The draw for the final tournament of the 2010 Men’s World Cup was kind to the defending finalists, but not the losing semifinalists. 2006 champions Italy face Paraguay, New Zealand, and first time qualifiers Slovakia in Group F, whilst France, who fell to the Azzurri in the 2006 final, were drawn against hosts South Africa, Mexico, and Uruguay in Group A. The Group of Death is widely considered to be Group G, which contains Brazil, Korea DPR, Côte d’Ivoire, and Portugal. The tournament’s opening match will be South Africa-Mexico at Johannesburg’s new Soccer City stadium on FRI 11 JUN 2010. more...

FIFA have settled on the pots, seedings, and draw procedure for the 2010 Men’s World Cup final tournament. The top seeds include hosts South Africa and the top seven teams in the FIFA world rankings of OCT 2009, who occupy Pot 1. Pot 2 contains the teams from the AFC, CONCACAF, and the OFC. Pot 3 holds the remaining teams from CAF and CONMEBOL, whilst Pot 4 contains the remaining UEFA teams. Each group will receive one team from each pot, and no group may contain more than two UEFA teams or more than one team from any other confederation. The draw begins at 17:00 UTC on FRI 04 DEC 2009 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. more...

The Desert Foxes of Algeria are in the Men’s World Cup for the first time since 1986 as they defeated Egypt 1-0 in a playoff for the CAF Group C title. Antar YAHIA scored the spectacular winner in the 39th minute when he volleyed in a lob from Karim ZIANI off the underside of the bar. The match, played at Sudan’s National Stadium in Omdurman, was necessitated when the Pharaohs defeated Algeria 2-0 on the last day of Group C action, leaving the teams deadlocked atop the group on all tiebreaking criteria.

A quick summary of action around the CAF second group phase on the weekend of SAT 14-SUN 15 NOV 2009. more...

A quick summary of action around the CAF second group phase on the weekend of SAT 10-SUN 11 OCT 2009. more...

A quick summary of action around the CAF second group phase on the weekend of SAT 05-SUN 06 SEP 2009. more...

A quick summary of action around the CAF second group phase on the weekend of SAT 20-SUN 21 JUN 2009. more...

A quick summary of action around the CAF second group phase on the weekend of SAT 06-SUN 07 JUN 2009. more...

A quick summary of action around the CAF second group phase on the weekend of SAT 28-SUN 29 MAR 2009. more...

The draw for the CAF third round of qualifiers for South Africa 2010 was not kind to Togo, Cameroon, or Morocco, all of whom ended up together in Group A. Burkina Faso’s strong performance in the second round earns them a meeting with Côte d’Ivoire in Group E, whilst Mali and Sudan are together again in Group D with Ghana and Benin. Only group winners qualify from this round, which begins in MAR 2009. more...

The draw for the CAF third round of 2010 Men’s World Cup qualifiers is due to take place on WED 22 OCT 2008. The twenty teams that survived the second round are to be drawn into five groups of four, with seedings based on the FIFA world rankings of OCT 2008. Each group consists of one team from each pot. more...

A quick summary of action around the CAF second round on the weekend of FRI 10-SUN 12 OCT 2008. more...