2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

The European zone of qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup saw 53 teams competing for 13 places at the finals in South Africa. The qualification process started on 20 August 2008, nearly two months after the end of UEFA Euro 2008, and ended on 18 November 2009. The qualification process saw the first competitive matches of Montenegro.

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
Tournament details
Dates20 August 2008 – 18 November 2009
Teams53 (from 1 confederation)
Tournament statistics
Matches played268
Goals scored725 (2.71 per match)
Attendance6,050,105 (22,575 per match)
Top scorer(s)Greece Theofanis Gekas
(10 goals)
2006
2014

Denmark, England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, and Switzerland qualified in the first round by winning their groups. France, Greece, Portugal, and Slovenia qualified via the second round play-offs.

Format

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Teams were drawn into eight groups of six teams and one group of five teams. The nine group winners qualified directly, while the best eight second-placed teams contested home and away play off matches for the remaining four places. In determining the best eight second placed teams, the results against teams finishing last in the six team groups were not counted for consistency between the five and six team groups.[1]

Seeding

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After initially proposing to use a similar system to recent World Cup and European Championship qualification (based on results across the previous two European qualification cycles), the UEFA Executive Committee decided on 27 September 2007 at its meeting in Istanbul that seeding for the qualifiers would be based on FIFA World Rankings, in accordance with the FIFA World Cup regulations (which note that where teams are ranked on "performance" criteria, the FIFA World Rankings must be used).[2]

The November 2007 FIFA World Ranking the most recent at the time of the preliminary draw and used to determine the groups. Initially scheduled for 21 November, FIFA moved the release date of the ranking to 23 November to include the final match days of Euro 2008 qualification.[3]

Pot A
Team Rank
  Italy 3
  Spain 4
  Germany 5
  Czech Republic 6
  France 7
  Portugal 8
  Netherlands 9
  Croatia 10
  Greece 11
Pot B
Team Rank
  England 12
  Romania 13
  Scotland 14
  Turkey 16
  Bulgaria 18
  Russia 22
  Poland 23
  Sweden 24
  Israel 26
Pot C
Team Rank
  Norway 28
  Ukraine 29
  Serbia 30
  Denmark 31
  Northern Ireland 32
  Republic of Ireland 35
  Finland 36
   Switzerland 44
  Belgium 49
Pot D
Team Rank
  Slovakia 50
  Bosnia and Herzegovina 51
  Hungary 52
  Moldova 53
  Wales 58
  Macedonia 59
  Belarus 60
  Lithuania 61
  Cyprus 65
Pot E
Team Rank
  Georgia 77
  Albania 82
  Slovenia 83
  Latvia 88
  Iceland 89
  Armenia 90
  Austria 91
  Kazakhstan 110
  Liechtenstein 122
Pot F
Team Rank
  Azerbaijan 125
  Estonia 128
  Malta 139
  Luxembourg 152
  Montenegro 172
  Andorra 174
  Faroe Islands 195
  San Marino 197

Draw

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The draw for the group stage took place in Durban, South Africa on 25 November 2007.[4] During the draw, teams were drawn from the six pots A to F (see above) into the nine groups below, starting with pot F, which filled position 6 in the groups, then continued with pot E filling position 5, pot D in position 4 and so on.[5]

Summary

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Table – top row: group winners, second row: group runners-up, third row: others. The winner of each group qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup together with the winners of the play-off. The play-offs took place between the eight best runners-up among all nine groups while the worst group runner-up did not qualify.

  Group winners qualified directly for the 2010 FIFA World Cup
  Worst runner-up and all other teams were eliminated after the first round
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5 Group 6 Group 7 Group 8 Group 9
 
Denmark
 
Switzerland
 
Slovakia
 
Germany
 
Spain
 
England
 
Serbia
 
Italy
 
Netherlands
 
Portugal
 
Greece
 
Slovenia
 
Russia
 
Bosnia and Herzegovina
 
Ukraine
 
France
 
Republic of Ireland
 
Norway
 
Sweden
 
Hungary
 
Albania
 
Malta
 
Latvia
 
Israel
 
Luxembourg
 
Moldova
 
Czech Republic
 
Northern Ireland
 
Poland
 
San Marino
 
Finland
 
Wales
 
Azerbaijan
 
Liechtenstein
 
Turkey
 
Belgium
 
Estonia
 
Armenia
 
Croatia
 
Belarus
 
Kazakhstan
 
Andorra
 
Austria
 
Lithuania
 
Romania
 
Faroe Islands
 
Bulgaria
 
Cyprus
 
Montenegro
 
Georgia
 
Scotland
 
Macedonia
 
Iceland

First round

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Group 1

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Denmark 10 6 3 1 16 5 +11 21 Qualification to 2010 FIFA World Cup 1–1 1–0 0–1 3–0 3–0
2   Portugal 10 5 4 1 17 5 +12 19 Advance to second round 2–3 0–0 3–0 0–0 4–0
3   Sweden 10 5 3 2 13 5 +8 18 0–1 0–0 2–1 4–1 4–0
4   Hungary 10 5 1 4 10 8 +2 16 0–0 0–1 1–2 2–0 3–0
5   Albania 10 1 4 5 6 13 −7 7 1–1 1–2 0–0 0–1 3–0
6   Malta 10 0 1 9 0 26 −26 1 0–3 0–4 0–1 0–1 0–0
Source: [6]

Group 2

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1    Switzerland 10 6 3 1 18 8 +10 21 Qualification to 2010 FIFA World Cup 2–0 2–1 0–0 1–2 2–0
2   Greece 10 6 2 2 20 10 +10 20 Advance to second round 1–2 5–2 2–1 2–1 3–0
3   Latvia 10 5 2 3 18 15 +3 17 2–2 0–2 1–1 2–0 3–2
4   Israel 10 4 4 2 20 10 +10 16 2–2 1–1 0–1 7–0 3–1
5   Luxembourg 10 1 2 7 4 25 −21 5 0–3 0–3 0–4 1–3 0–0
6   Moldova 10 0 3 7 6 18 −12 3 0–2 1–1 1–2 1–2 0–0
Source: [6]

Group 3

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Slovakia 10 7 1 2 22 10 +12 22 Qualification to 2010 FIFA World Cup 0–2 2–2 2–1 2–1 7–0
2   Slovenia 10 6 2 2 18 4 +14 20 Advance to second round 2–1 0–0 2–0 3–0 5–0
3   Czech Republic 10 4 4 2 17 6 +11 16 1–2 1–0 0–0 2–0 7–0
4   Northern Ireland 10 4 3 3 13 9 +4 15 0–2 1–0 0–0 3–2 4–0
5   Poland 10 3 2 5 19 14 +5 11 0–1 1–1 2–1 1–1 10–0
6   San Marino 10 0 0 10 1 47 −46 0 1–3 0–3 0–3 0–3 0–2
Source: [6]

Group 4

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Germany 10 8 2 0 26 5 +21 26 Qualification to 2010 FIFA World Cup 2–1 1–1 1–0 4–0 4–0
2   Russia 10 7 1 2 19 6 +13 22 Advance to second round 0–1 3–0 2–1 2–0 3–0
3   Finland 10 5 3 2 14 14 0 18 3–3 0–3 2–1 1–0 2–1
4   Wales 10 4 0 6 9 12 −3 12 0–2 1–3 0–2 1–0 2–0
5   Azerbaijan 10 1 2 7 4 14 −10 5 0–2 1–1 1–2 0–1 0–0
6   Liechtenstein 10 0 2 8 2 23 −21 2 0–6 0–1 1–1 0–2 0–2
Source: [6]

Group 5

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Spain 10 10 0 0 28 5 +23 30 Qualification to 2010 FIFA World Cup 1–0 1–0 5–0 3–0 4–0
2   Bosnia and Herzegovina 10 6 1 3 25 13 +12 19 Advance to second round 2–5 1–1 2–1 7–0 4–1
3   Turkey 10 4 3 3 13 10 +3 15 1–2 2–1 1–1 4–2 2–0
4   Belgium 10 3 1 6 13 20 −7 10 1–2 2–4 2–0 3–2 2–0
5   Estonia 10 2 2 6 9 24 −15 8 0–3 0–2 0–0 2–0 1–0
6   Armenia 10 1 1 8 6 22 −16 4 1–2 0–2 0–2 2–1 2–2
Source: [6]

Group 6

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   England 10 9 0 1 34 6 +28 27 Qualification to 2010 FIFA World Cup 2–1 5–1 3–0 5–1 6–0
2   Ukraine 10 6 3 1 21 6 +15 21 Advance to second round 1–0 0–0 1–0 2–1 5–0
3   Croatia 10 6 2 2 19 13 +6 20 1–4 2–2 1–0 3–0 4–0
4   Belarus 10 4 1 5 19 14 +5 13 1–3 0–0 1–3 4–0 5–1
5   Kazakhstan 10 2 0 8 11 29 −18 6 0–4 1–3 1–2 1–5 3–0
6   Andorra 10 0 0 10 3 39 −36 0 0–2 0–6 0–2 1–3 1–3
Source: [6]

Group 7

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Serbia 10 7 1 2 22 8 +14 22 Qualification to 2010 FIFA World Cup 1–1 1–0 3–0 5–0 2–0
2   France 10 6 3 1 18 9 +9 21 Advance to second round 2–1 3–1 1–0 1–1 5–0
3   Austria 10 4 2 4 14 15 −1 14 1–3 3–1 2–1 2–1 3–1
4   Lithuania 10 4 0 6 10 11 −1 12 2–1 0–1 2–0 0–1 1–0
5   Romania 10 3 3 4 12 18 −6 12 2–3 2–2 1–1 0–3 3–1
6   Faroe Islands 10 1 1 8 5 20 −15 4 0–2 0–1 1–1 2–1 0–1
Source: [6]

Group 8

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification            
1   Italy 10 7 3 0 18 7 +11 24 Qualification to 2010 FIFA World Cup 1–1 2–0 3–2 2–1 2–0
2   Republic of Ireland 10 4 6 0 12 8 +4 18 Advance to second round 2–2 1–1 1–0 0–0 2–1
3   Bulgaria 10 3 5 2 17 13 +4 14 0–0 1–1 2–0 4–1 6–2
4   Cyprus 10 2 3 5 14 16 −2 9 1–2 1–2 4–1 2–2 2–1
5   Montenegro 10 1 6 3 9 14 −5 9 0–2 0–0 2–2 1–1 2–1
6   Georgia 10 0 3 7 7 19 −12 3 0–2 1–2 0–0 1–1 0–0
Source: [6]

Group 9

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification          
1   Netherlands 8 8 0 0 17 2 +15 24 Qualification to 2010 FIFA World Cup 2–0 3–0 4–0 2–0
2   Norway 8 2 4 2 9 7 +2 10 0–1 4–0 2–1 2–2
3   Scotland 8 3 1 4 6 11 −5 10 0–1 0–0 2–0 2–1
4   Macedonia 8 2 1 5 5 11 −6 7 1–2 0–0 1–0 2–0
5   Iceland 8 1 2 5 7 13 −6 5 1–2 1–1 1–2 1–0
Source: [6]

Ranking of second placed teams

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Because one group had one team fewer than the others, matches against the sixth placed team in each group were not included in this ranking. As a result, eight matches played by each team counted for the purposes of the second placed table.

Pos Grp Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 4   Russia 8 5 1 2 15 6 +9 16 Advance to second round (play-offs)
2 2   Greece 8 5 1 2 16 9 +7 16
3 6   Ukraine 8 4 3 1 10 6 +4 15
4 7   France 8 4 3 1 12 9 +3 15
5 3   Slovenia 8 4 2 2 10 4 +6 14
6 5   Bosnia and Herzegovina 8 4 1 3 19 12 +7 13
7 1   Portugal 8 3 4 1 9 5 +4 13
8 8   Republic of Ireland 8 2 6 0 8 6 +2 12
9 9   Norway 8 2 4 2 9 7 +2 10
Source: [6]

Second round

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The UEFA second round (often referred to as the play off stage) was contested by the best eight runners up from the nine first round groups. The winners of each of four home and away ties joined the group winners in the World Cup finals in South Africa. Norway, with 10 points, was ranked 9th so failed to qualify for the second round.

Seeding and draw

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The eight teams were seeded according to the FIFA World Rankings released on 16 October (shown in parentheses in the table below). The draw for the ties was held in Zürich on 19 October, with the top four teams seeded into one pot and the bottom four teams seeded into a second. A separate draw decided the host of the first leg.[7]

Pot 1 (seeded)
Team Pos
  France 9
  Portugal 10
  Russia 12
  Greece 16
Pot 2 (unseeded)
Team Pos
  Ukraine 22
  Republic of Ireland 34
  Bosnia and Herzegovina 42
  Slovenia 49

Matches

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Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Republic of Ireland   1–2   France 0–1 1–1 (aet)
Portugal   2–0   Bosnia and Herzegovina 1–0 1–0
Greece   1–0   Ukraine 0–0 1–0
Russia   2–2 (a)   Slovenia 2–1 0–1

Qualified teams

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The following 13 teams from UEFA qualified for the final tournament.

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup1
  Denmark Group 1 winners 10 October 2009 3 (1986, 1998, 2002)
   Switzerland Group 2 winners 14 October 2009 8 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1994, 2006)
  Slovakia Group 3 winners 14 October 2009 8 (19344, 19384, 19544, 19584, 19624, 19704, 19824, 19904)
  Germany Group 4 winners 10 October 2009 16 (1934, 1938, 19542, 19582, 19622, 19662, 19702, 19742, 19782, 19822, 19862, 19902, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006)
  Spain Group 5 winners 9 September 2009 12 (1934, 1950, 1962, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006)
  England Group 6 winners 9 September 2009 12 (1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1998, 2002, 2006)
  Serbia Group 7 winners 10 October 2009 10 (19303, 19503, 19543, 19583, 19623, 19743, 19823, 19903, 19983, 20063)
  Italy Group 8 winners 10 October 2009 16 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006)
  Netherlands Group 9 winners 6 June 2009 8 (1934, 1938, 1974, 1978, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2006)
  Greece Second round (play-off) winners 18 November 2009 1 (1994)
  Slovenia Second round (play-off) winners 18 November 2009 1 (2002)
  Portugal Second round (play-off) winners 18 November 2009 4 (1966, 1986, 2002, 2006)
  France Second round (play-off) winners 18 November 2009 12 (1930, 1934, 1938, 1954, 1958, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1998, 2002, 2006)
1 Bold indicates champions for that year. Italic indicates hosts for that year.
2 Competed as West Germany. A separate team for East Germany also participated in qualifications during this time, having only competed in 1974.
3 From 1930 to 1998, Serbia competed together with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Slovenia as part of Yugoslavia, while in 2006 as Serbia and Montenegro together with Montenegro.
4 From 1934 to 1990, Slovakia competed as Czechoslovakia.

Top goalscorers

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There were 725 goals scored in 268 matches, for an average of 2.71 goals per match.

10 goals

9 goals

7 goals

6 goals

Below are full goalscorer lists for all groups and the play-off rounds:

References

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  1. ^ "EXCO unveils World Cup programme". UEFA.com. Geneva: Union of European Football Associations. 25 June 2007. Archived from the original on 16 March 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  2. ^ "All clear for December EURO draw". UEFA.com. Geneva: Union of European Football Associations. 27 September 2007. Archived from the original on 3 February 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  3. ^ "Next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking on Friday 23 November 2007". FIFA.com. Zurich: Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 12 November 2007. Archived from the original on 13 November 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  4. ^ "Preliminary draw for the 2010 World Cup". FIFA.com. Zurich: Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Archived from the original on 9 June 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  5. ^ "Preliminary Draw Information" (PDF). FIFA.com. Zurich: Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 22 November 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 September 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA) 2010, football - table and standings". soccer365.me. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  7. ^ "Key Decisions Reached in Rio". FIFA.com. Rio de Janeiro: Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 29 September 2009. Archived from the original on 3 October 2009. Retrieved 29 September 2009.
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