A rocket-like shot from 30 yards out by David Beckham deep in injury time Saturday rallied England to a 2-2 tie with Greece and clinched a berth for his country in next year's World Cup.
Russia also won a spot in soccer's biggest show as a critical day of qualifying around the world got underway.
Four more berths were to be decided in Europe before the day was over and key matches were scheduled in both North and South America. The United States faced a critical meeting in Boston against Jamaica.
England went into its final qualifying game tied with Germany atop Europe's Group 9, but the English had a six-goal lead over Germany in first tiebreak category -- goal differential. The Germans were expected to easily handle Finland in their matchup, so it seemed likely England would need a win to qualify.
But Germany was held to an unlikely 0-0 tie by Finland, meaning all England had to do was earn a tie with the underdog Greeks. With time running out, however, England faced a 2-1 deficit and seemed headed toward a second-place finish in the group, which would have meant the English would have had to face the Ukraine in a playoff with a World Cup berth on the line.
Beckham, however, saved England from that uncertain fate when he sent a shot into the top corner to salvage the tie.
Russia, meanwhile, won Group 1 by shutting out Switzerland, 4-0.
Russia and England joined defending champion France, Sweden, Poland and Spain as nations to have qualified for the World Cup from Europe. The other qualifiers thus far for the 32-nation tournament are Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia, South Africa, Costa Rica, Argentina and co-hosts Japan and South Korea.
