Play-Offs For Final World Cup Spots
Last Six 2010 South Africa Berths Decided In Play-Offs
Oct 6, 2009
There will be 32 teams at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. All but hosts South Africa have to qualify for the tournament. Of those 31 teams, 25 will book their spots with automatic berths from their continental qualifying groups. The other six nations will have to go through Play-Offs to reach the 2010 World Cup.
Teams Already Qualified
There are 11 nations already secured a spot in the 32-team field in South Africa next summer: South Africa, Spain, Netherlands, England, Ghana, Australia, Japan, Korea Republic, Korea DPR, Brazil and Paraguay.
Four African Spots Still Up For Grabs
With two qualifiers left, Ghana is the only nation to have secured their spot in the 2010 World Cup by winning the Group D. The other four group winners will automatically book spots for the first World Cup in Africa. No African nation will play in Play-Offs.
Big Europeans Could Be Play-Offs Bound
A number of big European football nations could be bound to go through the Play-Offs to get to South Africa - or miss the spectacle altogether. Germany, France, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, Greece, Czech Republic, Croatia are just a handful of the possible teams who could qualify for the eight Play-Off spots.
The nine group winners book an automatic spot for South Africa. Eight of the nine second-placed teams will play two-leg, home and away ties on 14 and 18 November with the winners securing a World Cup bid.
The draw for the eight Play-Offs ties will take place on 19 October.
South America Vs. North, Central Americans
The top four spots in South America secure automatic berths for South Africa. Brazil and Paraguay have already clinched spots. But there remains a heated battle for the next two spots, especially the fourth place.
Third-placed Chile have 27 points while Ecuador (23), Argentina (22), Uruguay (21), Venezuela (21) and even eighth placed Colombia (20) all have chances for fourth place or missing the World Cup altogether.
The fifth placed team will then move into a two-leg Play-Offs against the fourth placed team from North, Central America and Caribbean. The United States are currently leading the group with 16 points - one point ahead of Mexico (15). Third place is Honduras (13) while Costa Rica have 12 points and El Salvador have slight chances with eight points.
Bahrain Take On New Zealand
After beating Saudi Arabia for the right to enter the Play-Offs, would-be first-timers Bahrain face off in a two-leg showdown with Oceania winners New Zealand. Once Oceania powers Australia moved to the Asian Confederation for football, the Kiwis could legitimately hope to return to the World Cup for the second time ever after 1982. The two legs will be played 10 October in Bahrain and 14 October in New Zealand.
