Peru beat New Zealand to book first World Cup spot since 1982

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Peru booked the final spot in the 2018 World Cup with a 2-0 win against New Zealand on Wednesday night in Lima.

The two teams had all to play for after the first leg in Wellington, New Zealand, ended 0-0 and the hosts came out firmly on the front foot.

Luis Advincula almost gave Peru, looking for their first World Cup finals appearance since 1982, a dream start, smashing a shot from 20 yards off the crossbar after cutting in from the right side.

Peru continued to push in front of a raucous crowd and saw a penalty shout for handball waved off by the referee just before the 25-minute mark.

But the goal would come minutes later for Peru when Jefferson Farfan blasted a shot from 10 yards past a helpless Stefan Marinovic after Christian Cueva set him up perfectly with a pass from the left side of the penalty area.

Farfan celebrated the goal by holding up the jersey of Peru striker Paolo Guerrero, who was suspended for both legs of the playoff after failing a doping test following an Oct. 5 qualifying match against Argentina.

And Farfan almost made it two before the break, pouncing on the rebound from a Miguel Trauco shot only to see Marinovic make an unbelievable one-handed save to keep the score 1-0 at half-time.

Chasing a goal, New Zealand brought on Burnley striker Chris Wood and his introduction caused problems for the Peru defence.

However, New Zealand hopes were crushed in the 64th minute when Christian Ramos poked home from the top of the six-yard box following a corner to make it 2-0 for the hosts.

The win earns Peru the final spot in the 32-team field after Australia claimed the second-to-last place on Wednesday night in Sydney with a 3-1 win against Honduras.