As the host nation, South Africa qualifies automatically for the tournament. However, South Africa is the first host since 1934 to participate in World Cup qualifiers. This is because the CAF qualifiers also serve as the qualifying tournament for the 2010 African Cup of Nations, for which South Africa had to qualify separately. Like the previous tournament, the defending champions Italy do not qualify automatically.
The preliminary draw for the 2010 World Cup was held in Durban, South Africa, on 25 November 2007.
The Final draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup will be staged in Cape Town, South Africa, on 4 December 2009 at the Cape Town International Convention Center.
World Cup Qualification Process:
Currently, only the host team(s) automatically qualifies for the final tournament. Until 2002, the title holder also qualified, but as of the 2006 World Cup, the title holders must also qualify.
For the 2010 edition, the 31 qualified teams will include: 13 from Europe, 5 from Africa, 4 (or 5) from South America, 4 (or 5) from Asia, 3 (or 4) from North-Central America, 0 (or 1) from Oceania, depending on playoffs. South Africa are qualified as hosts. Each confederation, depending on the number of spots, decides the format:
UEFA(Europe): 8 groups of 6 teams and 1 group of 5. Winners are qualified, the eight best second-placed determine the other 4 spots with a home and away play-off.
CAF (Africa): A preliminary round to reduce teams to 48, followed by 12 groups of 4. 12 winners and 8 best runners-up will be divided into 5 groups of 4, the winners of these groups will qualify.
CONMEBOL (South America): 10 teams in a single group (round robin), teams from 1st to 4th position are qualified, the 5th placed will go to a two legged play-off with the 4th placed team from CONCACAF.
AFC (Asia): Two preliminary rounds will narrow the teams down from 42 to 20, which are then split into 5 groups of 4. Winners and runners-up will move on, and these 10 teams are then put into 2 groups of 5. The winner and runner-up of each group qualifies, with the two 3rd placed teams playing a playoff against each other. The winner of this game then goes into a playoff with the 1st placed OFC team.
CONCACAF (North & Central America / Caribbean): Two preliminary rounds to narrow the number of teams from 35 to 12. There are then 3 groups of 4. Winners and runners-up then go to the final group of six, where the top 3 teams qualify. The 4th placed team will enter into a playoff with the 5th placed team from CONMEBOL.
OFC (Oceania): The top 3 of the South Pacific Games (Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia) join New Zealand for the OFC Nations Cup. The winner of this will go to a play-off with the 5th placed from AFC.
Qualification Requirements:
All FIFA federations are involved with World Cup qualification. Over 2 years, teams play qualification matches to determine who will be selected for the Group stages.
The winners and runners-up of each group will then qualify to the Round of 16. The placings in the groups are dependant on points. If two (or more) teams are tied on points, then their head-to-head record comes into play, failing which head-to-head goal difference, head-to-head goals scored, overall goal difference, and overall goals scored come into play (in order of priority). If none of these factors manage to separate the teams, then a play-off will be held
In the last 16, each group winner will face a runner-up. In these knockout games, a tie after normal time will result in two halves of extra-time of 15 minutes each, and then a penalty shootout. In the shootout, each team gets 5 kicks. If neither team misses, then they enter into a sudden-death shootout, where the first team to miss loses.
World Cup Qualifiers Tickets:
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