Bosnia-Herzegovina made history Tuesday after qualifying for the World Cup for the first time in the nation 's history . Vedad Ibisevic 's strike gave his country a 1-0 win over Lithuania in Kaunas to ensure his team will compete at next year 's tournament in Brazil . It was in 1995 that Bosnia played its first match as an independent nation following the break up of Yugoslavia . Twice it has come close to reaching major tournaments , losing out to Portugal on both occasions in the 2010 World Cup and 2012 European Championship playoffs . `` I congratulate these guys for their great work in the last four years , and it would have been real injustice if we had failed to win the group and qualify for the World Cup , '' coach Safet Susic told Bosnia media . The victory sparked wild scenes of jubilation in Sarajevo where fans celebrated with fireworks and chanting following the result . Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko said : `` I wish to send my regards to Brazil and say that we will show how mighty Bosnia is . '' Elsewhere , England booked its place in Brazil with an impressive 2-0 victory over Poland at Wembley . Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard were both on target in an entertaining affair . It means Ukraine will have to negotiate the playoffs with England able to relax -- much to the relief of manager Roy Hodgson . `` I 'm greatly satisfied , '' Hodgson told ITV . `` It was a tough group , both Montenegro and Poland showed themselves to be great opponents both home and away . `` We played some sensational football in the first half and we dug in very well and controlled them in the second . `` We always said that if we could get to the last two games , we 'd be stronger and have players coming back . `` We 've found a winger in Andros Townsend who looks as though he 's been playing there ( international football ) all his life . He 's going to be under a lot of pressure now but he 's a level headed young man and he 'll deal with it . `` We 've been working together for 18 months and the way we play has changed . We 're getting better all the time and hopefully will get better still . The players really are a group and they trust each other . '' Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick was given a place in the starting line up in place of Frank Lampard and played a key role in his side 's success . `` We did everything we wanted to in the first half . Second half , they came out and created chances straight away , '' he told the BBC . `` We stayed strong and saw it through . At 1-0 , sometimes you get caught in between getting another goal and holding on . `` We set out to qualify , we are not getting over-excited . It is what we expected of ourselves , hopefully it is the shape of things to come . `` We have set standards , and at times we have not lived up to them . We are unbeaten throughout the campaign . `` The World Cup is still a long way off , with a lot of football to be played . The competition in midfield is tough . '' Spain topped Group I following a 2-0 win over Georgia thanks to goals from Alvaro Negredo and Juan Mata . That result means France must now enter the playoffs despite its 3-0 win over Finland . France will not be seeded for the playoffs and could face Ukraine , Greece , Croatia or Portugal . Romania will also be in the mix after taking second place in Group D. Romania saw off Estonia 2-0 and benefited from Turkey 's home defeat by a Netherlands side which had already qualified . Meanwhile , Iceland booked its place in the playoffs following a 1-1 draw in Norway . Kolbeinn Sigþórsson gave the visiting side the lead and although Norway did equalize , it could not prevent Iceland from finishing second in Group E. Only Slovenia could have prevented Iceland from finishing second but it succumbed to a 1-0 defeat in Switzerland . Russia qualified following a 1-1 draw in Azerbaijan meaning that Portugal 's 3-0 win over Luxembourg was superfluous . In the night 's other games , Croatia was beaten 2-0 in Scotland , Belgium was held to a 1-1 draw by Wales and Germany edged out Sweden 5-3 in a thrilling contest . In Africa , Ghana took a giant stride towards the World Cup following a crushing 6-1 win over Egypt in the first leg of its playoff tie . Asamoah Gyan scored twice , while further strikes from Abdul Majeed Waris , Sulley Muntari , Christian Atsu and an own-goal sealed the win .
Bosnia-Herzegovina reaches World Cup finals for first time in country 's history . England makes it through following home victory over Poland . Spain and Russia seal places at next year 's tournament . Comment: , Iceland all qualify for playoff stage .