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Finals guide

Will Robson
15 Oct 2009


A summary of the progress of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers so far, with the teams who have already made it, the teams who face play-offs to get there and the big teams who have missed out.

Qualified

Europe: Denmark, Switzerland, Slovakia, Germany, Spain, England, Serbia, Italy, Netherlands.

South America: Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Argentina

Asia: Australia, Japan, South Korea, Korea DPR

America: U.S.A., Mexico, Honduras

Play-offs:

South America:Uruguay

Europe: Portugal, Greece, Slovenia, Russia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ukraine, France, Republic of Ireland

America: Costa Rica

Asia and Oceania: Bahrain, New Zealand

Who missed out

Sweden – Sweden's 4-1 victory over Albania in the last game of the group was not enough to secure them a play-off spot because of Portugal's 4-0 victory over Malta. Their absence means Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the world's most expensive striker, will miss the finals.

Czech Republic – A poor qualifying campaign from the Czech Republic, finished off with a 0-0 draw at home to N. Ireland, means they miss out on a play-off spot and Chelsea keeper Petr Cech will not be at the finals.

Turkey – Usually a good footballing nation, Turkey had a poor campaign and missed out on a play-off spot by four points to surprise package Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Croatia The team that have really troubled England in recent years have also failed to qualify. Ukraine's victory over England put them in control and a 6-0 victory over Andorra put them one point clear of Croatia. Premier League stars Luka Modric and Eduardo will now miss out on the finals.
Ecuador Ecuador have appeared in the last two World Cups and have become a real South American power, but a poor qualifying campaign and a large improvement from teams such as Chile mean they will be missing the finals this time.

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