Germany, Belgium, Turkey, Slovenia and four-time champion Brazil all qualified for the World Cup Wednesday night, leaving just two spots open in the 32-nation field that will battle next year for soccer's biggest prize.
Brazil, the only nation to have played in every World Cup, went to the last round of qualifying matches in the South American tournament before clinching the fourth and last automatic berth.
The Brazilians, who lost in the 1998 final to France, defeated Venezuela Wednesday night, 3-0, to nail down a spot in soccer's biggest event. Uruguay, meanwhile, clinched fifth place in South America with a 1-1 tie against Argentina and will now take on Australia in a home-and-home playoff series to determine the 32nd and last country in the World Cup field.
The other remaining spot will be decided Thursday when Ireland and Iran meet in the second of their two-match playoff, Ireland having won the opening leg in Dublin, 2-0.
Slovenia earned its first ever World Cup berth, Turkey will play in the World Cup for the first time in 46 years and Belgium will be going for the sixth straight time.
Germany let a chance to win its group and the automatic World Cup berth that went with it slip away with a one-sided loss to England late in the qualifying tournament. But Germany survived its playoff with the Ukraine.
Germany, which recorded a 1-1 road tie in the first leg, produced three goals in the first 15 minutes Wednesday night and coasted to a 4-1 victory.
Belgium secured its spot by fighting off the Czech Republic, 1-0; Slovenia earned its position thanks to a 1-1 road tie against Romania and Turkey crushed Austraia, 5-0.
Slovenia enjoyed a 2-1 victory over Romania in the first leg and needed only a tie to produce the nation's inaugural trip to the World Cup.
Slovenia struck first in the 56th minute only to have Romania tie it 10 minutes later. Romania dominated play for the rest of the match, but Slovenia held on.
The 32 teams that qualify for the World Cup will be drawn into eight four-team groups during a ceremony in South Korea on Dec. 1. South Korea and Japan will co-host the World Cup, which will begin May 31.
