Argentina Earns Spot With Win Over Brazil

Argentina clinched a berth in next year’s World Cup in Germany, beating archrival Brazil, 3-1, Wednesday night and retaining the lead in South American qualifying behind two goals from striker Hernan Crespo at Buenos Aires.

Crespo scored in the third and 39th minutes, and Juan Roman Riquelme had another goal in the 18th.

Roberto Carlos scored Brazil’s goal in the 71st.

In other South American qualifying games: Tressor Moreno scored two goals as host Colombia routed Ecuador, 3-0, at Barranquilla. Colombia is tied for fifth place in the group.... Carlos Gamarra scored on a header in the 17th minute to lead host Paraguay to a 4-1 victory over Bolivia at Asuncion. Paraguay moved into fourth place with 22 points.... Luis Jimenez scored both goals to lead Chile to a 2-1 win over visiting Venezuela at Santiago. Chile is tied with Colombia for fifth place.

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In Asian qualifying games: With victories, Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia and South Korea qualified for next year’s World Cup. Defender Mohammad Nosrati scored the only goal in the 47th minute to lead Iran to a 1-0 victory over visiting Bahrain at Tehran.... Atsushi Yanagisawa scored in the 73rd minute, and Masashi Oguro had another in the 89th to lead Japan to a 2-0 victory over North Korea at Bangkok, Thailand.... Sami al-Jaber scored two goals to lead Saudi Arabia to a 3-0 win over visiting Uzbekistan at Riyadh to qualify for its fourth consecutive World Cup.... South Korea qualified for its sixth consecutive World Cup after a 4-0 win over host Kuwait at Kuwait City.

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In CONCACAF qualifying games: Jared Borgetti and Luis Perez scored second-half goals to lead Mexico to a 2-0 win over visiting Trinidad and Tobago at Monterrey to maintain its one-point lead over the U.S. at the top of the standings.... Paulo Wanchope scored in second-half injury time to give host Costa Rica a crucial 3-2 victory over Guatemala. Costa Rica had taken a 2-0 lead before Guatemala scored goals in the 74th and 76th minutes.

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In selected European qualifying games: Ruud van Nistelrooy scored in the 35th minute to lead the Netherlands to a 4-0 victory over host Finland at Helsinki to maintain its one-point lead in Group 1.... Jan Koller scored four goals and the Czech Republic routed visiting Macedonia, 6-1, at Teplice to stay one point behind the Netherlands.... Andriy Husin scored in the 82nd minute to help visiting Ukraine beat European champion Greece, 1-0, at Piraues and open a seven-point lead in Group 2.