Slovenia all but assured themselves of at least a play-off place in their World Cup qualifying bid after winning away to Group Three leaders Slovakia.

Valter Birsa's 56th-minute strike from the edge of the box and Nejc Pecnik's late breakaway strike earned the visitors victory which means they need only to beat San Marino - bottom of the group having lost all nine games, scoring one goal and conceding 44 - to assure themselves of second place and push for top spot.

Slovakia, meanwhile, must win in Poland to assure themselves of an automatic presence in South Africa, while the result also meant the Czech Republic's win over the Poles counted for little.

Second-half goals from substitute Tomas Necid and Jaroslav Plasil earned Ivan Hasek's team the three points after forward Milan Baros was denied by an offside flag before the interval.

But they still trail Slovenia by two points and must therefore beat Northern Ireland at home in Wednesday's final game and also rely on San Marino - beaten 5-0 in Maribor in August - springing one of the all-time great shocks.