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...

New Zealand qualified for the 2010 Men’s World Cup with a 1-0 win over Bahrain in the second leg of the AFC/​OFC playoff final. The first leg in Manama had ended goalless, giving Bahrain a slight advantage as the teams entered Wellington. But Rory FALLON put the All Whites in front with a header from Leo BERTOS’s corner just before halftime. Five minutes after the break, Bahrain’s Abdulla OMAR was pulled down in the area – the resulting penalty by Sayed ADNAN was saved by Mark PASTON. New Zealand held on to win 1-0 on aggregate and reach the Men’s World Cup for the second time in their history, having previously qualified in 1982.

Bahrain advanced to the final of the AFC/​OFC playoff on away goals as they played to a dramatic 2-2 draw in Saudi Arabia on WED 09 SEP 2009. The first leg in Manama ended goalless, and first half goals from either side left the match at 1-1 until second half stoppage time. Hamad AL MONTASHARI headed in a cross from Yasser AL QAHTANI to give Saudi Arabia the apparent victory, but mere moments later, the home side were shocked as Abdullah Baba FATADI’s header found net beyond goalkeeper Waleed ABDULLAH. Bahrain move through to the playoff final against New Zealand.

With a win against New Caledonia on SAT 06 SEP 2008, New Zealand won the OFC final round of 2010 Men’s World Cup qualifying and earned their place in the AFC/OFC playoff. Ben SIGMUND scored his first goal for the All Whites, and after an equaliser by Michael HMAE, Shane SMELTZ scored twice to secure the 3-1 win. New Zealand will play off against the fifth team in the AFC, and they have also earned a ticket to the 2009 Confederations Cup as winners of the OFC Nations Cup.

A quick summary of action around the OFC final round on SAT 17-WED 21 NOV 2007. more...

The first match of the OFC final round, in which New Zealand were to host Fiji on SAT 13 OCT 2007, was postponed after Fiji’s Simione TAMANISAU was denied a New Zealand entry visa. Goalkeeper Tamanisau was caught by a New Zealand law that bans entry to members of the Fijian military and their families; the father of Tamanisau’s fiancé serves in a Fijian uniform. Considering the matter as a case of political involvement in sport, FIFA decided to prevent the match from going ahead. The return match, on WED 17 OCT 2007 in Lautoka, is unaffected.

Vanuatu earned their place in the OFC final round with a 2-0 upset win over the Solomon Is, who had been second in OFC qualifying for the 2006 Men’s World Cup. Seule SOROMON and Francois SAKAMA scored on either side of halftime, and shortly after the second goal, the Solomons were awarded a penalty that would have put them back in the game. But Chikau MANSALE saved Commins MENAPI’s attempt, and Vanuatu held on to take bronze at the South Pacific Games and move through. In the gold medal match, New Caledonia edged Fiji 1-0. The two teams will face off again to start the final round on SAT 13 OCT 2007, and Vanuatu will host New Zealand.

Nearly three years out, qualifiers for the 2010 Men’s World Cup are set to begin with the football tournament at the South Pacific Games, which will also serve as the first round of OFC qualifiers. Three teams will advance to the OFC final round and face New Zealand. Nine of the ten teams in the South Pacific Games are full FIFA members; only Tuvalu are associate members of the OFC. more...