UEFA shortens qualifying schedule

With the subtraction of one spot in the World Cup Finals (its 14th entry became Africa's 6th), UEFA is down to 13 spots for qualifying. Still, the same number of teams will advance through qualifying as in 2006 since Germany was then granted automatic admission.

This time, the ruling body of UEFA has decided to mercifully decrease the number of matches a team would have to play in order to qualify. This year, the 53 European teams will be split into nine groups. Eight groups will have six teams, and one group will have five teams. Each group winner will qualify for the 2010 World Cup while the eight best second-place finishers will advance to four separate two-leg playoffs. This system seem reasonable, until your team ends up being the ninth-best second-place finisher. Really, wouldn't the ninth-best second place finisher be able to make the case that it managed to finish second in what ended up being an evenly-matched group?

This system is in contrast from the 2006 qualifiers where the 52 teams were split into eight groups. Three groups had seven teams and five groups had six teams. In this system, the eight group winners advance to the World Cup, along with the two best second-place finishers. The other six second-place squads then played three separate two-leg playoffs. This system, while slightly more drawn out, was more fair than the current system because all teams that finished second in their groups were given another chance to qualify.

The Road to Glory Starts in Samoa

Even though the OFC only gets .5 bids to the World Cup (1st place in Oceania has a home/away playoff with 5th place in Asia), the first rounds of FIFA 2010 qualifying begin with the Oceania teams.

With Australia having moved to the AFC, New Zealand become the regional favorite and in fact have already qualified for the second phase of OFC qualifying. Alas, 9 other teams do not have this luxury, and fight for three remaining places in OFC's phase two.

There are two groups of five teams taking part in the first round of qualifications. Tuvalu is an associate member of FIFA and therefore may not qualify for the World Cup Finals. They are allowed entry here because these are officially known as the 13th South Pacific Games.

All games will be played in the Samoan capital of Apia. The rankings shown are the current ELO rankings for each team. New Zealand is ranked 76th.

Group A
108 Fiji
132 Tahiti
141 New Caledonia
195 Tuvalu
202 Cook Islands

Group B
105 Solomon Islands
133 Vanuatu
199 Tonga
204 Samoa
226 American Samoa

This is a round-robin tournament, and all teams play four group matches. The top two teams in each group advance to the semifinals of a knockout phase. The two finalists plus the third-place winner advance to the second round of OFC qualifying.

The favorites in Group A are Fiji and Tahiti, both of whom made the final six in the OFC last go around. New Caledonia is the only true threat to those two teams. New Caledonia reached the final of the previous version of this tournament in 2003, losing to Fiji. Fiji defeated Tahiti in its 2003 semifinal.

The two teams favored to win Group B are the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, both of whom made the final six in the OFC as well, with the Solomon Islands finishing a surprising second ahead of New Zealand. Vanuatu recorded a 4-2 victory over New Zealand in the final six, so both teams are challengers. It is hard to overlook Samoa because they are the hosts, but both the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu should advance to the semifinals along with Fiji and Tahiti.

203 teams start the journey for the final 32 spots. By the close of the 13th South Pacific Games, that number will be down to 197.

13th South Pacific Games order of play

August 25, 2007
Tahiti vs. New Caledonia 3 PM
Solomon Islands vs. American Samoa 3 PM
Fiji vs. Tuvalu 6 PM
Vanuatu vs. Samoa 8:30 PM

August 27, 2007
New Caledonia vs. Tuvalu 3 PM
Solomon Islands vs. Tonga 3 PM
Fiji vs. Cook Islands 6 PM
American Samoa vs. Samoa 8:30 PM

August 29, 2007
Tahiti vs. Tuvalu 3 PM
American Samoa vs. Vanuatu 3 PM
New Caledonia vs. Cook Islands 6 PM
Samoa vs. Tonga 8:30 PM

September 1, 2007
Cook Islands vs. Tuvalu 12:30 PM
Tonga vs. American Samoa 12:30 PM
Vanuatu vs. Solomon Islands 2:30 PM
Tahiti vs. Fiji 6 PM

September 3, 2007
Samoa vs. Solomon Islands 12:30 PM
Tonga vs. Vanuatu 12:30 PM
New Caledonia vs. Fiji 3 PM
Cook Islands vs. Tahiti 3 PM

September 5, 2007
Group B #1 vs. Group A #2 3 PM
Group A #1 vs. Group B #2 6 PM

September 7, 2007
Third-place match 2:30 PM
Final 6 PM

Times are local to Samoa.

CONMEBOL Qualifying schedule

The top four teams advance straight to South Africa, with the fifth-place team going to a two-leg playoff against the fourth-place CONCACAF squad for a slot in the 2010 World Cup. As always, Argentina and Brazil are the favorites, with Ecuador, Colombia, Uruguay, and Paraguay making up the second tier. Venezuela look like they too could qualify for the first time in 2010 after hosting the 2007 Copa América. Well, here they are, all 92 matches. If only the draws for the other regions were this clear-cut...

October 13, 2007
Bolivia at Uruguay
Brazil at Colombia
Chile at Argentina
Paraguay at Perú
Venezuela at Ecuador

October 16 2007
Argentina at Venezuela

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October 17, 2007
Colombia at Bolivia

Ecuador at Brazil

Perú at Chile

Uruguay at Paraguay

November 17, 2007
Bolivia at Argentina
Brazil at Perú
Chile at Uruguay
Ecuador at Paraguay
Venezuela at Colombia

November 20, 2007
Argentina at Colombia
Bolivia at Venezuela
Paraguay at Chile
Perú at Ecuador
Uruguay at Brazil

June 14, 2008
Brazil at Paraguay
Colombia at Perú
Chile at Bolivia
Ecuador at Argentina
Venezuela at Uruguay

June 18, 2008
Argentina at Brazil
Chile at Venezuela
Colombia at Ecuador
Paraguay at Bolivia
Perú at Uruguay

September 6, 2008
Bolivia at Ecuador
Brazil at Chile
Paraguay at Argentina
Uruguay at Colombia
Venezuela at Perú

September 10, 2008
Argentina at Perú
Bolivia at Brazil
Colombia at Chile
Ecuador at Uruguay
Venezuela at Paraguay

October 11, 2008
Brazil at Venezuela
Chile at Ecuador
Paraguay at Colombia
Perú at Bolivia
Uruguay at Argentina

October 15, 2008
Argentina at Chile
Colombia at Brazil
Ecuador at Venezuela
Perú at Paraguay
Uruguay at Bolivia

March 28, 2009
Bolivia at Colombia
Brazil at Ecuador
Chile at Perú
Paraguay at Uruguay
Venezuela at Argentina

April 1, 2009
Argentina at Bolivia
Colombia at Venezuela
Paraguay at Ecuador
Perú at Brazil
Uruguay at Chile

June 6, 2009
Brazil at Paraguay
Chile at Uruguay
Colombia at Argentina
Ecuador at Perú
Venezuela at Bolivia

June 10, 2009
Argentina at Ecuador
Bolivia at Chile
Paraguay at Brazil
Perú at Colombia
Uruguay at Venezuela

September 5, 2009
Bolivia at Paraguay
Brazil at Argentina
Ecuador at Colombia
Uruguay at Perú
Venezuela at Chile

September 9, 2009
Argentina at Paraguay
Chile at Brazil
Colombia at Uruguay
Ecuador at Bolivia
Perú at Venezuela

October 10, 2009
Brazil at Bolivia
Chile at Colombia
Paraguay at Venezuela
Perú at Argentina
Uruguay at Ecuador

October 14, 2009
Argentina at Uruguay
Bolivia at Perú
Colombia at Paraguay
Ecuador at Chile
Venezuela at Brazil

November 14 and 18, 2009

Playoff with CONCACAF

Durban to determine fates

The qualifying draws for UEFA, CONCACAF, AFC, and CAF will be held in Durban, South Africa on November 25, 2007.

By this time, the first four rounds of the eighteen-round CONMEBOL tournament would have already taken place, with one round on each of the following days:

October 13
October 17
November 17
November 21

CAF and AFC will eliminate some of their weaker teams in two-leg preliminary rounds in October, before the Durban draw. The AFC will pit 38 of its 43 teams in these rounds so that a field of 20 will be ready for Durban. CAF will pit ten of its 53 teams in these rounds so that a field of 48 will be ready for Durban (October 13/14 and 17/18).

From the original 203 teams, by the time the Durban draws come out we will be down to 182.

The Road to the World Cup in South Africa

Granted, the World Cup doesn't come around for three years. Other major tournaments in men's senior international soccer will precede the World Cup, including the Gold Cup in 2007 and 2009, la Copa América in 2007, the Euro Cup in 2008, the Asian Cup in 2007, the African Nations Cup in 2008 and 2010, the OFC Nations Cup in 2008 and the Confederations Cup in 2009.

Sites:
Gold Cup 2007 USA
Copa América 2007 Venezuela
Asian Cup 2007 Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam
Euro Cup 2008 Austria and Switzerland
African Nations Cup 2008 Ghana
OFC Nations Cup 2008 home/away sites
Confederations Cup 2009 South Africa
Gold Cup 2009 Canada
African Nations Cup 2010 Angola

FIFA World Cup Finals 2010 South Africa

South Africa are the first of the 203 entrants to qualify for the World Cup Finals. Who's next?