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)
Attendance6,034,605 (22,517 per match)
Top scorer(s)Greece Theofanis Gekas (10 goals)

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.

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

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

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
TeamRank
 Italy3
 Spain4
 Germany5
 Czech Republic6
 France7
 Portugal8
 Netherlands9
 Croatia10
 Greece11
Pot B
TeamRank
 England12
 Romania13
 Scotland14
 Turkey16
 Bulgaria18
 Russia22
 Poland23
 Sweden24
 Israel26
Pot C
TeamRank
 Norway28
 Ukraine29
 Serbia30
 Denmark31
 Northern Ireland32
 Republic of Ireland35
 Finland36
  Switzerland44
 Belgium49
Pot D
TeamRank
 Slovakia50
 Bosnia and Herzegovina51
 Hungary52
 Moldova53
 Wales58
 Macedonia59
 Belarus60
 Lithuania61
 Cyprus65
Pot E
TeamRank
 Georgia77
 Albania82
 Slovenia83
 Latvia88
 Iceland89
 Armenia90
 Austria91
 Kazakhstan110
 Liechtenstein122
Pot F
TeamRank
 Azerbaijan125
 Estonia128
 Malta139
 Luxembourg152
 Montenegro172
 Andorra174
 Faroe Islands195
 San Marino197

Draw

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

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

Group 1

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Denmark Portugal Sweden Hungary Albania Malta
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:

Group 2

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Switzerland Greece Latvia Israel Luxembourg Moldova
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:

Group 3

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Slovakia Slovenia Czech Republic Northern Ireland Poland San Marino
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:

Group 4

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Germany Russia Finland Wales Azerbaijan Liechtenstein
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:

Group 5

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Spain Bosnia and Herzegovina Turkey Belgium Estonia Armenia
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:

Group 6

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification England Ukraine Croatia Belarus Kazakhstan Andorra
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:

Group 7

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Serbia France Austria Lithuania Romania Faroe Islands
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:

Group 8

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Italy Republic of Ireland Bulgaria Cyprus Montenegro Georgia (country)
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:

Group 9

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Netherlands Norway Scotland North Macedonia Iceland
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 —

Ranking of second placed teams

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:
Rules for classification: 1. Total points, 2. Goal difference, 3. Goals scored, 4. Goals scored away from home, 5. Disciplinary record (yellow card, –1 point; two yellow cards in the same match, –3 points; red card, –3 points; yellow card followed by a direct red card in the same match, –4 points), 6. Drawing of lots[6]

Second round

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

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)
TeamPos
 France9
 Portugal10
 Russia12
 Greece16
Pot 2 (unseeded)
TeamPos
 Ukraine22
 Republic of Ireland34
 Bosnia and Herzegovina42
 Slovenia49

Matches

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

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

Team Qualified as Qualified on Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup1
 DenmarkGroup 1 winners10 October 20093 (1986, 1998, 2002)
  SwitzerlandGroup 2 winners14 October 20098 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1994, 2006)
 SlovakiaGroup 3 winners14 October 20098 (19344, 19384, 19544, 19584, 19624, 19704, 19824, 19904)
 GermanyGroup 4 winners10 October 200916 (1934, 1938, 19542, 19582, 19622, 19662, 19702, 19742, 19782, 19822, 19862, 19902, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006)
 SpainGroup 5 winners9 September 200912 (1934, 1950, 1962, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006)
 EnglandGroup 6 winners9 September 200912 (1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1998, 2002, 2006)
 SerbiaGroup 7 winners10 October 200910 (19303, 19503, 19543, 19583, 19623, 19743, 19823, 19903, 19983, 20063)
 ItalyGroup 8 winners10 October 200916 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006)
 NetherlandsGroup 9 winners6 June 20098 (1934, 1938, 1974, 1978, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2006)
 GreeceSecond round (play-off) winners18 November 20091 (1994)
 SloveniaSecond round (play-off) winners18 November 20091 (2002)
 PortugalSecond round (play-off) winners18 November 20094 (1966, 1986, 2002, 2006)
 FranceSecond round (play-off) winners18 November 200912 (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.

Goalscorers

There were 725 goals scored over 268 games by 399 different players, for an average of 2.71 goals per game. England were the highest scorers in the European section with 34 goals. Malta did not score any goals, but did score two own goals. The top scorer was Theofanis Gekas of Greece, who scored ten goals.

Note: Goals scored in the play-offs are included.

10 goals
9 goals
7 goals
6 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal
2 own goals

References

  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. ↑ "Determining Europe's runners-up". FIFA.com. Zurich: Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 16 October 2008. Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
  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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