Japan defeated DPRK 2-0 in Bangkok on Wednesday to become the first team to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. (Xinhua/AFP photo)

(Xinhua/AFP photo)

Head coach Zico celebrates Japan national team's goal against DPRK Wednesday, June 8, 2005, during their World Cup qualifying match in Bangkok, Thailand.  (Xinhua/AFP photo)

    BEIJING, June 9 (Xinhuanet) -- Japan, Iran, South Korea and Saudi Arabia became the first four teams to qualify for the 2006 World Cup finals with convincing victories on Wednesday.

    The four Asian teams, along with the hosts Germany which qualified automatically, will be in the draw for the finals in Leipzig on December 9.

    Japan, co-hosts with South Korea in 2002, became the first team to qualify for the top football tournament when they beat the Democratic People's Republic of Korea 2-0 behind closed doors in aneutral venue in Bangkok.

    The qualifier was previously planned to be held at Pyongyang but the world governing body FIFA switched the venue to Bangkok aspunishment following crowd violence after DPR Korea's defeat by Iran in March.

    Iran qualified for their first World Cup finals since 1998 following a 1-0 win over Bahrain in Tehran, sparking frenzied celebrations in the capital.

    South Korea, semi-finalist on home soil in 2002, reached theirsixth successive finals with a resounding 4-0 win in Kuwait, although the game was held up for 10 minutes because of crowd trouble.

    Saudi Arabia eased to an easy 3-0 victory over Uzbekistan in Riyadh as they swept into their fourth straight World Cup.

    Bahrain are guaranteed to finish third in Group B and will facea two-leg playoff with Uzbekistan or Kuwait, who meet in Tashkent in their final group game on August 17.

    The winner of the playoff faces the fourth-placed team in the CONCACAF zone for a place at the World Cup finals. Enditem