Hamburg  - Already qualified Germany needed a last-gasp Lukas Podolski goal on Wednesday to secure a 1-1 draw against Finland in a European World Cup Group 4 qualifying match.

Jonathan Johansson, who was playing his 100th game for Finland, gave the visitors an early first-half lead in the 11th minute, but then fumbled the ball in his own half in the
90th minute to allow Miroslav Klose to play to Podolski, who miskicked, but still saw his shot trickle over the line.

Having secured qualification with a 1-0 victory in Moscow against Russia on Saturday, German coach Joachim Loew made six changes to his side and they had the worst-possible start as Johansson scored the opening goal.

Roman Eremenko managed to win the ball from Philipp Lahm and headed down to Johansson, who is presently without a club, and the striker managed to push the ball over the net.

Germany then had several chances to equalize, but poor finishing denied them a goal ahead of the break.

Loew brought on Christian Gentner for captain Michael Ballack and midfielder Mesut Ozil for Thomas Hitzlsperger, and the changes soon made a difference, as the home side dominated.

But even though Germany had much more of the game, they failed to create any real chances apart from an Ozil opportunity in the 77th minute, but the Werder Bremen midfielder pulled his shot just wide from close range.

Loew then brought on Klose, who scored the winner in Moscow, for Mario Gomez and the substitutes came close six minutes from the end with a header that Jussi Jaaskelainen did well to save.

In the last minute Ozil and Klose combined to give Germany an equalizer. Jaaskelainen palmed away a Heiko Westermann shot to the chest of Ozil, but he could not bring the ball under control for a first-time shot.

Instead, he played the ball back across the area, to Klose, who benefited from a Johansson fumble to push the ball to Podolski, who scored from close range.

The draw sees Germany top the group with 26 points, ahead of Russia who finished on 22 points after drawing 1-1 in Azerbaijan. The Russian have qualified for the play-offs, while Germany are assured of a place at the finals in South Africa next year.  dpa