Jump to content

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 194.171.56.13 (talk) at 11:07, 8 June 2009 (Europe (UEFA)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

32 teams will compete in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with one place allocated for the hosts, South Africa. In the qualification process for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the six FIFA confederations were allocated a share of the 31 remaining spots. The distribution is:[1]

UEFA and CAF have a guaranteed number of places, the number of qualifiers from other confederations is dependent on play-offs between the highest placed teams in the qualification tournaments not guaranteed a place in the finals:

  • CONCACAF 4th place v CONMEBOL 5th place
  • AFC 5th place v OFC winner

At the close of entries on 15 March 2007, 204 out of the 208 FIFA members had entered the preliminary qualifying competition for the 2010 World Cup. South Africa was amongst these teams, as the qualification procedure in Africa is also due to act as the qualification for the 2010 African Cup of Nations.

Only three AFC members: Brunei, Laos and the Philippines had failed to register for the tournament.

Bhutan were allowed to enter at the last minute and were included in the Asian preliminary draw, Papua New Guinea were disqualified from the Oceania Preliminary competition, and Brunei and the Philippines had their entries rejected (having missed the deadline). The final number of teams entered breaks the previous record of 199 entrants set in 2002.[2] However, five of those teams withdrew during qualifying without playing a match: Bhutan, Central African Republic, Eritrea, Guam and São Tomé and Príncipe.

Qualified teams

The following teams have qualified to date:

Team Qualified As Date qualification was secured Finals Appearance Consecutive World Cups Last Appearance Previous Best Performance
 South Africa Host 15 May 2004 3rd 1 2002 1st Round (1998, 2002)
 Australia AFC Fourth Round Group A Top Two 6 June 2009 3rd 2 2006 2nd round (2006)
 Japan AFC Fourth Round Group A Top Two 6 June 2009 4th 4 2006 2nd round (2002)
 South Korea AFC Fourth Round Group B Top Two 6 June 2009 8th 7 2006 Fourth (2002)
 Netherlands UEFA Group 9 Winner 6 June 2009 9th 2 2006 Runner-up (1974, 1978)

Summary of remaining qualification

Qualifying status as of 6 June 2009
Team qualified for the World Cup.
Team may still qualify for the World Cup.
Team cannot qualify for the World Cup, but still has qualifying matches left.
Team eliminated from World Cup qualifying.
Country did not enter World Cup.
Country is not part of FIFA.
Legend for following table
Confederations whose qualifying campaign is still in session
Confederation's qualifying campaign is finished, but a team awaits playoffs
Confederations that have finished their qualifying campaign
Confederation Teams started Teams that can still qualify Teams that have secured qualification Places in finals Qualifying end date
UEFA 53 47 1 13 18 November 2009
CAF 52 +1h 20 0 +1h 5 +1h 14 November 2009
CONMEBOL 10 10 0 4 or 5 18 November 2009
AFC 43 6 3 4 or 5 14 November 2009
CONCACAF 35 6 0 3 or 4 18 November 2009
OFC 10 1 0 0 or 1 14 November 2009
World 203 +1h 90 4 +1h 31 +1h 18 November 2009

h=host

Qualification groups

The qualification process commenced in August 2007 and will be completed by November 2009. An initial draw for preliminary qualification (qualifying groups in Oceania, and knockout ties in CAF and AFC) had been announced for Zürich on 28 May 2007, but none was held.

Initial groups for the Oceania qualification were eventually held in Auckland, New Zealand in early June, with preliminary draws for the Asian and African qualification announced in August.

The draw for the main 2010 World Cup qualifying groups was held in Durban, South Africa on November 25, 2007 (34 teams were eliminated before the actual draw - 6 from OFC, 5 from CAF and 23 from AFC). CONMEBOL qualification also had started, and there were no draw for this confederation, as all 10 members play in the same group, and the order of fixtures is the same as for the 2006 qualification rounds. The 4 remaining teams from OFC had started playing the final stage as a single group, so no draw was needed also. Therefore, the draw of 25 November involved 156 FIFA members from the original 205 entries, divided as follows: UEFA–53 entries in draw; CAF–48 entries in draw (original 53 minus 5 preliminary round losers and withdrawals); AFC–20 entries in draw (original 43 minus 23 1st and 2nd round losers and withdrawals); and CONCACAF–35 entries in draw.

As the host nation, South Africa qualifies automatically. As in 2006, the holders - Italy - do not qualify automatically. If they do qualify they will be seeded similarly to the way Brazil was in the 2006 tournament.

League format tiebreakers

For FIFA World Cup qualifying stages the method used for separating teams level on points is the same for all Confederations, as decided by FIFA themselves.[3] If teams are even on points at the end of group play, the tied teams will be ranked by:

  1. goal difference in all group matches
  2. greater number of goals scored in all group matches
  3. greater number of points obtained in matches between the tied teams
  4. goal difference in matches between the tied teams
  5. greater number of goals scored in matches between the tied teams
  6. drawing of lots, or a play-off (if approved by FIFA)

This is a change from 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification, where results between tied teams was the first tiebreaker.

Africa (CAF)

(53 teams competing for 5 berths, host South Africa occupying a 6th berth)

The CAF qualification process began with a preliminary round played on 13 October and 17 November 2007 to narrow the field to 48 teams, and then 12 groups of 4 teams were drawn in Durban in November 2007.[4]

The 12 groups winners and 8 best runners-up advanced to the next stage. The procedure was complicated due to two of the groups being reduced to just 3 teams due to the withdrawal of Eritrea (before the commencement of the group) and the exclusion of Ethiopia (which saw all their results annulled). As a result, the comparison of the 12 runners-up did not include results against teams finishing fourth in 4-team groups.

The remaining 20 teams were placed in 5 groups of 4 teams at a draw held in Zurich on 22 October 2008. The winners of these groups will qualify to the World Cup finals.

The qualifying competition for the 2010 World Cup is combined with the qualification process for the 2010 African Cup of Nations. Since South Africa is hosting the World Cup, it has automatically qualified, although it (unlike hosts in previous qualifying tournaments since 1938) played in the qualifiers themselves to facilitate the use of the same set of qualifying matches for the 2010 African Cup of Nations.

Had South Africa advanced to the third round (second group stage), their matches would not have been counted in determining who advances to the World Cup finals. However, South Africa were eliminated from the qualifiers after the second round. This means that they cannot qualify for the African Cup of Nations, and all matches in Round 3 count towards World Cup qualification.

Current positions (Third Round)

Group 1
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - CAF Third Round (Group 1)
Group 2
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - CAF Third Round (Group 2)
Group 3
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - CAF Third Round (Group 3)
Group 4
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - CAF Third Round (Group 4)
Group 5
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - CAF Third Round (Group 5)

Asia (AFC)

(43 teams competing for 4 or 5 berths; a playoff against OFC determines which confederation gets the extra berth)

Two preliminary rounds (one in October 2007 and one in the first half of November) narrowed the field from 43 to 20 prior to the group stage draw in Durban on 25 November 2007.[4]

The group stage draw divided the 20 remaining sides into 5 groups of 4, which were played from February to June 2008, from which the winners and runners-up advanced to the final group stage. The winners and runners-up from 2 final groups of 5 nations (playing from September 2008 to June 2009) will qualify automatically for the World Cup finals, with the 2 third-placed sides playing off in September 2009 for the right to compete against the Oceania winner, New Zealand, for a final qualification spot (with matches played in October and November 2009).

The knock-out preliminary rounds themselves were somewhat unusual, with all 38 AFC sides that did not qualify for the 2006 World Cup playing in the first knock-out round, but the 11 best-ranked winners from that round receiving byes in the second round (and only the 8 lowest-ranked winners competing to reduce the fields of teams to 20).

Current positions (Fourth Round)

Group A
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - AFC Group A
Group B
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - AFC Group B

Europe (UEFA)

(53 teams competing for 13 berths)

The European qualification games started in August 2008 after Euro 2008.[4] Eight groups of six teams and one group of five will contest the European qualifying competition. As a result the nine group-winners will qualify directly, while the best eight of the nine second-placed teams will contest home and away play-off matches for the remaining four places.[5] In determining the best eight second-placed teams, the results against teams finishing last in the six-team groups will not be counted for consistency between the five- and six-team groups.

The group stage will be completed on 14 October 2009. A draw for the play-offs will be held in Zürich on 19 October, with the matches held on 14 and 18 November.

On 6 June 2009 the Netherlands clinched first place in group 9, becoming the first European team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2010 finals.

Current positions

Group 1
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 1
Group 2
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 2
Group 3
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 3
Group 4
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 4
Group 5
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 5
Group 6
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 6
Group 7
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 7
Group 8
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 8
Group 9
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 9

Ranking of second-placed teams

The play-offs will be contested by the top eight runners up. With one group having one team fewer than the others, matches against the sixth-placed team in the group are not included in this ranking.

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
Tournament details
Dates20 August 2008 – 18 November 2009
Teams53 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played268
Goals scored725 (2.71 per match)
Attendance6,050,105 (22,575 per match)
Top scorer(s)Greece Theofanis Gekas
(10 goals)
2006
2014

The European zone of qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup saw 53 teams competing for 13 places at the finals in South Africa. The qualification process started on 20 August 2008, nearly two months after the end of UEFA Euro 2008, and ended on 18 November 2009. The qualification process saw the first competitive matches of Montenegro.

Denmark, England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, and Switzerland qualified in the first round by winning their groups. France, Greece, Portugal, and Slovenia qualified via the second round play-offs.

Format

Teams were drawn into eight groups of six teams and one group of five teams. The nine group winners qualified directly, while the best eight second-placed teams contested home and away play off matches for the remaining four places. In determining the best eight second placed teams, the results against teams finishing last in the six team groups were not counted for consistency between the five and six team groups.[6]

Seeding

After initially proposing to use a similar system to recent World Cup and European Championship qualification (based on results across the previous two European qualification cycles), the UEFA Executive Committee decided on 27 September 2007 at its meeting in Istanbul that seeding for the qualifiers would be based on FIFA World Rankings, in accordance with the FIFA World Cup regulations (which note that where teams are ranked on "performance" criteria, the FIFA World Rankings must be used).[7]

The November 2007 FIFA World Ranking the most recent at the time of the preliminary draw and used to determine the groups. Initially scheduled for 21 November, FIFA moved the release date of the ranking to 23 November to include the final match days of Euro 2008 qualification.[8]

Pot A
Team Rank
 Italy 3
 Spain 4
 Germany 5
 Czech Republic 6
 France 7
 Portugal 8
 Netherlands 9
 Croatia 10
 Greece 11
Pot B
Team Rank
 England 12
 Romania 13
 Scotland 14
 Turkey 16
 Bulgaria 18
 Russia 22
 Poland 23
 Sweden 24
 Israel 26
Pot C
Team Rank
 Norway 28
 Ukraine 29
 Serbia 30
 Denmark 31
 Northern Ireland 32
 Republic of Ireland 35
 Finland 36
  Switzerland 44
 Belgium 49
Pot D
Team Rank
 Slovakia 50
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 51
 Hungary 52
 Moldova 53
 Wales 58
 Macedonia 59
 Belarus 60
 Lithuania 61
 Cyprus 65
Pot E
Team Rank
 Georgia 77
 Albania 82
 Slovenia 83
 Latvia 88
 Iceland 89
 Armenia 90
 Austria 91
 Kazakhstan 110
 Liechtenstein 122
Pot F
Team Rank
 Azerbaijan 125
 Estonia 128
 Malta 139
 Luxembourg 152
 Montenegro 172
 Andorra 174
 Faroe Islands 195
 San Marino 197

Draw

The draw for the group stage took place in Durban, South Africa on 25 November 2007.[9] During the draw, teams were drawn from the six pots A to F (see above) into the nine groups below, starting with pot F, which filled position 6 in the groups, then continued with pot E filling position 5, pot D in position 4 and so on.[10]

Summary

Table – top row: group winners, second row: group runners-up, third row: others. The winner of each group qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup together with the winners of the play-off. The play-offs took place between the eight best runners-up among all nine groups while the worst group runner-up did not qualify.

  Group winners qualified directly for the 2010 FIFA World Cup
  Worst runner-up and all other teams were eliminated after the first round
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5 Group 6 Group 7 Group 8 Group 9

Denmark

Switzerland

Slovakia

Germany

Spain

England

Serbia

Italy

Netherlands

Portugal

Greece

Slovenia

Russia

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Ukraine

France

Republic of Ireland

Norway

Sweden

Hungary

Albania

Malta

Latvia

Israel

Luxembourg

Moldova

Czech Republic

Northern Ireland

Poland

San Marino

Finland

Wales

Azerbaijan

Liechtenstein

Turkey

Belgium

Estonia

Armenia

Croatia

Belarus

Kazakhstan

Andorra

Austria

Lithuania

Romania

Faroe Islands

Bulgaria

Cyprus

Montenegro

Georgia

Scotland

Macedonia

Iceland

First round

Group 1

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Denmark Portugal Sweden Hungary Albania Malta
1  Denmark 10 6 3 1 16 5 +11 21 Qualification to 2010 FIFA World Cup 1–1 1–0 0–1 3–0 3–0
2  Portugal 10 5 4 1 17 5 +12 19 Advance to second round 2–3 0–0 3–0 0–0 4–0
3  Sweden 10 5 3 2 13 5 +8 18 0–1 0–0 2–1 4–1 4–0
4  Hungary 10 5 1 4 10 8 +2 16 0–0 0–1 1–2 2–0 3–0
5  Albania 10 1 4 5 6 13 −7 7 1–1 1–2 0–0 0–1 3–0
6  Malta 10 0 1 9 0 26 −26 1 0–3 0–4 0–1 0–1 0–0
Source: [11]

Group 2

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Switzerland Greece Latvia Israel Luxembourg Moldova
1   Switzerland 10 6 3 1 18 8 +10 21 Qualification to 2010 FIFA World Cup 2–0 2–1 0–0 1–2 2–0
2  Greece 10 6 2 2 20 10 +10 20 Advance to second round 1–2 5–2 2–1 2–1 3–0
3  Latvia 10 5 2 3 18 15 +3 17 2–2 0–2 1–1 2–0 3–2
4  Israel 10 4 4 2 20 10 +10 16 2–2 1–1 0–1 7–0 3–1
5  Luxembourg 10 1 2 7 4 25 −21 5 0–3 0–3 0–4 1–3 0–0
6  Moldova 10 0 3 7 6 18 −12 3 0–2 1–1 1–2 1–2 0–0
Source: [11]

Group 3

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Slovakia Slovenia Czech Republic Northern Ireland Poland San Marino
1  Slovakia 10 7 1 2 22 10 +12 22 Qualification to 2010 FIFA World Cup 0–2 2–2 2–1 2–1 7–0
2  Slovenia 10 6 2 2 18 4 +14 20 Advance to second round 2–1 0–0 2–0 3–0 5–0
3  Czech Republic 10 4 4 2 17 6 +11 16 1–2 1–0 0–0 2–0 7–0
4  Northern Ireland 10 4 3 3 13 9 +4 15 0–2 1–0 0–0 3–2 4–0
5  Poland 10 3 2 5 19 14 +5 11 0–1 1–1 2–1 1–1 10–0
6  San Marino 10 0 0 10 1 47 −46 0 1–3 0–3 0–3 0–3 0–2
Source: [11]

Group 4

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Germany Russia Finland Wales Azerbaijan Liechtenstein
1  Germany 10 8 2 0 26 5 +21 26 Qualification to 2010 FIFA World Cup 2–1 1–1 1–0 4–0 4–0
2  Russia 10 7 1 2 19 6 +13 22 Advance to second round 0–1 3–0 2–1 2–0 3–0
3  Finland 10 5 3 2 14 14 0 18 3–3 0–3 2–1 1–0 2–1
4  Wales 10 4 0 6 9 12 −3 12 0–2 1–3 0–2 1–0 2–0
5  Azerbaijan 10 1 2 7 4 14 −10 5 0–2 1–1 1–2 0–1 0–0
6  Liechtenstein 10 0 2 8 2 23 −21 2 0–6 0–1 1–1 0–2 0–2
Source: [11]

Group 5

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Spain Bosnia and Herzegovina Turkey Belgium Estonia Armenia
1  Spain 10 10 0 0 28 5 +23 30 Qualification to 2010 FIFA World Cup 1–0 1–0 5–0 3–0 4–0
2  Bosnia and Herzegovina 10 6 1 3 25 13 +12 19 Advance to second round 2–5 1–1 2–1 7–0 4–1
3  Turkey 10 4 3 3 13 10 +3 15 1–2 2–1 1–1 4–2 2–0
4  Belgium 10 3 1 6 13 20 −7 10 1–2 2–4 2–0 3–2 2–0
5  Estonia 10 2 2 6 9 24 −15 8 0–3 0–2 0–0 2–0 1–0
6  Armenia 10 1 1 8 6 22 −16 4 1–2 0–2 0–2 2–1 2–2
Source: [11]

Group 6

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification England Ukraine Croatia Belarus Kazakhstan Andorra
1  England 10 9 0 1 34 6 +28 27 Qualification to 2010 FIFA World Cup 2–1 5–1 3–0 5–1 6–0
2  Ukraine 10 6 3 1 21 6 +15 21 Advance to second round 1–0 0–0 1–0 2–1 5–0
3  Croatia 10 6 2 2 19 13 +6 20 1–4 2–2 1–0 3–0 4–0
4  Belarus 10 4 1 5 19 14 +5 13 1–3 0–0 1–3 4–0 5–1
5  Kazakhstan 10 2 0 8 11 29 −18 6 0–4 1–3 1–2 1–5 3–0
6  Andorra 10 0 0 10 3 39 −36 0 0–2 0–6 0–2 1–3 1–3
Source: [11]

Group 7

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Serbia France Austria Lithuania Romania Faroe Islands
1  Serbia 10 7 1 2 22 8 +14 22 Qualification to 2010 FIFA World Cup 1–1 1–0 3–0 5–0 2–0
2  France 10 6 3 1 18 9 +9 21 Advance to second round 2–1 3–1 1–0 1–1 5–0
3  Austria 10 4 2 4 14 15 −1 14 1–3 3–1 2–1 2–1 3–1
4  Lithuania 10 4 0 6 10 11 −1 12 2–1 0–1 2–0 0–1 1–0
5  Romania 10 3 3 4 12 18 −6 12 2–3 2–2 1–1 0–3 3–1
6  Faroe Islands 10 1 1 8 5 20 −15 4 0–2 0–1 1–1 2–1 0–1
Source: [11]

Group 8

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Italy Republic of Ireland Bulgaria Cyprus Montenegro Georgia (country)
1  Italy 10 7 3 0 18 7 +11 24 Qualification to 2010 FIFA World Cup 1–1 2–0 3–2 2–1 2–0
2  Republic of Ireland 10 4 6 0 12 8 +4 18 Advance to second round 2–2 1–1 1–0 0–0 2–1
3  Bulgaria 10 3 5 2 17 13 +4 14 0–0 1–1 2–0 4–1 6–2
4  Cyprus 10 2 3 5 14 16 −2 9 1–2 1–2 4–1 2–2 2–1
5  Montenegro 10 1 6 3 9 14 −5 9 0–2 0–0 2–2 1–1 2–1
6  Georgia 10 0 3 7 7 19 −12 3 0–2 1–2 0–0 1–1 0–0
Source: [11]

Group 9

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Netherlands Norway Scotland North Macedonia Iceland
1  Netherlands 8 8 0 0 17 2 +15 24 Qualification to 2010 FIFA World Cup 2–0 3–0 4–0 2–0
2  Norway 8 2 4 2 9 7 +2 10 0–1 4–0 2–1 2–2
3  Scotland 8 3 1 4 6 11 −5 10 0–1 0–0 2–0 2–1
4  Macedonia 8 2 1 5 5 11 −6 7 1–2 0–0 1–0 2–0
5  Iceland 8 1 2 5 7 13 −6 5 1–2 1–1 1–2 1–0
Source: [11]

Ranking of second placed teams

Because one group had one team fewer than the others, matches against the sixth placed team in each group were not included in this ranking. As a result, eight matches played by each team counted for the purposes of the second placed table.

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 4  Russia 8 5 1 2 15 6 +9 16 Advance to second round (play-offs)
2 2  Greece 8 5 1 2 16 9 +7 16
3 6  Ukraine 8 4 3 1 10 6 +4 15
4 7  France 8 4 3 1 12 9 +3 15
5 3  Slovenia 8 4 2 2 10 4 +6 14
6 5  Bosnia and Herzegovina 8 4 1 3 19 12 +7 13
7 1  Portugal 8 3 4 1 9 5 +4 13
8 8  Republic of Ireland 8 2 6 0 8 6 +2 12
9 9  Norway 8 2 4 2 9 7 +2 10
Source: [11]

Second round

The UEFA second round (often referred to as the play off stage) was contested by the best eight runners up from the nine first round groups. The winners of each of four home and away ties joined the group winners in the World Cup finals in South Africa. Norway, with 10 points, was ranked 9th so failed to qualify for the second round.

Seeding and draw

The eight teams were seeded according to the FIFA World Rankings released on 16 October (shown in parentheses in the table below). The draw for the ties was held in Zürich on 19 October, with the top four teams seeded into one pot and the bottom four teams seeded into a second. A separate draw decided the host of the first leg.[12]

Pot 1 (seeded)
Team Pos
 France 9
 Portugal 10
 Russia 12
 Greece 16
Pot 2 (unseeded)
Team Pos
 Ukraine 22
 Republic of Ireland 34
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 42
 Slovenia 49

Matches

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Republic of Ireland  1–2  France 0–1 1–1 (aet)
Portugal  2–0  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1–0 1–0
Greece  1–0  Ukraine 0–0 1–0
Russia  2–2 (a)  Slovenia 2–1 0–1

Qualified teams

The following 13 teams from UEFA qualified for the final tournament.

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup1
 Denmark Group 1 winners 10 October 2009 3 (1986, 1998, 2002)
  Switzerland Group 2 winners 14 October 2009 8 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1994, 2006)
 Slovakia Group 3 winners 14 October 2009 0 (debut)
 Germany Group 4 winners 10 October 2009 16 (1934, 1938, 19542, 19582, 19622, 19662, 19702, 19742, 19782, 19822, 19862, 19902, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006)
 Spain Group 5 winners 9 September 2009 12 (1934, 1950, 1962, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006)
 England Group 6 winners 9 September 2009 12 (1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1998, 2002, 2006)
 Serbia Group 7 winners 10 October 2009 10 (19303, 19503, 19543, 19583, 19623, 19743, 19823, 19903, 19983, 20063)
 Italy Group 8 winners 10 October 2009 16 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006)
 Netherlands Group 9 winners 6 June 2009 8 (1934, 1938, 1974, 1978, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2006)
 Greece Second round (play-off) winners 18 November 2009 1 (1994)
 Slovenia Second round (play-off) winners 18 November 2009 1 (2002)
 Portugal Second round (play-off) winners 18 November 2009 4 (1966, 1986, 2002, 2006)
 France Second round (play-off) winners 18 November 2009 12 (1930, 1934, 1938, 1954, 1958, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1998, 2002, 2006)
1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.
2 Competed as West Germany. A separate team for East Germany also participated in qualifications during this time, having only competed in 1974.
3 From 1930 to 1998, Serbia competed together with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Slovenia as part of Yugoslavia, while in 2006 as Serbia and Montenegro together with Montenegro.
4 From 1934 to 1990, Slovakia competed as Czechoslovakia.

Top goalscorers

There were 725 goals scored in 268 matches, for an average of 2.71 goals per match.

10 goals

9 goals

7 goals

6 goals

Below are full goalscorer lists for all groups and the play-off rounds:

References

  1. ^ "Clear declaration to defend the autonomy of sport" (Press release). FIFA. 2006-12-06. Retrieved 2006-12-06.
  2. ^ "Record number of 204 teams enter preliminary competition" (Press release). FIFA. 2007-03-30. Retrieved 2007-06-02.
  3. ^ untitled
  4. ^ a b c FIFA.com
  5. ^ EXCO unveils World Cup programme
  6. ^ "EXCO unveils World Cup programme". UEFA.com. Geneva: Union of European Football Associations. 25 June 2007. Archived from the original on 16 March 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  7. ^ "All clear for December EURO draw". UEFA.com. Geneva: Union of European Football Associations. 27 September 2007. Archived from the original on 3 February 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  8. ^ "Next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking on Friday 23 November 2007". FIFA.com. Zurich: Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 12 November 2007. Archived from the original on 13 November 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  9. ^ "Preliminary draw for the 2010 World Cup". FIFA.com. Zurich: Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Archived from the original on 9 June 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  10. ^ "Preliminary Draw Information" (PDF). FIFA.com. Zurich: Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 22 November 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 September 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) 2010, football - table and standings". soccer365.me. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  12. ^ "Key Decisions Reached in Rio". FIFA.com. Rio de Janeiro: Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 29 September 2009. Archived from the original on 3 October 2009. Retrieved 29 September 2009.

North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF)

(35 teams competing for 3 or 4 berths; a playoff against CONMEBOL determines which confederation gets the extra berth)

The CONCACAF qualification process[1] is identical to that for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, except that as Puerto Rico competed this time (they were the only CONCACAF member not to enter 2006 qualification), there were 11 matches instead of 10 in the first preliminary round, and thus 13 teams instead of 14 received a bye to the second preliminary round. The two preliminary rounds, played in the first half of 2008, reduced the 35 entrants to 24 and then 12 teams. 3 semi-final groups of 4 were played between August and November 2008, with the top two in each group advancing to a final 6-team group to be held during 2009. The top 3 of this group will qualify to the World Cup finals; the 4th-place team will go to the playoff against the 5th-place CONMEBOL team.

Current positions (Fourth Round)

Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - CONCACAF Fourth Round

Oceania (OFC)

(10 teams competing for 0 or 1 berth; a playoff against AFC determines which confederation gets the extra berth. Tuvalu also played in the qualifying tournament, but was not an entrant to the World Cup qualification)

The qualification process began with a tournament at the 2007 South Pacific Games in August 2007. The top three (New Caledonia, Fiji, and Vanuatu, respectively) joined New Zealand in a 4-team group, playing home and away. New Zealand won the group, and will play a home and away playoff with the fifth-place Asian nation for a World Cup berth. [2]

Final positions (Second Round)

New Zealand secured a berth in the OFC/AFC playoffs by finishing first place in the second round of the qualification, which was also the 2008 OFC Nations Cup. Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - OFC Nations Cup

South America (CONMEBOL)

(10 teams competing for 4 or 5 berths; a playoff against CONCACAF determines which confederation gets the extra berth)

The CONMEBOL qualification process again features a league system (home and away matches) for a single group of 10 associations, with matches played from October 2007 to October 2009. The fixture list is identical to that used in the qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. To limit the amount of travel by European-based players to South America, CONMEBOL's schedule uses nine 'double match days' (with two sets of matches held within a few days of each other). The top 4 teams will qualify to the World Cup finals, the 5th-place team will go to a playoff against the 4th-place CONCACAF team, which will be played on November 14 and 18, 2009.

Current positions

Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - CONMEBOL

Inter-confederation playoffs

There are two scheduled inter-confederation playoffs to determine the final two qualification spots to the finals. The ties themselves were not drawn, but were allocated by FIFA as:

  • AFC 5th place v OFC winner
  • CONCACAF 4th place v CONMEBOL 5th place

The draw for the order in which the matches will be played was held on 2 June 2009 during the FIFA Congress in Nassau, the Bahamas.[3]

AFC 5th place v OFC winner

The winner of the OFC qualification tournament will play the winner of the play-off between the two third-placed teams in the AFC qualification round four (considered to be the 5th placed team in the AFC). New Zealand qualified for the play-off by winning the OFC competition in September 2008.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
AFC 5th Place  New Zealand 10 October 14 November

CONCACAF 4th place v CONMEBOL 5th place

The team from fourth place in the CONCACAF qualifying fourth round will enter into a play-off against the team which finishes fifth in the CONMEBOL qualifying group.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
CONCACAF 4th place - CONMEBOL 5th place 14 November 18 November

References

  1. ^ "CONCACAF Exco meets in Netherlands Antilles" (Press release). CONCACAF. 2007-03-27. Retrieved 2007-03-29.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference regulations was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Intercontinental play-off dates confirmed

Template:Fb start

Template:Fb end