Spain and the Czech Republic advanced to the World Cup finals on Wednesday, while Switzerland, Australia, and Trinidad and Tobago also made it to next year’s tournament. Already leading 5-1 from the home leg in Madrid, Spain tied 1-1 at Slovakia to advance 6-2 on aggregate.

Hernan Crespo and Arjen Robben scored in five second-half minutes on Saturday to give Chelsea a 2-0 win over second-place Charlton and open up a six-point lead in the Premier League. Tottenham had a chance to go third but were held to a 1-1 draw by Aston Villa and had to hit back from going a goal down after four minutes.

England’s World Cup qualifying bid was stalled by a stunning 1-0 loss to Northern Ireland on Wednesday, while Thierry Henry revived France’s chances of making it to next year’s tournament in Germany. It was the most embarrassing loss in Sven-Goran Eriksson’s four-year reign as England coach.

Facing its 21st Champions League game in a little over a year, defending champions Liverpool look certain to reach the lucrative group stage of Europe’s premier soccer competition on Tuesday. Then Rafa Benitez’ players hope to celebrate on Friday by beating CSKA Moscow in the European Super Cup.

Wayne Rooney scored against his former Everton teammates as Manchester United launched their latest Premier League challenge with an impressive 2-0 victory at Goodison Park on Saturday. United began with three useful away points against an Everton side that finished fourth last term.

Champions of Europe, but only the second-best team in Liverpool. With their Champions League final triumph over AC Milan now history, Liverpool face the reality that they still have a long way to go to catch Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United in the Premier League race.

Defending champions Arsenal slowed Chelsea’s charge to their first league title for 50 years with a 0-0 tie at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday. Other results included Liverpool winning 2-1 at Portsmouth; Norwich beating Newcastle 2-1; Aston Villa and Charlton tied 0-0; and Blackburn edging Crystal Palace 1-0.

With Arsenal about to say farewell to their Premier League title, French striker Thierry Henry has a moody demeanour these days, even when he’s stroking the ball into the net. Instead of waving his arms and grinning from ear to ear, Henry tends to jog quietly away, take the applause of the crowd and teammates and go to say thanks to the player who provided the pass.