In the final World Cup qualifier for over one month, Lesotho went to Libreville to face Gabon. Neither side was able to pull ahead until late in the first half. The home crowd was rewarded for its patience with a goal that placed Gabon ahead 1-0 at the half. Twenty minutes into the second half, the Gabonese again found the back of the net for a 2-0 lead. The game ended with the score still 2-0, and the Gabonese now have six points with two games left to play. Lesotho are the latest team to be eliminated from the 2010 World Cup. Gabon trail Ghana and Libya in the Group E table.Goal scorers:
Gabon: Do Marcolino 42, 65
Before the draw, Japan were designated the fourth seed and were placed into Pot B. Saudi Arabia became the fifth seed and were put into Pot C.
After the second round of North America's qualification cycle, ten of the top twelve seeds are still alive. The only exceptions are Panamá, who fell to El Salvador, and Guyana, who were ousted by Suriname. There is no need for a draw in CONCACAF as these semifinal groupings were determined in the Durban draw in November 2007.
The draw for the fourth round of Asian qualifying will be held on June 27, 2008, in Kuala Lumpur. There will be four pots of unequal size that will be used to split the remaining ten teams in two groups of five. The top two finishers in each group will advance to the 2010 World Cup, and the two third-place teams will advance to a home-and-away playoff against one another.
Uganda visited Angola in the penultimate African qualifier of the month of June. Nothing spectacular occurred in this match, scoring-wise or behavior-wise, so June 23, 2008 will down go down in history as producing no World Cup qualifying scores. The scoreless tie keeps the two participants in a tie for second in Group C with seven points, two behind leaders Benin. Angola are currently second on goal differential.
Panamá took a 1-0 aggregate lead into San Salvador for the return match against El Salvador. Things were absolutely rosy for Panamá after a goal in the first quarter hour made the score 1-0. At that point, Panamá knew they would advance as long as they did not lose by more than one goal. When halftime struck, Panamá still had the 1-0 lead. With twenty minutes to play, El Salvador finally broke even, but 1-1 would not win the aggregate; only 3-1 would. In the eightieth minute, Panamá’s Cárlos Rivera grabbed his second yellow card and was ejected. On the ensuing penalty kick, El Salvador pushed the score to 2-1. If Panamá could just hold down the fort for ten more minutes despite being a man down, they would have advanced. It was not to be, however, as El Salvador scored with two minutes to go for a 3-1 victory. To add insult to elimination, Panamá left the field with only nine men after Adolfo Machado was shown the exit after a straight red. El Salvador advance to Round Three on a 3-2 aggregate victory.
Niger faced Benin in a match that Benin wanted to win to put pressure on Angola and Uganda, whose match had been postponed until the next day. Benin accomplished this objective with a 2-0 victory that was extremely bitter for Niger, not only because it signaled their eliminated, but also because they suffered the indignity of an own goal. Benin had a lead of 1-0 at the half before Niger gave away the second tally. Benin have nine points and lead Group C. Both Angola and Uganda have six.
The eyes of the soccer universe were focused on the United Arab Emirates today, with Iraq playing Qatar in Dubai and the Emiratis hosting Syria in Abu Dhabi. These two matches were the only ones that still mattered for the qualification process for Asia’s fourth round.
Madagascar paid Mozambique a visit. Their hosts were not very kind, however, as they staked out a 1-0 lead at the half. Two second half goals gave the home side a three-goal shutout over their friends from across the sea. Madagascar have three points, and Mozambique have four in Group G.
China faced Australia in one of eight Asian qualifiers that served no purpose in determining progression to the fourth phase. The visiting Chinese went all out to preserve some semblance of pride after having already been eliminated, but Group A winners Australia definitely did not bring a full squad for the outing. 
Guatemala visited Saint Lucia with a 6-0 aggregate lead in hand. The Guatemalans pulled ahead 2-0 in the first half before Saint Lucia scored their only goal of the tie to make it 2-1 at the half. An extra goal at the end gave Guatemala a 3-1 victory and a spot in Round Three thanks to a 9-1 aggregate demolition.
Seychelles visited red-hot Burkina Faso after nearly pulling out a win at home against the group leaders the previous week. Burkina Faso were not about to let this game get out of hand, however, and took a 2-0 lead by the end of the first half hour. The Seychelles scored just before the half, and the Burkina Faso fans must have been disappointed by the 2-1 score. An early second-half goal stretched the lead up to 3-1, and a late goal by national hero Koné ended the score at 4-1.
Vanuatu visited New Caledonia in a match that had to be a victory for both sides. Anything less than a win would send Vanuatu home for good, meaning their two matches against Fiji in September would just be glorified friendlies. A loss by New Caledonia would have left them with no control over their destiny. Even two wins over New Zealand in September would be for naught if New Zealand could beat Fiji in November. Vanuatu’s Ken Masauvakalo committed a fatal error in the twelfth minute; he took a red card. Vanuatu had no luck playing a man down, and New Caledonia had a 1-0 lead at the half. In the second, the French colony added two more for a 3-0 victory that eliminated both Vanuatu and Fiji from World Cup contention.
Gambia went into Algeria with the lead in Group F and a two-point cushion over third-place Algeria. By the time the game was done, Algeria were on top of the group and had a one-point lead over both Gambia and Sénégal, who play Liberia on June 22. Algeria score once in the first half, and the 1-0 lead at the break held for the entirety of the second half, giving the Algerians a one-goal, shutout victory.
Chile visited Venezuela in a match to determine which team would jump into the top five of South American qualifying. The scoreless first half gave no indication of the upcoming goal binge in the subsequent period. Venezuela opened the tally with a low, long-range free kick goal that deflected off of a Chilean defender and into the net. Chile equalized on a penalty kick after Venezuela's Miguel Mea Vitali tripped Alexis Sánchez inside of the box. Chile went ahead 2-1 off of a spot kick that was tapped in, but Venezuela equalized with a fastbreak conversion. Venezuela nearly scored the winning goal twice, but it was Chile that won 3-2 thanks to a beautiful shot two minutes into stoppage time.
First-place Paraguay visited the high-altitude city of La Paz to take on the last-place Bolivians. Paraguay suffered their first loss of qualifying in a shocker. Bolivia had a 2-0 lead at the half, but may have felt their momentum turning after Paraguay made it 2-1 in the second half. Regardless, Bolivia answered quickly with two more goals to make it 4-1. Paraguay scored once more, but it was too little, too late, and Bolivia won 4-2 to move out of last-place and ahead of Perú. Much of the blame may lie with Paraguayan backup goaltender Aldo Bobadilla, who did not perform well in place of Justo Villar.
Cuba visited underdog Antigua and Barbuda in the last of the twelve Round Two matchups in North America, but Cuba knew better than to overlook their opponents considering what Bermuda had done to Trinidad and Tobago the day before. The Antiguans pulled out to a 1-0 lead within ten minutes, only to see it disappear the very next minute. The Antiguans grabbed a quick second goal as well, only to see the 2-1 lead disappear as soon as it came. The score was 2-2 at the half. Cuba took a 3-2 in the second half on to be equalized themselves by an Antiguan response. The Cubans grabbed a 4-3 win with a strike five minutes from the end of the game and gladly will return to Cuba with a lead in the aggregate and a handful of road goals.
Brazil went to Asunción with Kaká to take on the leaders of South American qualifying, Paraguay. Paraguay got off to a one-goal lead halfway through the first half thanks to their star player, Santa Cruz. The lead stuck through the half. In the second half, Paraguay’s Dario Verón picked up his second yellow card and an ejection just three minutes in, but Paraguay were not going to be denied their home victory. A strike one minute later proved decisive and Paraguay won 2-0 to extend their group lead.
"When you meet one of the so-called smaller teams, nothing is going to be given to you. You still have to go out there and beat them. Who knows, we could hit the crossbar eight times and they could have the game of their lives. We could find ourselves out of contention before the real competition even begins. This is soccer, and it's not played on paper." –Landon Donovan, United States of America
Mozambique visited Madagascar looking to take full points and get a leg up on the other power teams in their group. At the half, it looked possible given their 1-0 lead, and up until the final minute Mozambique made the margin hold up. It’s too bad for Mozambique that the home side equalized at the buzzer for a 1-1 tie. The teams each take one point.
“We are calm; we have prepared well. We are in a good state especially with our attitude. We intend on arriving with our best level and achieve the result for which we are hoping.” –Juan Arango, Venezuelan striker
Angola visited Uganda with their hot start to qualifying giving them confidence. Confidence was not enough for them to handle the talented Ugandans in Kampala, however, and Uganda jumped out to a 2-0 lead within twenty minutes. A second-half strike made it 3-0 before Angola pulled out a last-minute goal. The final score read Uganda 3, Angola 1.
Australia visited hot Doha without Lucas Neill or Vince Grella and were looking to rebound from the debacle against Iraq in Dubai. Australia and Qatar may not be buying each other dinner after such a harsh match (Australia had five of the eight yellow-card warnings), but there is no doubt that the Qataris will have to respect the Aussies. Australia pushed its 1-0 halftime lead to 3-0 in the second half before Qatar pulled one back with two minutes to go to earn a more respectable 3-1 loss. Australia advance to Round Four, whereas Qatar are now in third place in Group A.
"A win over Malawi is important because it would lift us through to the next phase." –Egypt coach, Hassan Shehata
“The players believe it's possible, so we'll try to fulfill this dream.” New Caledonia coach Didier Chambaron speaking about his team’s prospects of winning the OFC Nations Cup and advancing to the World Cup via the Oceania/Asia playoff.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo needed a big win in Djibouti to apply pressure on group-leading Egypt the day before the Egyptians visited Malawi. Consider their mission accomplished. With three goals in the first half and three more in the second, Congo DR outdid Egypt’s 4-0 win in Djibouti with a 6-0 win of their own. They are currently at six points, tied with Egypt for a least one day at the head of the group. Djibouti are almost eliminated and have yet to pick up a point through three matches.
Togo looked like they were flying high after their clutch win over Zambia at home in their first game. Swaziland did not seem to know that they were supposed to be the afterthought in the three-team group. A scoreless first half gave the Swazis belief in the abilities, and they poured in two goals because Togo frantically scrambled for one with two minutes left. Togo could not find the second, and Swaziland pulled off the upset of the day with a 2-1 victory.
Syria faced Kuwait in Kuwait during the final AFC qualifier of the day. The game was fully of intensity; Syria picked up three yellows, and Kuwait added two of its own. As for the goals, they came quickly and often. A Kuwait goal was twice answered by a Syrian goal, and the score was 2-2 at the half. Kuwait pulled away with two goals right around the hour mark, but they were not comfortable for long. Kuwaiti goalkeeper Al Khaldi was ejected for a red card in the seventy-third minute, but luckily for the Kuwaitis, they had one substitution remaining. Down a man, Kuwait managed to hang on for the 4-2 victory and are still in contention in Group E.
South Africa was looking to get back on track after its opening defeat at Nigeria. Their opponents were Equatorial Guinea. South Africa got off to a fast start with a goal in minute ten, and they were able to play add-on before the half to make it 2-0. The lead was 3-0 at the hour mark, and 3-1 after a penalty kick make by the visitors. The final score was South Africa 4, Equatorial Guinea 1, thanks a stoppage time score.
Turkmenistan visited North Korea in their fourth group C match. The North Koreans found themselves tied at the half with last-place Turkmenistan, but a second-half goal saw them through to a one-goal shutout win. Turkmenistan have seen their dreams of making the World Cup extinguished and will have to watch the tournament as spectators. North Korea face Jordan at home on June 14.
