THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Denmark qualified for the World Cup with a 1-0 win over Sweden on Saturday, securing top spot in Group 1 with one round to spare.
Jakob Poulsen scored with a low shot from well outside the area in the 79th minute, past a diving Andreas Isaksson and into the right corner of the net. It was all Denmark needed to clinch a place in South Africa next year, its first major tournament since the 2004 European Championship.
The win set off a massive red-and-white celebration at Parken Stadium, with the players hugging in the mid circle and spraying each other with champagne, before hoisting coach Morten Olsen high into the air.
"It’s wonderful," Olsen said. "We played a better game so our win was well deserved … All the players who have been on the team have been fantastic."
Denmark has not lost a World Cup qualifier at Parken Stadium since 1981.
Sweden is left fighting for second place in the group, along with Portugal and Hungary, who were playing each other later. The best eight runners-up in the nine groups will go through to the playoffs.
The Swedes played with four strikers in the final minutes, sending on Marcus Berg and Markus Rosenberg alongside Henrik Larsson and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but never came close to an equalizer.
Nicklas Bendtner nearly made it 2-0 to Denmark in the final seconds of injury time, but curled his shot just wide of the right post.
Larsson had a goal ruled out for offside in the 70th.
In a back-and-forth game, both teams played ambitiously but struggled to create real chances. Denmark usually tried to play the ball through its five-man midfield, while Sweden’s game plan consisted largely of long balls toward the towering Ibrahimovic up front.
Poulsen had the best opportunity of the first half, meeting a long cross all alone at the left post in the 10th minute, but his header from close range was saved by a diving Isaksson.
Ibrahimovic sent a low cross toward Larsson in the area in the 20th, but the former Celtic and Barcelona player missed the ball when trying to flick it past the onrushing Thomas Sorensen.