Ukraine, who thought that their 1-1 draw against Georgia wasn't enough to qualify outright from Group 2 in Europe for the World Cup Finals, have been given the dream result in Istanbul tonight. Turkey and Denmark drew 2-2, and in doing so have guaranteed the Ukraine a place in next Summers tournament.

Ukraine are only the second European team, after the hosts Germany, to reach the finals of 2006 FIFA World Cup, but they thought that they had been denied automatic qualification, when in the last minutes of the game in Tblisi, a superb long range free kick from Georgi Gakhokidze brought the scores level at 1-1.

In a nervous game, Oleg Blokhins’ team thought they had done enough to secure their passage to Germany next year, only to be cruelly denied at the death. But the news of the draw in Turkey will mean jubilation in the Ukranian streets tonight, as the country look forward to next summer.

Looking to reach their first ever finals, Ukraine took the lead after 42 minutes of the first half when Dynamo Kiev midfielder Ruslan Rotan side footed home a simple chance.

After 81 minutes, Rotan had the chance to seal their berth, but his shot came off the post. That miss came back to haunt the Ukrainians several minutes later when Gakhokidze fired home the last gasp equaliser from a stunning 35 metre free-kick, for a memorable draw for the Georgians.

In Istanbul, in the slightly later kick-off, the Danes took the lead just before half-time, with a strike from Claus Jensen. Turkey came back in the second half with strikes from Buruk in the 48th, and Metin thought he had sealed it for the home side when he scored in the 81st minute, to make it 2-1.

But the danish side showed their resilience, and in injury time they grabbed a point from the Turks, when Henrik Larsen scored to bring the scores level at 2-2.

The second placed spot in Group 2 is now wide open, with Greece, Turkey and Denmark, all in with a shout for taking that precious second spot in the group.

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