The race to claim the five World Cup finals berths from Africa is no clearer after this weekend’s qualifying matches, but Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago closed in on the final group stage in the Concacaf region on Sunday.
In South America, Ivan Kaviedes and Edison Mendez scored a goal each as Ecuador blanked Chile 2-0 to move into fourth place in the 10-team qualifying group with 13 points from nine matches.
Defending World Cup champion Brazil, which trounced Venezuela 5-2 on Saturday, leads with 19 points, followed by Argentina with 18 and Paraguay with 15. Chile drops to fifth place with 12 points.
The top four South American teams will play in the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany, with the fifth-place team facing the Oceania champion for another berth.
In Africa, Côte d’Ivoire has the biggest advantage in Group Three, leading Libya by two points midway through the continent’s qualifying competition. The Ivorians nipped host Benin 1-0 in Cotonou as Aruna Dindane scored his sixth goal in five matches.
Guinea leads Group Five by two points as well, but the group is lagging behind the others because of Kenya’s previous suspension.
Guinea earned a 1-1 draw at home in Conakry against African Cup of Nations runner-up Morocco.
Fode Mansare scored the equaliser in the 59th minute for African Cup quarterfinalist Guinea after Marouane Chamack had given Morocco the lead in the fifth minute.
In other results, it was: Republic of Congo 2, Zambia 3; Liberia 0, Senegal 3; Togo 1, Mali 0; Ghana 0, Democratic Republic of Congo 0; Uganda 0, South Africa 1; and Angola 1, Zimbabwe 0.
The five African group winners advance to the World Cup finals.
In the Concacaf region, the Mexicans beat St Vincent and the Grenadines 1-0 — the second time they’ve topped the Caribbean team in the last five days — while Trinidad crushed St Kitts and Nevis 5-1.
Both teams have nine points in Group C and look set to claim two of the six spots in the final round.
In Kingstown, St Vincent, Jared Borgetti scored the lone goal in the 30th minute for Mexico, which blanked St Vincent 7-0 on Wednesday in a match that was rescheduled because of last month’s Hurricane Frances.
Borgetti scored four goals in that match.
In Marabella, Trinidad, Stern John scored two goals, while Cornell Glenn and Jerren Nixon added one each. John now has six goals in this qualifying campaign.
The top two teams in each of the three Concacaf groups advance, with three of those teams reaching the World Cup finals. The fourth-place team will face an Asian team in a two-leg series for another berth. – Sapa-AP