Moscow: Russia beat Finland 3-0 in their Group Four World Cup qualifier on Wednesday after the visitors put the first two goals into their own net.

The Euro 2008 semi-finalists opened the scoring midway through the first half when Petri Pasanen, fighting off Russia striker Pavel Pogrebnyak, mishit into his own goal.

The Russians went two up in the 65th minute when Veli Lampi scored a second own goal when trying to clear the ball off the line.

Playmaker Andrei Arshavin added a third two minutes from time with a great solo effort, beating two defenders before rounding the keeper and slotting calmly into an empty net.

The visitors rarely threatened Russia keeper Igor Akinfeyev with their lone striker Mikael Forssell closely guarded.

The win moved Russia into second place on six points, level with Wales, who face group leaders Germany later on Wednesday.

Libor Sionko’s second half goal led the Czech Republic to a 1-0 victory over Slovenia in their Group Three qualifier also on Wednesday.

The Czechs, looking to revive their campaign after securing just one point from their opening two matches, made sure of a first victory after September’s draw in Northern Ireland and Saturday’s loss in Poland.

The FC Copenhagen midfielder put the Czechs ahead in the 62nd minute, heading in Marek Jankulovski’s centre from close range.

In South American qualifiers, Uruguay fought back from 0-2 down at halftime to force a remarkable 2-2 draw in Bolivia at 3,600 metres above sea level in their World Cup qualifier on Tuesday.

Uruguay, forced by injuries and suspensions to make seven changes to the team that lost 2-1 in Argentina on Saturday, trailed at the break to a double from forward Marcelo Martins.

The draw left Uruguay fourth in the 10-team South American group with 13 points from 10 games, ahead of Chile on goal difference, while Bolivia stayed eighth with nine points.

Uruguay’s fightback began when Bueno, who had a shot parried by Carlos Arias with the score still goalless, rose between two defenders to head in Bruno Silva’s cross.

Uruguay continued to look more threatening as Maximiliano Pereira shot over and they equalised when Abreu rose at the far post to head in a curling cross from the left.

Meanwhile, Australia moved to the top of Group one after a 4-0 rout of Qatar in the Asian World Cup qualifying on Wednesday while South Korea grabbed the Group two lead after a 4-1 demolition of United Arab Emirates.

South Korea, bidding for a place at a seventh successive finals, eased past UAE 4-1 to lead the group on goal difference.

Japan, yet to find their feet in the campaign to reach the 2010 finals in South Africa, are now in second place after an uninspiring 1-1 home draw with strugglers Uzbekistan.