A B C D
E F G H
Italy beats Russia to qualify, Belgium eliminates Ireland
In the second leg of the European playoffs, Yugoslavia and Croatia also qualified for the 32-nation field for next summer's tournament, to be played in France from June 10 to July 12.
Yugoslavia, banned from the 1994 World Cup because of United Nations sanctions, beat visiting Hungary 5-0 behind four goals from Predrag Mijatovic to qualify on 12-1 aggregate. Croatia qualified for the first time with a 1-1 tie at Ukraine, winning the home-and-home series on 3-1 aggregate.
The big game of the night was at San Paolo Stadium in Naples, and the crowd of 76,500 lit up the sky with fireworks when Italy qualified for its 10th consecutive World Cup.
The Azzurri, a three-time world champion, had tied Russia 1-1 in the first leg Oct. 29 at Moscow and needed either a victory or a scoreless tie to advance.
Italy had been forced into the playoff because of a five-game winless streak that dropped it to second place behind England in its qualifying group.
Fourteen minutes into the second half, Italy captain Paolo Maldini -- the coach's son -- hit a left-footed shot that beat goalkeeper Sergei Ovchinnikov but was just wide.
A minute later, Demetrio Albertini made a perfect through pass. Pierluigi Casiraghi ran onto the ball, shrugged off a challenge from Viktor Onopko and beat Ovchinnikov from just inside the penalty area.
"What a great night," Casiraghi said. "But we knew we would have to suffer."
At Brussels, Belgium qualified for its fifth consecutive World Cup. Following a 1-1 tie in the first leg, Brazilian-born forward Luis Oliveira put the home team ahead in the 25th minute, but Ray Houghton's header tied it 11 minutes into the second half.
Luc Nilis, who scored in the first leg, put Belgium ahead in the 67th, taking an overhead pass from Gert Claesens and beating goalkeeper Shay Given. Ireland forward David Connolly was ejected with seven minutes left for hitting midfielder Gert Verheyen.
At Belgrade, Savo Milosevic scored in the 17th minute, Mijatovic scored twice in the final two minutes of the first half and added two more goals in the 71st and 89th minutes. Yugoslavia was eliminated by Argentina on penalty kicks in the 1990 quarter-finals, then missed qualifying for the '94 when the U.N. imposed sanctions because of the Balkans war.
At Kiev, Andriy Shevchenko put Ukraine ahead in the fourth minute, giving the home fans some hope, but Alen Boksic tied the score in the 27th.
1998 World Cup Qualifiers
By The Associated Press
The 28 nations that have qualified for the 32-team field at 1998 World Cup, to be played in France from June 10-July 12 (x-automatic berth):
Europe
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, England, x-France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Scotland, Spain, Yugoslavia
South America
Argentina, x-Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay
Africa
Cameroon, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia
Asia
Saudi Arabia, South Korea
North and Central American and Caribbean
Mexico, United States
Oceania
None
NEXT ROUNDS: Round of 16 || Quarter-finals || Semi-finals
GROUP A: Brazil, Morocco, Norway, Scotland
GROUP B: Austria, Cameroon, Chile, Italy
GROUP C: Denmark, France, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
GROUP D: Bulgaria, Nigeria, Paraguay, Spain
GROUP E: Belgium, Holland, Mexico, South Korea
GROUP F: Germany, Iran, United States, Yugoslavia
GROUP G: Colombia, England, Romania, Tunisia
GROUP H: Argentina, Croatia, Jamaica, Japan