Sydney - Australia remained on course to qualify for the World Cup after beating Uzbekistan 2-0 in a qualifier in Sydney on Wednesday.

However the Socceroos' will have keep celebrations waiting after Bahrain defeated Qatar 1-0 to keep their chances alive.

Substitute Joshua Kennedy put Australia in front on 66 minutes and a Harry Kewell penalty seven minutes later made the game safe for Australia after Richard Garcia was fouled in the area.

Australia would have been the first team to qualify for the 2010 World Cup if Bahrain and Qatar had drawn in the later Group 1 match.

But Bahrain moved onto seven points after a 1-0 victory courtesy of a 52nd-minute goal from Fouzi Aaish.

Australia top the group on 13 points, two clear of Japan and six ahead of Bahrain.

With two teams qualifying, Australia should still book their World Cup ticket. They need just one point from their final three qualifying matches - away in Qatar in June and home to Bahrain and Japan to complete their first qualifying campaign in Asia after moving out of the Oceania confederation.

It would be only the third time the Socceroos have made an appearance at a World Cup, but it was a far from convincing performance against the clearly jet-lagged Uzbeks who had the run of play in a scoreless first half.

Australia had the benefit of home soil, a full week's preparation and the support of all but a handful of the 57,292 crowd.

Striker Farhod Tadjiyev, the hat-trick hero from Uzbekistan's 4-0 win over Qatar on Saturday, was again the danger man for the Central Asian side.

Australia missed the easiest of goals 16 minutes in when Mark Bresciano shot straight at Uzbek goalkeeper Ignatiy Nesterov from close range.

The rain cleared in the second half and Australia took charge as the Uzbeks tired. In the 65th minute, man-of-the-match Bresciano crossed to the tall Kennedy, allowing the SC Karlsruhe player to head the ball home.

Five minutes later the green and gold went two up with Kewell's penalty after Richard Garcia had been brought down in the box by Ansur Ismailov.

The tiring visitors looked as though they had broken Australia's record of not conceding a goal in this World Cup campaign, but an injury-time effort was disallowed after the linesman signaled offside.

Meanwhile, a late goal from Kim Chi Woo helped South Korea to victory over North Korea in Group 2.

The game in Seoul looked to be heading for a goalless draw until Kim struck three minutes from time with an inswinging free-kick.

The only win in four 2010 qualifying matches between the two teams (the previous three games ended 0-0, 0-0 and 1-1) lifted South Korea to the top of the group on 11 points.

Despite the loss, the North Koreans lie second on 10 points after six games to remain in contention to reach their first finals since England 1966, when they reached the quarter-finals.

Saudi Arabia also moved up to 10 points, with an inferior goal difference, after a 3-2 victory over United Arab Emirates. (dpa)