2010 Football World Cup Qualification

World Cup Trophy - 2010 South Africa Qualification for the 2010 Football World Cup started on the 7th of August 2007. The qualification process will continue until November 2009, and will conclude with play-offs between lower ranked teams from four of the FIFA confederations. The draw for the World Cup qualifying groups took place on the 25th of November 2007 in Durban, South Africa.

Europe: 53 European teams will compete for 13 positions at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The qualifying draw resulted in European teams being divided into eight groups of 6 teams and one group with 5 teams. The nine group winners will qualify automatically for the FIFA World Cup, and the 8 best second-placed teams will compete in playoffs for the remaining places.

Africa: African teams are involved in three phases of qualification. The first two phases whittle down the 53 contestants to 20 nations playing in 5 groups. The winner of each group in the third phase of qualification earns a place in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Asia: Asian qualification for the 2010 Football World Cup takes place over 4 phases, designed to narrow down the 43 competitors in the first phase of competition to 10 teams, which compete in two groups in the fourth phase. The winners as well as the runners-up in each group will progress to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The 2 third placed sides compete in a playoff for the right to face New Zealand for a place in the finals.

Americas: Two preliminary qualifying rounds are used to narrow down the 43 CONCAF members down to 12, which will participate in the three ‘semi-final’ groups. The top two teams in each of these ‘semi-final’ groups progress to the final phase as a group of 6. The top three teams in the final phase will qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The fourth placed team in the final group plays off against the fifth place CONMEBOL team for a World Cup place.

Oceania: The ten teams in the Oceania region competed in a tournament at the South Pacific games for one of four places in the Oceania qualifying group. New Zealand subsequently won in this group and can qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup by defeating an Asian team in a playoff for a World Cup berth.

South America: The 10 South American teams can qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup via a single group where the CONMEBOL members face each other at home and away in a round robin tournament. The top 4 teams qualify for the FIFA World Cup while the fifth placed team plays off against the fourth placed team from the Americas for a place in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.