South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup Dutch through to finals

A revived England all but booked their World Cup finals place Saturday by swatting Kazakhstan 4-0 as Holland became the first European nation to seal their berth for South Africa.

The Dutch saw off Iceland 2-1 in Reykjavik with first half goals from Manchester City's Nigel De Jong and Mark van Bommel to make them the untouchable leaders in Group 9, 11 points clear of second-placed Scotland.

Bert van Marwijk's men, unbeaten in 20 outings, join Australia, Japan and South Korea in next year's finals in South Africa.

Earlier in Almaty England, who missed out on Euro 2008 and suffered the heartache of successive quarterfinal shootout losses at both the World Cup and the Euros, moved closer to booking their own ticket.

With Italian disciplinarian Fabio Capello cracking the whip England have picked up six wins on the bounce, meaning they are in excellent company with European champions Spain and Holland as the only nations yet to drop a point in European qualifying action.

Boosting English morale, Ukraine managed to hold Croatia to a 2-2 draw in Zagreb, which left the Croatians seven points adrift of Capello's side. Belarus leapfrogged the Ukrainians into third in Group Six by beating Andorra 5-1 in Minsk.

The Kazakhs caused England some early anxious moments and even had a goal chalked off for offside but Gareth Barry headed the visitors into a 40th-minute lead and Emile Heskey, Wayne Rooney and a Frank Lampard spotkick saw the visitors romp home.

A booking for Barry was the only blot on proceedings meaning the man who has just left Aston Villa for moneybags Manchester City will miss next week's final qualifier of the season at home to Andorra.

Lampard said England had heeded Capello's call to roll their sleeves up against a country barely 250 kilometres from China, some 10,000 kilometres from home.

"We had to get heads down and work hard this week," Lampard said. "The conditions here were not easy and their work-rate meant it took us half an hour to get going.

"But we were professional ... we have taken a big step again towards qualifying.

Capello himself judged that "it is not easy to play here," but concluded: "I'm happy with the performance and the result."

With neither Spain, Germany, Italy or France in action Saturday, several hopefuls lined up to press their claims.

A Nenad Milijas penalty gave Serbia a 1-0 home win over Austria meaning 2006 finalists France are now five points adrift of the Group Seven leaders, albeit with a game in hand. The leading pair face off in a crunch game on September 9.

The Republic of Ireland wasted a chance to move a point clear of world champions Italy in Group Eight when they had to settle for a 1-1 draw away to Bulgaria at the Vasil Levski Stadium.

Richard Dunne headed the Irish into a 23rd-minute lead off a Stephen Hunt freekick but Dimitar Telkiyski capitalised on an error by Kevin Kilbane to equalise five minutes later.

The stalemate leaves Giovanni Trapattoni's visitors on 13 points from seven matches, one adrift of the Italians who hold the whip hand having played a match less.

In Group Three, Slovakia swamped hapless San Marino 7-0 to move two points clear of Northern Ireland, who were facing Italy in a friendly international.

In Group Four, where the Germans lead Russia by four points - although the latter have a game in hand - Finland moved to within two points of the Russians after a 2-1 home win over Liechtenstein while Wales are all but out of contention desite a 1-0 win in Azerbaijan.

Elsewhere, Denmark rule the roost in Group One after provisionally extending their advantage over Hungary to three points with a hard-fought 1-0 win at neighbours Sweden courtesy of a goal from Thomas Kahlenberg.

Despite a last-gasp 2-1 win in Albania, where Hugo Almeida and Bruno Alves were on target, Portugal are still fighting for their lives as they trail the Danes by seven points and the Hungarians by four.