.

* Denmark can qualify by overcoming Iceland in Copenhagen, leaving the Czech Republic and Bulgaria to fight it out for second.

* Belgium will qualify if it ties or beats Croatia on the road in Zagreb, but a Croatian victory will earn it the World Cup place and put the Belgians in the playoffs.

Another of this weekend’s 32 qualifying matches worldwide was to have featured Israel against Austria in Tel Aviv, with a playoff place on the line. But the game was postponed because of the crash into the Black Sea of a Russian passenger airliner on a flight from Israel on Thursday.

In South America, meanwhile, five countries are in contention for the four remaining available berths. Ecuador can better secure its position with a victory over already-eliminated Bolivia at La Paz today.

On Sunday, four-time winner Brazil (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994) is playing in Rio de Janeiro and should have little difficulty defeating Chile. Paraguay, too, can consider itself all but qualified if it manages a tie at home against already-qualified Argentina in Asuncion.

Two-time champion Uruguay (1930, 1950) is at home to Colombia in Montevideo. A Uruguayan victory would virtually end Colombia’s hopes of qualifying for a fourth consecutive World Cup.

Whichever South American team finishes fifth will play a two-game series against Australia for a place in Korea/Japan ’02.