Switzerland earned a spot at the World Cup by holding Northern Ireland to a 0-0 draw Sunday.

The result gave the Swiss a 1-0 aggregate win following its first-leg victory in Belfast when a disputed penalty made the difference.

In the final minutes on a muddy field in Basel, Switzerland defender Ricardo Rodriguez knocked a goal-bound header from Northern Ireland defender Jonny Evans off the line after a corner.

Rodriguez scored the penalty on Thursday in the first leg, and it was Evans' brother, Corey, who was whistled for handling the ball that led to it.

The Swiss dominated much of the first half but wasted good scoring chances, with center forward Haris Seferovic most at fault.

A chilly, rain-soaked evening seemed ideal for the visitors to rise to the atmosphere created by their noisy fans. Conor Washington's glancing header in the 54th minute came close to getting the goal that would force extra time.

With their spot in Russia secured, the 11th-ranked Swiss will be in the pot of second-seeded teams for the World Cup draw on Dec. 1 in Moscow.

Now the challenge for arguably Switzerland's most talented team in decades is to go beyond the last 16 at a major tournament.

In the past five years, the Swiss impressed in qualifying but failed to beat the best teams they faced — France twice, Argentina and Poland — at the 2014 World Cup and 2016 European Championship.

Switzerland coach Vladimir Petkovic should have his best players at their peak in Russia.

At 26, Xherdan Shaqiri is heading to his third World Cup, while Granit Xhaka and Rodriquez, both 25 and playing for Arsenal and AC Milan, respectively, have matured as standouts from the 2009 Under-17 World Cup-winning team.

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Croatia qualified for the 2018 World Cup finals after a 0-0 draw in the second leg of the playoffs against Greece on Sunday.

With a considerable advantage from Thursday's 4-1 victory in Zagreb, Croatia easily held off the Greek hosts as they pressed for an upset.

Croatia came closest to scoring in the 42nd minute when Ivan Perisic's powerful shot ricocheted off Greece's left post, with goalkeeper Orestis Karezis well beaten.

Greece came closest to scoring in the 87th when Panagiotis Tachtsidis's shot from inside the area was deflected by goalkeeper Danijel Subasic's legs.

Greece also had two shots go just wide - one by Sokratis Papastathopoulos in the first half and another by Costas Mitroglou in the second - but otherwise did not threaten.

Croatia coach Zlatko Lakic, who took over the team on Oct. 7, downplayed his own role in qualification.

"We have many quality players. I did not have to make much of an effort," Lakic said. "I should remind you there was a coach before me and what is happening now is the result of a joint effort."

Lakic replaced Ante Cacic, who was fired the day after a home draw against Finland and two days before the last group-stage qualifier at Ukraine, which Croatia won in Lakic's debut.

Greece coach Michael Skibbe said the first leg had done the damage.

"We had 12 good games (at the qualifiers) ... on this level of football, it is not allowed to make mistakes like these," said Skibbe, referring to Greece's poor performance in Croatia. Skibbe said Greece had been unlucky to miss defender Costas Manolas through suspension, and others through injury.

 

It is the third time that Croatia has qualified for the World Cup finals through playoffs after also advancing this way to the 1998 and 2014 tournaments. Croatia has never lost in the playoffs, including two qualifications for the European Championship.