2010 FIFA World Cup Betting Tips, Picks and Odds: Final World Cup qualifying day: It's make or break in Europe

The final day of European qualifying for Germany 2006 will see the last three automatic finals places - for the Groups 4 and 7 winners, and the second best runners-up - decided together with the remaining playoff spots.

Following Saturday's matches, eight European teams have now qualified for the finals, with four having secured top spot in their respective groups: the Netherlands (Group 1), Ukraine (Group 2), Portugal (Group 3) and Italy (Group 5). Poland and England in Group 6 and Croatia in Group 8 have also qualified, while Norway in Group 5 are assured a playoff place.

With England or Poland filling one of the best runners-up berths, the other team to qualify directly this way will most likely come from Group 8, where Croatia lead Sweden in the race for first place. The one possible scenario whereby the Group 8 runners-up will miss out appears purely hypothetical: if Sweden lose heavily at home to Iceland â€“ and we are talking by more than ten goals â€“ then whoever of Romania and the Czech Republic finished second in Group 1 could profit.

Attention will be focused on Groups 4 and 7 from where the final two automatic qualifying places will come. Group 4 has been very closely contested from the outset with only two points currently separating the top four, and with the top three yet to suffer a defeat. Israel currently lead the way on 18 points but have completed their fixtures and will be reduced to the role of helpless spectators on Wednesday.

The games in Dublin between the Republic of Ireland and Switzerland, and in Paris where France take on Cyprus will decide who wins the section. Should the Republic of Ireland win or draw in Dublin, a French win over Cyprus, irrespective of the scoreline, would see Les Bleus secure a berth in the finals. A Swiss victory, however, would leave France having to beat Cyprus and score four more goals than the Swiss in the process. This could prove beyond a side who, despite the return of Zinedine Zidane, have managed only ten goals in nine games.

The situation is more straightforward in Group 7 where Serbia and Montenegro go into their final game at home to Bosnia-Herzegovina with a two-point advantage over second-placed Spain. However, Luis Aragones's men, fresh from their 2-0 victory away to Belgium, are still hoping for a miracle as they prepare for their away fixture against bottom side San Marino who have conceded an average of almost four goals a game.

The fight for play-off places has gone right to the wire, notably in Group 3 where Slovakia and Russia, both on 22 points, meet in a direct battle for second place. The Slovaks are currently in the box seat as they only require a draw to progress.

Group 1 sees the Czech Republic requiring a win in Finland to overtake Romania, the team currently in second place, while three teams - Turkey, Denmark and Greece - are still contesting the play-off spot in Group 2. Turkey travel to Albania knowing that they must go for the win to maintain their advantage over the Danes and Greeks who, on paper at least, face less daunting opposition.