It was heartache for Ireland in Paris as France booked their place in next summer's finals in South Africa.

A controversial extra-time winner from William Gallas saw the French go through, but it was Thierry Henry's role in the build-up that had the Irish seething as the former Arsenal forward clearly controlled the ball with his hand before teeing up Gallas.

It had been an evening at the Stade de France where the Irish were dominant.

Chances came and went before Robbie Keane slotted home Damien Duff's cutback to give the Irish the lead and level on aggregate.

Giovanni Trapattoni's side continued to dominate the much-fancied French, Keith Andrews again impressing in the centre of midfield.

But had Duff and Keane made more of the chances presented to them in the second half then there would have been no need for time added on.

There was the prospect of penalties had the score remained the same at the end of added time, but that vanished due to Henry's illegal intervention to allow Gallas to grab the winner.

The decision to allow the goal to stand will undoubtedly lead to more calls for technology to be introduced.

The 32 teams that will contest the World Cup finals next summer are:

Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Honduras, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Korea, Paraguay, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Uruguay, USA

The draw for the World Cup groupings will be made on Friday December 4th.