Argentina booked passage to the second round of the FIFA Futsal World Cup Brazil 2008 with a 2-1 win over Guatemala in their final Group C game in Brasilia on Thursday.

In a tense and exciting encounter the South Americans made their scoring chances count. Matias Luciux hit home in the second minute with an opportunistic strike, and the scoreline remained 1-0 for the Argentines through to the half.

Nine minutes into the second period, Fernando Wilhelm added a second as Argentina looked well on their way to a victory over the Central Americans, who were - in fairness - the better team in the second half. Although Manuel Aristondo pulled one back for the Guatemalans in the fading moments, the end result saw Argentina cruise through 2-1.

Argentina finish second in Group C and move on to the knockout rounds alongside Ukraine, who won the section with a victory over China PR. Guatemala, despite picking up four points from their games, head out of the competition.

Argentina will meet Paraguay in an all-South American second-round showdown on Saturday.

Guatemala improved their hopes of reaching the second round with a convincing 10-1 victory over China PR in Brasilia. The result moved the reigning North, Central America and the Caribbean champions on to six points from a possible nine, and left their opponents pointless at the foot of Group C.

Guatemala were 2-0 up within four minutes, courtesy of strikes by the in-form Erick Acevedo and Daniel Tejada, and by the interval they had scored seven times without reply.

The second half was a much tighter affair, with its first goal arriving almost 12 minutes in through Chinese forward Liu Xinyi.

However, it served as a wake-up call to the Guatemalans. Marlon Noj quickly made it 8-1, before Jose Gonzalez and Carlos Estrada posted their second and third goals of the game respectively to complete the scoring.

Ukraine entered the FIFA Futsal World Cup Brazil 2008 fray in the best possible way on Friday in Brasilia, winning out 6-2 against an outmatched Guatemala.

Valeriy Zamyatan opened the scoring for the East European after 13 minutes even though the Central Americans were the ones asking most of the early questions. Eduardo de Leon managed an equaliser for the Guatemalans two minutes into the second half, but parity didn't last for long as Sergiy Cheporniuk hammered home two minutes later to make it 2-1 to Ukraine.

Two goals in three minutes (26' and 29') from Yevgen Rogachov sealed the deal for the Ukrainians who went on to win by a justifiable 6-2 scoreline after Mykhaylo Romanov and Valeriy Legchanov added late insurance and Erick Acevedo pulled back a bit of consolation for the Guatemalans .

The 1996 fourth-place finishers, Ukraine, now sit in second place in Group B, tied with Guatemala, but with a game in hand. Argentina top the section with six points from two wins.

Estuardo de Leon, Guatemala player
We played well but went to sleep at crucial moments in the game and lost the match as a result.

First round

Ukraine - Guatemala

6:2 (1:0)

Match	Date	Venue / Stadium	Time	Attendance
14	03 October 2008	Brasilia / Gimnasio Nilson Nelson	12:30	4456