GROUP PLAY
European qualifying opened by dividing the fifty team field into nine groups. The 13½ allocations given to UEFA meant that the top two teams in each group would survive. The group winners qualified directly, and the second placed teams moved to playoffs against one another and the third placed team in Asia. The biggest story of the draw was undoubtedly Group 9, where traditional rivals England and Germany would square off. Football fans worldwide circled SAT 07 OCT 2000 - England's last match at Wembley - and SAT 01 SEP 2001 - the return leg in München - on their calendars. Group 3, with Bulgaria, Denmark, and the Czech Republic, was another interesting group, as was Group 6 with Belgium, Croatia, and Scotland.

Qualifying officially opened with Estonia's 1-0 win over Andorra on WED 16 AUG 2000, but things really got going the weekend of SAT 02-SUN 03 SEP 2000 with 23 matches being played - 44 of the 50 teams engaged in their openers that weekend. Poland, winning at the Ukraine 3-1, and Portugal, dismissing Estonia in Tallinn by the same scoreline, got off to solid starts, whereas Belgium and Croatia, playing to a goalless draw, and Italy, drawing 2-2 away to Hungary, started with lacklustre performances.

England's coaching carousel

Wembley Stadium's 77 year history as the home of the English national side drew to a close on SAT 07 OCT 2000 with the qualifier against Germany. It was England's first match of the campaign, Germany having won one already. Liverpool's Dietmar HAMANN sent a free kick onto goal in the thirteenth minute, which England goalkeeper David SEAMAN mishandled and allowed in. It turned out to be the only goal of the match, and the Three Lions were booed off the famous pitch. Coach Kevin KEEGAN quit moments after the full time whistle. England's next match, under interim manager Howard WILKINSON, was a goalless draw at Finland. Two matches into the qualifying campaign, Germany stood atop the group, whilst England's lone point left them dead last.

At the end of 2000, Portugal stood top of Group 2 with seven points, with the Republic of Ireland on five and the Netherlands at four. The Czech Republic's seven points were good enough to lead Group 3 over Denmark's five and Bulgaria's four. Russia and Germany were the only teams who had accumulated full points.

Russia continued on their flaming pace in early 2001, winning three and drawing two to stake their claim atop Group 1. By JUN 2001, Belgium had moved to the front of Group 6, with Scotland and Croatia tied at second as each had three matches left to play. Spain, always a good team if they decide to come out and play, did not do so at Israel on WED 06 JUN 2001, when the hosts earned a 1-1 draw. At that point, Spain were only three points ahead of Austria for first in Group 7, with Israel a point behind the Austrians. England won three in a row under new manager Sven Goran ERIKSSON to move into second place in Group 9 - despite being six adrift of Germany, the English had a match in hand.

Poland blaze trail to Asia

The first European side to be one of the chosen 13½ was, surprisingly, Poland. Coach Jerzy ENGEL successfully metamorphosed the Polish side from a quiet, punchless side into a squad that went thirteen straight matches without losing, culminating in a 3-0 win over Norway on SAT 01 SEP 2001 that gave fans at the Chorzow match license to party long and hard into the night. Nigerian born forward Emmanuel OLISADEBE's naturalisation has been widely considered the key to Polish success. Poland, third place finishers at Germany 1974 and Spain 1982, were on their way back.

That same day, Germany carried their six point lead into Munich's Olympic Stadium to host England. At that venue, Germany had been undefeated since they first played there in 1973. Of their 60 previous qualifiers, only one had been a loss. Though England had their three match winning streak going, things appeared to be stacked up against them in Munich. After only five minutes, the visitors found themselves in a hole already. Carsten JANCKER's goal made the home fans even noisier and seemed to put Germany into Korea/Japan 2002. But Michael OWEN had other ideas, racing downfield in the thirteenth minute to convert past German goalkeeper Oliver KAHN. England added another goal just before the stroke of halftime, and when play resumed, Owen collected two more goals on the way to a decisive 5-1 win that stunned the German side and put England into the driver's seat in that group. Four days later, a 2-0 win over Albania at Newcastle gave England the group lead.

Sweden, 2-1 winners over Turkey that day, and Spain, who dispatched Liechtenstein 2-0, were the next two teams to win their groups. Meanwhile, the Netherlands hammered Estonia by a 5-0 count, but it was a worthless victory. The Oranje's 1-0 loss at Rep Ireland at the weekend put them off the pace, and Portugal's 3-1 win over Cyprus did them in. The third place team at France 1998, the Netherlands failed to reach the 2002 Men's World Cup. Denmark's three point lead over the Czech Republic and Bulgaria made them likely to win Group 3; the latter two would play one another on the last matchday to decide the playoff position. The Ukraine held a one point lead over Belarus for second in Group 5. Belgium needed to defeat Croatia on the last day to win Group 6, with Scotland also alive. Israel and Austria would meet to decide the Group 7 playoff position, and Italy needed a win over Hungary to take Group 8 over Romania. And in Group 9, England and Germany were fighting for the automatic berth, England holding first place due to goal difference.

Anticlimatic finales

The picture was muddled on THU 04 OCT 2001 when a Russian airliner that took off from Tel Aviv plunged into the Black Sea, a disaster that took 78 lives and forced the postponement of the rubber match between Israel and Austria. That week, several Austrian players had already decided to decline their callups and stay at home for the match, which had been scheduled for SUN 07 OCT 2001 in Tel Aviv.

The matches that were played that weekend were, for the most part, anticlimatic. Belarus's 1-0 loss at Wales eliminated them and gave the Ukraine a nearly impossible task: Defeat either Germany or England in a playoff. Russia qualified with a 4-0 win over Switzerland, and Slovenia's 3-0 win over the Faroe Islands locked them into second place. Greece went to Manchester and led England by a goal when the Germany-Finland match went to full time with no goals scored. England's captain, David BECKHAM, blasted a free kick into the Greek goal as time expired, and the Three Lions were in. Croatia's Alen BOKSIC scored in the 76th minute to seal qualification in a 1-0 victory over Belgium. Rep Ireland and Portugal both won convincingly at home, but Portugal's superior goal difference put them into their first World Cup tournament since 1986 and forced Rep Ireland to play the Asian team. The Czech Republic and Denmark rolled past Bulgaria and Iceland respectively by identical 6-0 scores, giving Denmark first place and leaving the Czechs to meet Belgium. Italy won 1-0 against Hungary to qualify, though fans whistled at the Azzurri's play, which at times bore a closer resemblance to sleepwalking than football.

Group play closed out SAT 27 OCT 2001 with the only pending match, the Israel-Austria encounter. Israel had held a one goal lead thanks to a penalty converted by Shimon GERSHON in the 56th minute, a result that would have given Israel second place in Group 7. But Austria, who were missing the nine players who had pulled out previously plus several other suspended and injured players, struck late. Captain Andreas HERZOG, whose foul in the area led to Gershon's spot kick, was himself fouled by Gershon in stoppage time. Herzog made no mistake on the free kick, rocketing it past keeper Dudu AWAT to equalise and set up a date with Turkey the following month.

UEFA/AFC PLAYOFFS
Turkey's first ticket to a World Cup since 1954 was never really in doubt. Okan BURUK scored the only goal in the away leg, and the Turks piled on five goals to touch off celebrations at home. Belgium defeated the Czech Republic twice, each by 1-0. Gert VERHEYEN scored from point blank range in the opening leg, a match in which the Czechs played the entire second half a man down due to Tomas REPKA's dismissal for elbowing Bart GOOR. The Czech attacks came early and often in the return leg, but the home team simply could not even the series. Marc WILMOTS's 86th minute goal on a penalty destroyed the Czech Republic.

Two first half goals sent the Ukraine back to Germany with a 1-1 draw in the first leg, with a nearly impossible task ahead of them. Surely Germany would prove unbeatable playing for a World Cup berth on their own turf. Indeed, unbeatable was the best word to describe the Mannschaft's performance. After fifteen minutes, Germany led 3-0. After thirty minutes, spectators were chanting coach Rudi VÖLLER's name. 4-1 was the final to Germany. Slovenia proved that their run to Euro 2000 was no fluke when they defeated Romania 2-1 at home, coming back from a goal down to take the lead on Milan OSTERC's splendid strike from the top of the area. Romania could only manage a 1-1 draw at home, ending their string of three straight World Cup appearances.

The Republic of Ireland were drawn against Iran, who had defeated the United Arab Emirates in the third round of AFC qualifying. The first half of the opener in Dublin was marked by an almost permanent attack by the Irish, though they had much difficulty capitalising. Finally, a foul by Rahman REZAEI gave Rep Ireland a penalty, which Ian HARTE put into the net late in the first half. Robbie KEANE added a second on 51 minutes to make the final score 2-0. In Tehran, Irish goalkeeper Shay GIVEN again turned in a fine performance, denying Iran for most of the match. The pressure was relentless, but still Given gave up nothing until the final minutes, Yahya GOLMOHAMMADI's headed goal the only thing saving Iran from a series shutout. With that, Rep Ireland rounded out the European field.