Freddie Ljungberg and George McCartney both have to wait until Wednesday night to find out which one will have the chance of going to the EURO 2008 finals at the other's expense.
On Saturday, Sweden's 3-0 defeat in Spain, with midfielder Ljungberg playing the full 90 minutes as captain, and Northern Ireland's 2-1 home win against Denmark, a result that left-back McCartney missed as he recovers from an ankle injury, means both countries will learn their fate in midweek. Spain, with 25 points, have made sure of one of the two qualification places from Group F. They are two points ahead of Sweden and five in front of Northern Ireland with one game to play.
In Wednesday's final qualifiers, Ljungberg's side will seal qualification if they get just a point against Latvia in Solna. Northern Ireland, meanwhile, need Sweden to lose and then must win away to already-qualified Spain to secure the second qualifying position. Those two results would see the nations finish level on 23 points but Northern Ireland, after a 2-1 home win and a 1-1 draw away, have the better head to head record.
Other Hammers in international action on Saturday included Lucas Neill, with the club captain playing centre-back as Australia secured a 1-0 friendly triumph against Nigeria in a match played at Fulham's Craven Cottage. The same result was enough to leave Jonathan Spector happy, with the versatile defender coming on at right-back for the second 45 minutes of the United States' 1-0 success against South Africa in Johannesburg.
James Collins and Danny Gabbidon both played for Wales in a 2-2 home draw against the Republic of Ireland, although the result was academic as both nations have been eliminated from the race for the EURO 2008 finals. Christian Dailly, on loan at Southampton until Saturday, missed out entirely as Scotland lost 2-1 at home to Italy to see their summer dream dashed at the final hurdle. Elsewhere, Henri Camara opened the scoring and made another in a lively display in Paris as Senegal were 3-2 winners against Mali.