A nervous Chinese display in cold drizzle before 60,000 fans in the northeastern industrial city of Shenyang was enough to break a World Cup jinx going all the way back to the 1950s.
The dull match was an anti-climax watched by hundreds of millions of television viewers, but it means China have qualified automatically for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea with two games to spare.
China had to wait until the 37th minute to score through midfielder Yu Genwei, who was replacing the suspended Qi Hong. Yu clipped the ball home from five metres after a centre was nodded back across goal by the joint efforts of two team mates.
Early in the second half, China squandered an opportunity to seal the match against an Omani side that had scored only once while conceding 11 goals in their five Group B qualifiers.
Yang Chen skipped past Omani goalkeeper Sulaiman Al Mazroi only to see his weak shot from a narrow angle blocked.
A 45th minute free kick from Alessandro Del Piero sealed a 1-0 win for Italy over Hungary in their group eight match in Arma and booked their place in next year’s finals.
Hungary enjoyed a surprising amount of possession throughout the game but the Italians had the best chances with Del Piero having at least three opportunities before he finally struck on the stroke of halftime.
The Juventus striker curled a 20 metre free-kick into the top corner, out of the reach of diving Hungarian keeper Gabor Kiraly.
It was a low-key second half with the Italians content to let the Hungarians play in midfield, although Hungary’s Pal Dardai went close to an equaliser with two shots inside the final 20 minutes.
Italy, three-times World Cup winners, last failed to qualify for the final stages in 1958.
Czech Republic thrashed Bulgaria 6-0 in their group three match in Prague, booking a playoff against Belgium.
Both teams were bidding for second spot in the group behind Denmark but the Czechs decided the match within the first half hour, leaving Bulgarians no chance to come back.
Unmarked playmaker Tomas Rosicky scored the first goal after five minutes with a low shot into the bottom right corner after a pass into the box from Milan Baros. Pavel Nedved netted the second in the 16th minute with a free kick from 25 metres perfectly placed into the top right hand corner.
Baros then zig-zagged by a defender and the goalkeeper to score into an empty net in the 28th.
Nedved and Rosicky added their second goals in the second half, and Vratislav Lokvenc also scored to complete a surprisingly easy Czech win.
Ecuador hammered Bolivia 5-1 on Saturday to put themselves on the brink of a first appearance in finals in La Paz.
Five players shared the goals as Ecuador handed Bolivia their first home defeat in a World Cup qualifier since 1985, when they were beaten by Brazil, and their first in high-altitude La Paz since 1981.
Ecuador, who have 29 points from 16 games, stayed third in the South American qualifying group. They are level on points with Paraguay and pulled five points clear of Brazil and Uruguay, who both play Sunday.
The top four teams qualify and the fifth plays off against Oceania winners Australia. Bolivia, whose World Cup chances had already evaporated, stayed eighth in the 10-team group with 14 points from 16 games.
Collated results:
Group two
Netherlands 4 Andorra 0
Portugal 5 Estonia 0
Ireland 4 Cyprus 0
Group three
Czech Republic 6 Bulgaria 0
Denmark 6 Iceland 0
Malta 0 Northern Ireland 1
Group four
Moldova 0 Turkey 3
Group six
Croatia 1 Belgium 0
Scotland 2 Latvia 1
Group eight
Italy 1 Hungary 0
Romania 1 Georgia 1
Playoff draw: Belgium v Czech Republic Ukraine v Germany Austria or Israel v Turkey Slovenia v Romania
Europe/Asia Ireland v 3rd placed AFC
First leg to be played Nov 10, second leg to be played Nov 15.—Reuters