2010 FIFA World Cup Qualifying Tournament

Qualifying Rounds

Twelve group winners and eight best runners-up go through to final qualifying stage where they will be drawn in five groups of four teams. The five group winners qualify for the finals.

Note: South Africa take part in the competition which also serves as the qualifying tournament for the Africa Nations Cup. If South Africa reaches the final stage, its matches will not count towards World Cup qualification. The last 20 sides will be drawn into five groups from which only the winners will qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals.

Nov 25 (Reuters) - Nigeria and South Africa, who jostle for political and economic supremacy on the African continent, were drawn together in their World Cup qualifying group on Sunday. Although South Africa, as hosts of the 2010 event, qualify automatically for the finals, they are participating in the preliminaries because they also serve as qualifiers for the 2010 African Nations Cup finals.

Nigeria defeated South Africa 4-0 in their World Cup qualifying debut 15 years ago en route to a first finals appearance in the United States in 1994 but the Super Eagles surprisingly missed out on the last event in Germany. Nigeria and South Africa share Group Four with Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone, who had to come through a preliminary-round match earlier this month.

African champions Egypt were drawn with the unpredictable Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi and the tiny Red Sea state of Djibouti, who won their first international earlier this month to qualify for the group stage. Five-times World Cup finalists Cameroon will have little concern over being matched in Group One with the Cape Verde Islands, Mauritius and Tanzania while the Ivory Coast have an easy-looking an assignment in Group Seven with Botswana, Madagascar and Mozambique. Guinea, whose rapid rise up the standings makes them the third-ranked team on the continent, were drawn with Kenya, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Togo, who have been banned from playing at home in their next three qualifiers after recent stadium violence, face Zambia, Eritrea and Swaziland in Group 11. Togo were surprise qualifiers at the last World Cup finals in Germany.

Preliminary Rounds

The draw for the first stage of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers in Africa, released by FIFA. on August 27 2006.

FIFA also announced that the first African qualifying matches for the 2010 World Cup will take place in October.

In all, 52 African teams are vying for five spots in the finals. South Africa as host qualifies automatically for the 32-team tournament.

Winners of the knockout matches will gain a berth in the second African qualification round.

The best 20 teams in that round will be drawn in five qualification groups, the winner of each clinching a spot in the World Cup finals.

Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa has attracted a record total of 205 nations, all aiming to seal a berth at the showcase tournament from 11 June to 11 July 2010 in nine South African cities.