Slovakia celebrate in the Chorzow snow

Slovakia qualified for their first major tournament since independence as an early Poland own goal gave them the win they needed to reach the FIFA World Cup finals.

Own goal
A 2-0 home loss to Slovenia had left Slovakia needing maximum points in a snowy Chorzow tonight, but their luck turned dramatically when Seweryn Gancarczyk put the ball past a surprised Jerzy Dudek. That proved to be all Slovakia required to finish two points ahead of Slovenia in Group 3, with Poland back in fifth. "I love these boys," said coach Vladimír Weiss after the final whistle. "In these qualifiers we have played well and had a little bit of luck. Everybody made a contribution and we made the whole of Slovakia happy. This is a fantastic feeling."

Dudek beaten
Caretaker Poland coach Stefan Majewski handed Dudek his first cap since 2006 but within three minutes he was picking the ball out of the net when Gancarczyk miscued an attempt to turn a cross behind for the corner. Ireneusz Jeleń led Poland's response but Ján Mucha – who plays his club football for Legia Warszawa – was flawless in goal for Slovakia, though he did get a lucky break when Mariusz Lewandowski's strike hit the crossbar.

Victory confirmed
Although there was nothing at stake for them, Poland continued to press for an equaliser, but Slovakia's defence held firm and on 65 minutes they launched a quick counterattack. Marek Hamšik sent Ján Kozák clean on Dudek but the 36-year-old goalkeeper saved. That did not dampen Slovakia's celebrations on the final whistle, as their ticket to South Africa was confirmed.

'Something magical'
"We did something magical; something our country has never done before," concluded the 26-year-old Mucha. "Maybe if we had scored a second - and we had good chance - it would have been less stressful for us, but the most important thing is that the match had a happy end. This is one of the happiest moments of my life. We gave our hearts during this game and through the whole campaign and it paid off."