Ireland dent Swedish confidence

Republic of Ireland 3-0 Sweden
Sweden's World Cup preparations suffered a major setback in Dublin as they slumped to an emphatic defeat as Steve Staunton enjoyed a dream start to life as Ireland manager. The home team did not look back after Damien Duff broke the deadlock before half-time, and Robbie Keane doubled the lead two minutes after the restart before Liam Miller completed the rout in stunning fashion on 71 minutes to leave the majority of the Lansdowne Road crowd in raptures. For Sweden, meanwhile, it is back to the drawing board, just four months prior to the World Cup finals.

Scotland 1-3 Switzerland
Switzerland were in fine fettle as Tranquillo Barnetta, Daniel Gygax and Ricardo Cabanas were all on target in an impressive victory at Hampden Park. After absorbing a lot of early pressure, the Swiss broke the deadlock on 21 minutes when Philippe Senderos and Cabanas combined to create an opening for Barnetta to volley his first international goal. Barnetta turned provider four minutes before half-time, sending in a tempting cross from the right that Gygax headed powerfully past goalkeeper Craig Gordon. Unsettled by a number of half-time substitutes, the Swiss saw their lead reduced by Kenny Miller ten minutes after the restart before Cabanas restored their two-goal advantage with 20 minutes remaining.

Tunisia 0-1 Serbia and Montenegro
An early goal from the head of Mateja Kežman was enough to give Serbia and Montenegro a narrow 1-0 victory against Tunisia. The Club Atlético de Madrid forward struck on eleven minutes to silence the home crowd, who were disappointed to see striker Silva Dos Santos squander their best opportunity to level the scores seven minutes before the break. The visitors have built a reputation for a parsimonious defence and once again the Serbo-Montenegrin rearguard held firm to secure a victory.

Netherlands 1-0 Ecuador
Dirk Kuijt's goal proved to be the winner for the Netherlands as they got the better of fellow World Cup finalists Ecuador in Amsterdam. With snow delaying the kick-off by 15 minutes, there were few chances in the opening period, but the Dutch made amends by scoring the only goal of the game three minutes into the second period. Debutant Martijn Meerdink headed Arjen Robben's cross down to Kuijt and the Feyenoord striker turned and shot beyond goalkeeper Christian Mora. The Netherlands might have added to their tally as Kuijt and Mark van Bommel had good chances in a match which saw goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar break a record having now played 9,365 minutes of football for his country.

Turkey 2-2 Czech Republic
Two late goals from Ümit Karan saved the day for Turkey as they came from behind to earn a draw in Izmir. The Czech Republic had taken an early lead as veteran midfielder Karel Poborský converted a 20th-minute penalty and things looked grim for Fatih Terim's men after Jirí Štajner doubled the visitors' advantage after 61 minutes. However, Ümit Karan found the target twice in the dying minutes for his inexperienced side to deny Karel Brückner's men an impressive win.

Poland 0-1 United States
A mistake from substitute goalkeeper Artur Boruc handed the United States victory against fellow World Cup finalists Poland in Kaiserslautern, Germany. The Celtic FC shot-stopper failed to clear Eddie Lewis's cross from the left three minutes into the second half allowing midfielder Clint Dempsey to head into the empty net. Playmaker Mirosław Szymkowiak and right winger Euzebiusz Smolarek both carved out good first-half chances for Poland but were denied by defender Oguchi Onyewu and goalkeeper Kasey Keller on 17 and 27 minutes, respectively. However, a flurry of snow in the second period seemed to sap both sides' hunger for further goals.

Portugal 3-0 Saudi Arabia
Portugal turned on the style as they marked their first meeting with Saudi Arabia with a 3-0 win in Dusseldorf, Germany. Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring with a header from Luís Figo's 29th-minute corner, and Maniche added a second a minute before the interval as he bundled in a rebound from Ronaldo's shot. Manchester United FC winger Ronaldo completed a man-of-the-match performance by scoring his side's third goal with a powerful left-footed shot after 83 minutes.