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. The qualification process started on 20 August 2008, over a month after the end of UEFA Euro 2008, and ended on 18 November 2009. The qualification process saw the first competitive matches of Montenegro.

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

The countries which eventually qualified for the final tournament are emboldened in the table below.

Pot A	Pot B	Pot C	Pot D	Pot E	Pot F
Italy  Spain  Germany  Czech Republic  France  Portugal  Netherlands  Croatia  Greece	England  Romania  Scotland  Turkey  Bulgaria  Russia  Poland  Sweden  Israel	Norway  Ukraine  Serbia  Denmark  Northern Ireland  Republic of Ireland  Finland   Switzerland  Belgium	Slovakia  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Hungary  Moldova  Wales  Macedonia  Belarus  Lithuania  Cyprus	Georgia  Albania  Slovenia  Latvia  Iceland  Armenia  Austria  Kazakhstan  Azerbaijan	Liechtenstein  Estonia  Malta  Luxembourg  Montenegro  Andorra  Faroe Islands  San Marino

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 6 pots A-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]

First round

Summary

  Winner of each group qualified directly for the 2010 FIFA World Cup

  The eight best runners-up among all nine groups advanced to the second round (play-offs)

  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

Groups

Group 1

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Denmark 10 6 3 1 16 5 +11 21  Portugal 10 5 4 1 17 5 +12 19  Sweden 10 5 3 2 13 5 +8 18  Hungary 10 5 1 4 10 8 +2 16  Albania 10 1 4 5 6 13 −7 7  Malta 10 0 1 9 0 26 −26 1

Albania  – 1–1 0–1 3–0 1–2 0–0 Denmark  3–0 – 0–1 3–0 1–1 1–0 Hungary  2–0 0–0 – 3–0 0–1 1–2 Malta  0–0 0–3 0–1 – 0–4 0–1 Portugal  0–0 2–3 3–0 4–0 – 0–0 Sweden  4–1 0–1 2–1 4–0 0–0 –

Group 2

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts   Switzerland 10 6 3 1 18 8 +10 21  Greece 10 6 2 2 20 10 +10 20  Latvia 10 5 2 3 18 15 +3 17  Israel 10 4 4 2 20 10 +10 16  Luxembourg 10 1 2 7 4 25 −21 5  Moldova 10 0 3 7 6 18 −12 3

Greece  – 2–1 5–2 2–1 3–0 1–2 Israel  1–1 – 0–1 7–0 3–1 2–2 Latvia  0–2 1–1 – 2–0 3–2 2–2 Luxembourg  0–3 1–3 0–4 – 0–0 0–3 Moldova  1–1 1–2 1–2 0–0 – 0–2 Switzerland   2–0 0–0 2–1 1–2 2–0 –

Group 3

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Slovakia 10 7 1 2 22 10 +12 22  Slovenia 10 6 2 2 18 4 +14 20  Czech Republic 10 4 4 2 17 6 +11 16  Northern Ireland 10 4 3 3 13 9 +4 15  Poland 10 3 2 5 19 14 +5 11  San Marino 10 0 0 10 1 47 −46 0

Czech Republic  – 0–0 2–0 7–0 1–2 1–0 Northern Ireland  0–0 – 3–2 4–0 0–2 1–0 Poland  2–1 1–1 – 10–0 0–1 1–1 San Marino  0–3 0–3 0–2 – 1–3 0–3 Slovakia  2–2 2–1 2–1 7–0 – 0–2 Slovenia  0–0 2–0 3–0 5–0 2–1 –

Group 4

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Germany 10 8 2 0 26 5 +21 26  Russia 10 7 1 2 19 6 +13 22  Finland 10 5 3 2 14 14 0 18  Wales 10 4 0 6 9 12 −3 12  Azerbaijan 10 1 2 7 4 14 −10 5  Liechtenstein 10 0 2 8 2 23 −21 2

Azerbaijan  – 1–2 0–2 0–0 1–1 0–1 Finland  1–0 – 3–3 2–1 0–3 2–1 Germany  4–0 1–1 – 4–0 2–1 1–0 Liechtenstein  0–2 1–1 0–6 – 0–1 0–2 Russia  2–0 3–0 0–1 3–0 – 2–1 Wales  1–0 0–2 0–2 2–0 1–3 –

Group 5

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Spain 10 10 0 0 28 5 +23 30  Bosnia and Herzegovina 10 6 1 3 25 13 +12 19  Turkey 10 4 3 3 13 10 +3 15  Belgium 10 3 1 6 13 20 −7 10  Estonia 10 2 2 6 9 24 −15 8  Armenia 10 1 1 8 6 22 −16 4

Armenia  – 2–1 0–2 2–2 1–2 0–2 Belgium  2–0 – 2–4 3–2 1–2 2–0 Bosnia and Herzegovina  4–1 2–1 – 7–0 2–5 1–1 Estonia  1–0 2–0 0–2 – 0–3 0–0 Spain  4–0 5–0 1–0 3–0 – 1–0 Turkey  2–0 1–1 2–1 4–2 1–2 –

Group 6

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  England 10 9 0 1 34 6 +28 27  Ukraine 10 6 3 1 21 6 +15 21  Croatia 10 6 2 2 19 13 +6 20  Belarus 10 4 1 5 19 14 +5 13  Kazakhstan 10 2 0 8 11 29 −18 6  Andorra 10 0 0 10 3 39 −36 0

Andorra  – 1–3 0–2 0–2 1–3 0–6 Belarus  5–1 – 1–3 1–3 4–0 0–0 Croatia  4–0 1–0 – 1–4 3–0 2–2 England  6–0 3–0 5–1 – 5–1 2–1 Kazakhstan  3–0 1–5 1–2 0–4 – 1–3 Ukraine  5–0 1–0 0–0 1–0 2–1 –

Group 7

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Serbia 10 7 1 2 22 8 +14 22  France 10 6 3 1 18 9 +9 21  Austria 10 4 2 4 14 15 −1 14  Lithuania 10 4 0 6 10 11 −1 12  Romania 10 3 3 4 12 18 −6 12  Faroe Islands 10 1 1 8 5 20 −15 4

Austria  – 3–1 3–1 2–1 2–1 1–3 Faroe Islands  1–1 – 0–1 2–1 0–1 0–2 France  3–1 5–0 – 1–0 1–1 2–1 Lithuania  2–0 1–0 0–1 – 0–1 2–1 Romania  1–1 3–1 2–2 0–3 – 2–3 Serbia  1–0 2–0 1–1 3–0 5–0 –

Notes on the tie-breaking situation:

• Lithuania and Romania are ranked by their overall goal difference.

Group 8

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Italy 10 7 3 0 18 7 +11 24  Republic of Ireland 10 4 6 0 12 8 +4 18  Bulgaria 10 3 5 2 17 13 +4 14  Cyprus 10 2 3 5 14 16 −2 9  Montenegro 10 1 6 3 9 14 −5 9  Georgia 10 0 3 7 7 19 −12 3

Bulgaria  – 2–0 6–2 0–0 4–1 1–1 Cyprus  4–1 – 2–1 1–2 2–2 1–2 Georgia  0–0 1–1 – 0–2 0–0 1–2 Italy  2–0 3–2 2–0 – 2–1 1–1 Montenegro  2–2 1–1 2–1 0–2 – 0–0 Republic of Ireland  1–1 1–0 2–1 2–2 0–0 –

Notes on the tie-breaking situation:

• Cyprus and Montenegro are ranked by their overall goal difference.

Group 9

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Netherlands 8 8 0 0 17 2 +15 24  Norway 8 2 4 2 9 7 +2 10  Scotland 8 3 1 4 6 11 −5 10  Macedonia 8 2 1 5 5 11 −6 7  Iceland 8 1 2 5 7 13 −6 5

Iceland  – 1–0 1–2 1–1 1–2 Macedonia  2–0 – 1–2 0–0 1–0 Netherlands  2–0 4–0 – 2–0 3–0 Norway  2–2 2–1 0–1 – 4–0 Scotland  2–1 2–0 0–1 0–0 –

Notes on the tie-breaking situation:

• Norway and Scotland are ranked by their overall goal difference.

Ranking of second-placed teams

Because one group has one team fewer than the others, matches against the sixth-placed team in each group are not included in this ranking. As a result, eight matches played by each team will count for the purposes of the second-placed table.

Legend
Countries that advanced to the play-offs

Grp	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
4	Russia	8	5	1	2	15	6	+9	16
2	Greece	8	5	1	2	16	9	+7	16
6	Ukraine	8	4	3	1	10	6	+4	15
7	France	8	4	3	1	12	9	+3	15
3	Slovenia	8	4	2	2	10	4	+6	14
5	Bosnia and Herzegovina	8	4	1	3	19	12	+7	13
1	Portugal	8	3	4	1	9	5	+4	13
8	Republic of Ireland	8	2	6	0	8	6	+2	12
9	Norway	8	2	4	2	9	7	+2	10

Ranking rules^[6]

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

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

Matches

Team 1	Agg.	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

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 10 goals.

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

10 goals

• Theofanis Gekas

9 goals

• Edin Džeko
• Wayne Rooney

7 goals

• Miroslav Klose
• David Villa

6 goals

Marc Janko Wesley Sonck Lukas Podolski

Robbie Keane Elyaniv Barda Euzebiusz Smolarek

Stanislav Šesták Andriy Shevchenko

5 goals

Timofei Kalachev Zvjezdan Misimović Dimitar Berbatov Milan Baroš

Søren Larsen Jonatan Johansson Roman Pavlyuchenko Milan Jovanović

Milivoje Novaković Alexander Frei Blaise Nkufo Serhiy Nazarenko

4 goals

Zlatan Muslimović Michalis Konstantinou Peter Crouch Frank Lampard

André-Pierre Gignac Thierry Henry Michael Ballack Angelos Charisteas

Omer Golan Alberto Gilardino Tomas Danilevičius Simão Sabrosa

3 goals

Erjon Bogdani Eduardo Luka Modrić Ivica Olić Ivan Rakitić Tomáš Necid Nicklas Bendtner Jermain Defoe Steven Gerrard Theo Walcott Konstantin Vassiljev Nicolas Anelka Franck Ribéry

Levan Kobiashvili Bastian Schweinsteiger Sándor Torghelle Eiður Guðjohnsen Yossi Benayoun Ben Sahar Sergei Khizhnichenko Sergei Ostapenko Māris Verpakovskis Marius Stankevičius Mirko Vučinić Klaas-Jan Huntelaar Dirk Kuyt

John Arne Riise Nani Andrey Arshavin Konstantin Zyryanov Branislav Ivanović Nikola Žigić Zlatko Dedić Juan Manuel Mata Gerard Piqué David Silva Olof Mellberg Tuncay Şanlı

2 goals

Erwin Hoffer Vagif Javadov Elvin Mammadov Gennadi Bliznyuk Sergei Kornilenko Vitali Rodionov Dmitry Verkhovtsov Émile Mpenza Senijad Ibričić Martin Petrov Dimitar Telkiyski Mladen Petrić Efstathios Aloneftis Constantinos Charalambidis Chrysis Michael Václav Svěrkoš Christian Poulsen Joe Cole Sergei Zenjov Mikael Forssell Karim Benzema William Gallas Vladimir Dvalishvili Dimitris Salpingidis Georgios Samaras Vasilis Torosidis Roland Juhász Kevin Doyle

Richard Dunne Glenn Whelan Alberto Aquilani Daniele De Rossi Antonio Di Natale Vincenzo Iaquinta Vitālijs Astafjevs Aleksandrs Cauņa Ģirts Karlsons Andrejs Rubins Mindaugas Kalonas Dejan Damjanović Stevan Jovetić Mark van Bommel Rafael van der Vaart Warren Feeney Kyle Lafferty Grant McCann Steffen Iversen Morten Gamst Pedersen Rafał Boguski Ireneusz Jeleń Mariusz Lewandowski Robert Lewandowski Marek Saganowski Hugo Almeida Bruno Alves Liédson

Gheorghe Bucur Ciprian Marica Diniyar Bilyaletdinov Aleksandr Kerzhakov James McFadden Miloš Krasić Nenad Milijaš Marek Čech Marek Hamšík Martin Jakubko Ján Kozák Valter Birsa Robert Koren Zlatan Ljubijankić Nejc Pečnik Cesc Fàbregas Álvaro Negredo Marcus Berg Zlatan Ibrahimović Kim Källström Philippe Senderos Arda Turan Emre Belözoğlu Semih Şentürk Artem Milevskiy Yevhen Seleznyov Andriy Yarmolenko David Edwards

1 goal

Armend Dallku Klodian Duro Hamdi Salihi Ildefons Lima Marc Pujol Óscar Sonejee Robert Arzumanyan Gevorg Ghazaryan Hovhannes Goharyan Sargis Hovsepyan Vahagn Minasyan Henrik Mkhitaryan René Aufhauser Andreas Ivanschitz Stefan Maierhofer Franz Schiemer Martin Stranzl Roman Wallner Maksim Bardachov Alexander Hleb Vyacheslav Hleb Leonid Kovel Pavel Sitko Ihar Stasevich Steven Defour Mousa Dembélé Marouane Fellaini Gill Swerts Daniel Van Buyten Zlatan Bajramović Vedad Ibišević Sanel Jahić Sejad Salihović Emir Spahić Stanislav Angelov Valeri Domovchiyski Blagoy Georgiev Radostin Kishishev Dimitar Makriev Stiliyan Petrov Ivelin Popov Ivan Klasnić Niko Kovač Niko Kranjčar Mario Mandžukić Ognjen Vukojević Demetris Christofi Marios Elia Konstantinos Makrides Ioannis Okkas Martin Fenin Marek Jankulovski Radoslav Kováč Jaroslav Plašil Zdeněk Pospěch Daniel Pudil Libor Sionko Daniel Agger Leon Andreasen Daniel Jensen Thomas Kahlenberg Morten Nordstrand Jakob Poulsen Gareth Barry Rio Ferdinand Emile Heskey John Terry Shaun Wright-Phillips Andres Oper Raio Piiroja Sander Puri Vladimir Voskoboinikov Egil á Bø Arnbjørn Hansen Bogi Løkin Andreas Lava Olsen

Súni Olsen Shefki Kuqi Jari Litmanen Niklas Moisander Roni Porokara Daniel Sjölund Hannu Tihinen Mika Väyrynen Yoann Gourcuff Sidney Govou Alexander Iashvili Levan Kenia Thomas Hitzlsperger Marcell Jansen Simon Rolfes Piotr Trochowski Heiko Westermann Kostas Katsouranis Ákos Buzsáky Zoltán Gera Tamás Hajnal Szabolcs Huszti Gergely Rudolf Veigar Páll Gunnarsson Heiðar Helguson Indriði Sigurðsson Kristján Örn Sigurðsson Sean St Ledger Aviram Baruchyan David Ben Dayan Klemi Saban Salim Tuama Mauro Camoranesi Fabio Grosso Giampaolo Pazzini Andrea Pirlo Rinat Abdulin Ruslan Baltiev Zhambyl Kukeyev Tanat Nusserbayev Roman Uzdenov Kaspars Gorkšs Kristaps Grebis Deniss Ivanovs Vladimirs Koļesņičenko Andrejs Perepļotkins Aleksejs Višņakovs Jurijs Žigajevs Mario Frick Michele Polverino Saulius Mikoliūnas Alphonse Leweck René Peters Jeff Strasser Boban Grnčarov Filip Ivanovski Ilčo Naumoski Goran Pandev Aco Stojkov Serghei Alexeev Valeriu Andronic Denis Calincov Gheorghe Ovseannicov Igor Picuşceac Veaceslav Sofroni Radoslav Batak Andrija Delibašić Eljero Elia John Heitinga Nigel de Jong Joris Mathijsen André Ooijer Robin van Persie Arjen Robben Chris Brunt Steven Davis

Jonny Evans David Healy Gareth McAuley Thorstein Helstad Erik Huseklepp Jakub Błaszczykowski Paweł Brożek Michał Żewłakow Deco Edinho Raul Meireles Pepe Miguel Veloso Iulian Apostol Răzvan Cociş Dorin Goian Ionuţ Mazilu Florentin Petre Dorel Stoica Cristian Tănase Vasili Berezutski Sergei Ignashevich Pavel Pogrebnyak Igor Semshov Andy Selva Kirk Broadfoot Scott Brown Steven Fletcher Ross McCormack Zdravko Kuzmanović Ivan Obradović Marko Pantelić Neven Subotić Zoran Tošić Ľuboš Hanzel Filip Hološko Erik Jendrišek Miroslav Karhan Peter Pekarík Martin Škrtel Miroslav Stoch Andraž Kirm Aleksandar Radosavljević Dalibor Stevanović Marko Šuler Xabi Alonso Joan Capdevila Santi Cazorla Andrés Iniesta Juanito Carles Puyol Albert Riera Marcos Senna Samuel Holmén Daniel Majstorović Anders Svensson Eren Derdiyok Gelson Fernandes Stéphane Grichting Benjamin Huggel Marco Padalino Hakan Yakin Halil Altıntop Mevlüt Erdinç Sercan Yıldırım Servet Çetin Oleksiy Gai Oleh Husyev Yaroslav Rakytskiy Craig Bellamy James Collins Joe Ledley Aaron Ramsey David Vaughan Sam Vokes

2 own goals

Kakha Kaladze (both for Italy)

1 own goal

Ildefons Lima (for Ukraine) Jón Rói Jacobsen (for Serbia) Veli Lampi (for Russia) Petri Pasanen (for Russia) Julien Escudé (for Romania) Avraam Papadopoulos (for Luxembourg)

Kevin Kilbane (for Bulgaria) Aleksandr Kuchma (for England) Mario Frick (for Wales) Ian Azzopardi (for Sweden) Brian Said (for Portugal)

Seweryn Gancarczyk (for Slovakia) Michał Żewłakow (for Northern Ireland) Dorel Stoica (for Serbia) Ján Ďurica (for Northern Ireland) Ashley Williams (for Germany)

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. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
4. "Preliminary draw for the 2010 World Cup". FIFA.com. Zurich: Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
5. "Preliminary Draw Information" (PDF). FIFA.com. Zurich: Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 22 November 2007. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
6. "Determining Europe's runners-up". FIFA.com. Zurich: Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 16 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.

External links

• European Zone at FIFA.com
• UEFA Qualifier results with full game box scores at Scoreshelf.com