The draw for these two groups was performed in Zagreb on January 30, 2008.September 6, 2008
Latvia at Moldova
Greece at Luxembourg
Switzerland at Israel
Bosnia and Herzegovina at Spain
Estonia at Belgium
Turkey at Armenia
September 10, 2008
Greece at Latvia
Israel at Moldova
Luxembourg at Switzerland
Estonia at Bosnia and Herzegovina
Armenia at Spain
Belgium at Turkey
October 11, 2008
Israel at Luxembourg
Latvia at Switzerland
Moldova at Greece
Armenia at Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina at Turkey
Spain at Estonia
October 15, 2008
Israel at Latvia
Moldova at Luxembourg
Switzerland at Greece
Armenia at Bosnia and Herzegovina
Spain at Belgium
Turkey at Estonia
March 28, 2009
Latvia at Luxembourg
Greece at Israel
Switzerland at Moldova
Bosnia and Herzegovina at Belgium
Estonia at Armenia
Turkey at Spain
April 1, 2009
Luxembourg at Latvia
Israel at Greece
Moldova at Switzerland
Belgium at Bosnia and Herzegovina
Armenia at Estonia
Spain at Turkey
September 5, 2009
Latvia at Israel
Luxembourg at Moldova
Greece at Switzerland
Bosnia and Herzegovina at Armenia
Belgium at Spain
Estonia at Turkey
September 9, 2009
Luxembourg at Israel
Switzerland at Latvia
Greece at Moldova
Belgium at Armenia
Turkey at Bosnia and Herzegovina
Estonia at Spain
October 10, 2009
Latvia at Greece
Moldova at Israel
Switzerland at Luxembourg
Bosnia and Herzegovina at Estonia
Spain at Armenia
Turkey at Belgium
October 14, 2009
Moldova at Latvia
Luxembourg at Greece
Israel at Switzerland
Spain at Bosnia and Herzegovina
Belgium at Estonia
Armenia at Turkey
All of the UEFA group fixtures have now been announced.
This list of matches was confirmed in Bratislava on January 16.
The group F fixtures were decided on Janaury 14 in Zagreb. The group H matches were assigned on January 15 in Sofia.
Three ties have been reduced to one-leg after FIFA deemed four of the six nations unable to provide an acceptable stadium per FIFA guidelines.
As of now, the only match days are May 30, June 6, June 13, June 20, September 5, and October 10. I have a feeling, however, that these dates will get shifted around for individual matchups.
These fixtures were announced on January 10 in Frankfurt.
Group A fixtures were announced in Copenhagen.
The schedule for the first round of North American qualifying has been set.
Group G fixtures were the first to be determined on December 8, 2007 in Vienna. Group I fixtures were determined on December 14, 2007 in Amsterdam. Group I will finish in September 2009, but Group G will finish in October 2009.
The fixtures begin in February with the top seeds hosting the lowest seeds in each of their groups. The meat of the qualification cycle takes place in June 2008. There is a home-and-away series in early June for match days three and four.
We will get to see how worthy South Africa are of hosting the World Cup by their results in the first round of qualifying against mighty Nigeria. Three of the top four African seeds (Cameroon, Nigeria, Morocco) are looking to validate their rankings by qualifying for the World Cup finals after missing out in 2006. Togo and Angola are looking to prove that they were no flukes last qualification cycle by marching into South Africa 2010. A * denotes a Germany 2006 participant. A # signifies a Ghana 2008 qualifier. The numbers are the teams' current ELO ratings.
England just cannot catch a break. Less than one week after being eliminated by Croatia from Euro2008, the two foes are drawn against each other again. Denmark and Sweden are also drawn together again, giving the Danish fans a chance to redeem themselves as a civilized audience. The toughest groups appear to be Groups A, C, F, and G. A * denotes a Germany 2006 particapant and a # represents a Euro2008 qualifier.
The top seeds in each group are the United States of America, México, and Costa Rica. The second seeds in each group are Trinidad and Tobago, Honduras, and Panamá. The other seeded teams were Guatemala, Cuba, Jamaica, Canada, Guyana, and Haiti. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines received a first-round bye. Note that Guadeloupe are not members of FIFA and therefore cannot participate in the World Cup despite their semifinal appearance at the 2007 Gold Cup.
Australia were the top seed coming into the draw, but they left with the toughest group of any of the top five Asian countries. Group E will certainly put southwest Asian braggin rights on the line and will have the least travel time required for its contestants. South Korea appear to have been given the easiest route to round four, but none of these labels matter once the games begin.
New Zealand looked to distance themselves from the rest of their group by adding another three points to their haul with a win at home against Vanautu. They did just that, taking a 3-0 lead into the half and finishing with a 4-1 win at the final whistle. Unfortunately, the New Zealand captain Tim Brown picked up a second yellow card in second half stoppage time and was sent off the pitch. He will be inelgible for New Zealand's next qualifier. They will still have Shane Smeltz, who with four goals in three games is the top scorer in Oceania's second round of qualifying.
In perhaps the most back-and-forth affair of World Cup qualifying so far, Venezuela came back from being one goal down three times to obtain a home victory against Bolivia. The man to save Venezuela the first two times was forward Daniel Arismendi, a beneficiary of Venezuela's decision to start a second forward for the first time in qualifying. Tied 2-2 at the half, Bolivia took a commanding 3-2 lead with only thirteen minutes left in the match. Venezuela managed to tie the game at three and then caught a break when Bolivian goalie Carlos Arias suffered a leg injury with no substitutions remaining. The Venezuelans received two goals from forward Giancarlo Maldonado, who took advantage of Arias's inability to jump for his first strike. His second goal and his team's fifth came against a stand-in goalie who was out of position.
Chile went into Montevideo looking for crucial road points against Uruguay. They got the job done with a 2-2 tie. Both Chile and Uruguay have earned four points so far in qualifying. Chile managed a tie despite being outshot eleven to four; in fact, Chile actually held a 2-1 late in the second half after being down 1-0 at the break. The game became very heated, though, as both teams picked up four yellow cards apiece.
