Slovenia qualified for their first major finals by holding Ukraine to a 1-1 draw on a freezing night in Kiev.

Miran Pavlin hit a 79th minute equaliser in their play-off second leg to send the outsiders through 3-2 on aggregate. After a scoreless first half, Serhiy Rebrov put Ukraine ahead with 69th minute penalty after fellow striker Andriy Shevchenko was pulled down inside the box.

But Pavlin hit back 10 minutes later when his long range effort deflected of a defender and wrong-footed Ukraine keeper Olexander Shovkovsky. However, the Ukrainians, who were considered the hot favourites before the two-leg tie, failed to mount any offence in the last 10 minutes.

"It's a tragedy for us," dejected Ukrainian assistant coach Leanid Buryak said. "It's a real drama in the locker-room right now for our entire team."

Their most fearsome threat, AC Milan striker Shevchenko, was far below his usual form on a snow-covered pitch, apart from earning a somewhat a controversial penalty.

Meanwhile, Slovenia coach Srecko Katanec was beaming.

"It's a great victory for our small nation," he said. "And I have never doubted that we could pull it through."

In Copenhagen, Denmark managed a facile 3-0 victory over Israel to qualify for Euro 2000, though their 5-0 first leg win in Israel had made this fixture a non-event.

For the record, Ebbe Sand scored in the fourth minute, Brian Steen Nielsen scored from a superb freekick 10 minutes later and Jon Dahl Tomasson scored their last in the 65th minute. The Danes, however, played most of the match without their goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, who was substituted by Thomas Sorensen on just 17 minutes. Schmeichel injured his Achilles tendon during the warm-up and persistent pain meant he had to come off.

In 1992, Denmark also qualified after being group runners-up. They replaced Yugoslavia because of the war in the Balkans and became surprising yet popular winners.