On November 18th France, Portugal, Greece and Slovenia completed the European qualifiers, and Uruguay became the fifth team to qualify from South America. Following the completion of the last round of play-off matches we now know the full line-up of teams that will be competing at the 19th FIFA World Cup. The 204 countries that began the qualifying campaign have been narrowed down to 32 teams who will compete in South Africa.
Africa
Including the hosts South Africa, six countries at the World Cup will represent Africa.
- Algeria (ALG) – qualified November18th
- Cameroon (CMR) – qualified November14th
- Côte d'Ivoire (CIV) – qualified October 10th
- Ghana (GHA) – qualified September 6th
- Nigeria (NGA) – qualified November14th
- South Africa (RSA) – did not need to qualify as hosts (May 15th 2004)
Asia
An Asian team has never won the world cup, and to be honest it looks to remain that way, although Australia may hope to go one better than last time out.
- Australia (AUS) – qualified June 6th
- Japan (JPN) – qualified June 6th
- Korea DPR (PRK) – qualified June 17th
- Korea Republic (KOR) – qualified June 6th
Europe
With 13 teams, Europe will have the most representatives at South Africa 2010, and with the Netherlands and Spain in good form, we may see the World Cup returning to Europe.
- Denmark (DEN) – qualified October 10th
- England (ENG) – qualified September 9th
- France (FRA) – qualified November18th
- Germany (GER) – qualified October 10th
- Greece (GRE) – qualified November18th
- Italy (ITA) – qualified October 10th
- Netherlands (NED) – qualified June 6th
- Portugal (POR) – qualified November18th
- Serbia (SRB) – qualified October 10th
- Slovakia (SVK) – qualified October 14th
- Slovenia (SVN) – qualified November18th
- Spain (ESP) – qualified September 9th
- Switzerland (SUI) – qualified October 14th
North, Central America and Caribbean
The USA will hope to build on the previous couple of World Cup’s and take home the trophy for North America.
- Honduras (HON) – qualified October 14th
- Mexico (MEX) – qualified October 10th
- USA (USA) – qualified October 10th
Oceania
After winning the AFC v OFC Play-off New Zealand will hope to get out of the group stages for the first time ever.
- New Zealand (NZL) – qualified November 14th
South America
Following Uruguay’s win over Costa Rica in the CONCACAF v CONMEBOL Play-off, the South American continent will have five representatives at the World Cup, including five time winners and favorites Brazil.
- Argentina (ARG) – qualified October 14th
- Brazil (BRA) – qualified September 5th
- Chile (CHI) – qualified October 10th
- Paraguay (PAR) – qualified September 9th
- Uruguay (URU) – qualified November18th
The World Cup begins on the 11th of June and the full draw for the finals takes place in Cape Town on the 4th of December.
Tom Ravenscroft - Tom Ravenscroft is a freelance journalist and academic who currently resides in the UK. Though he feels particularly educated in ...
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