Winners:
For the first time in history, the Concacaf region will be represented by four teams at a World Cup. TRINIDAD & TOBAGO downed Bahrain, 1-0, in Manama on a Dennis Lawrence header to win the playoff series 2-1 on aggregate. T&T joined the Concacaf qualifiers USA, Mexico and Costa Rica
AUSTRALIA, whose only other World Cup appearance came the first time the finals were held in Germany, in 1974, won its playoff series with Uruguay on penalty kicks in Sydney. Down, 1-0, from a first-leg defeat in Montevideo, the Socceroos won, 1-0, at home on a Marco Bresciano goal to send the game to overtime and penalty kicks.
Tomas Rosicky's goal gave the CZECH REPUBLIC another 1-0 win over Norway to win the playoff series, 2-0, on aggregrate. The Czechs haven't reached the World Cup since Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Repubic and Slovakia. Slovakia, on the other hand, was eliminated, 6-2, on aggregate by SPAIN, which has now qualifed for eight straight World Cups. Czechoslovakia qualified in 1990, when it beat the USA, 5-1, in its opener and reached the round of 16.
Loser:
TURKEY, which finished third at the 2002 World Cup, won't appear in Germany, where it would have been supported by a huge immigrant population. Down 2-0 from the first leg in Switzerland, the Turks trailed 1-0 after two minutes on a Alexander Frei penalty kick. The Turks fought back to take a 3-1 lead before falling, 4-2. With an aggregate score of 4-4, the Swiss, who hadn't qualified since USA 1994, won on the away goals tiebreaker.