ESPN Soccer

BLANTYRE, Malawi -- Didier Drogba put Ivory Coast back in the World Cup.

The Chelsea star scored in the 67th minute, two minutes after entering as a substitute, giving the Elephants a 1-1 tie against Malawi on Saturday that clinched first place in Africa Group E.

"I am very happy indeed because Ivory Coast is going to the World Cup for the second time," Drogba said.

Jacob Ngwira put Malawi ahead in the 63rd minute. Drogba, the 2006 African player to the year, scored after Malawi captain Peter Mponda fouled Salomon Kalou around the edge of the penalty area. On the resulting free kick, Drogba pounced on a poor header by Mponda and beat goalkeeper Swadick Sanudi with a low shot.

Coming off its World Cup debut in 2006, Ivory Coast (4-0-1) leads Group E with 13 points with one game remaining and cannot be caught by second-place Burkina Faso (2-2), which has two games left.

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

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