WORLD CUP QUALIFYING ROUND
A record 195 teams will play in the qualifying round.
Of those, 32 will play in the finals. Hosts Japan and
South Korea and holders France qualify automatically.
Asia (four or five teams qualify, including Japan and
South Korea). Group winners advance to two second-round
groups of five, the winners of which qualify. Runners-
up play each other for right to play off against a
runner-up from the European groups for an extra place.
First round groups, group 1: Oman, Syria, Laos,
Philippines. Group 2: Iran, Tajikstan, Myanmar, Guam.
Group 3: Qatar, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Palestine. Group
4: Kuwait, Singapore, Bahrain, Kyrgystan. Group 5:
Thailand, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Pakistan. Group 6: Iraq,
Kazakhstan, Nepal, Macau. Group 7: Uzbekistan, Jordan,
Turkmenistan, Taiwan. Group 8: United Arab Emirates,
India, Yemen, Brunei. Group 9: China, Indonesia,
Maldives, Cambodia. Group 10: Saudi Arabia, Vietnam,
Bangladesh, Mongolia.
Oceania (0 or 1 team to qualify). Winners of two groups
play each other for the right to play off against the
team who are fifth in the South America qualifying
group.
Group 1: Australia, Tonga, Fiji, American Samoa, Samoa.
Group 2: New Zealand, Tahiti, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu,
Cook Islands.
South America (four or five teams to qualify).
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador,
Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela to play each other
home and away in round-robin group. The top four
qualify directly with the fifth going into a playoff
against the winners of the Oceania zone.
Concacaf - North America, Central America and the
Caribbean (3 teams qualify). Mexico, Jamaica and the US
are seeded. With Costa Rica they go straight to
semifinal stage - 12 teams in three groups of four. Top
two from each go into final round-robin with top three
qualifying.
Preliminary phase Central American Zone (league system.
Group winners qualify for semifinal round, runners up
play Caribbean zone third round losers.)
Group A: El Salvador, Belize, Guatemala. Group B:
Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama.
Preliminary phase Caribbean Zone (cup system with three
rounds. Winners of third-round matches advance to
semifinal stage. Losers in round three of group one
play Canada for place in the semifinal stage.
Losers in groups two and three play the runners up in
the central American groups for place in semifinals.
Group 1: Cuba v Cayman Islands, St Lucia v Surinam,
Aruba v Puerto Rico, Barbados v Grenada. Group 2: St
Vincent and Grenada v US Virgin Islands, St Kitts and
Nevis v Turks and Caicos Islands, Guyana v Antigua and
Barbuda, British Virgin Islands v Bermuda. Group 3:
Trinidad and Tobago v Netherlands Antilles, Dominican
Republic v Montserrat, Dominica v Haiti, Anguilla v
Bahamas.
Africa (5 teams qualify). A first round played on basis
of 25 two-leg knockout matches. The 25 winners then go
into a fresh draw for five groups of five, the winners
of which qualify for the finals.
First round, group A: Cape Verde Islands v Algeria,
Mauritania v Tunisia, Benin v Senegal, Guinea-Bissau v
Togo, Gambia v Togo. Group B: Lesotho v South Africa,
Swaziland v Angola, Botswana v Zambia, Madagascar v
Gabon, Sudan v Mozambique. Group C: Equatorial Guinea v
Congo, Libya v Mali, Rwanda v Cote d'Ivoire, Sao Tome e
Principe v Sierra Leone, Central African Republic v
Zimbabwe. Group D: Seychelles v Namibia, Djibouti v
Congo DR, Somalia v Cameroon, Mauritius v Egypt,
Eritrea v Nigeria. Group E: Chad v Liberia, Uganda v
Guinea, Ethiopia v Burkina Faso, Malawi v Kenya,
Tanzania v Ghana.
Europe (14 or 15 teams to qualify, including France).
Winners of each group qualify directly for finals. The
nine runners-up will join one Asian side in two-leg
playoffs for another five places.
Group 1: Yugoslavia, Russia, Switzerland, Slovenia,
Luxembourg, Faroe Islands. Group 2: Netherlands,
Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Cyprus, Andorra,
Estonia. Group 3: Czech Republic, Denmark, Bulgaria,
Iceland, Northern Ireland, Malta. Group 4: Sweden,
Turkey, Slovakia, FYR Macedonia, Azerbaijan, Moldova.
Group 5: Norway, Ukraine, Poland, Wales, Armenia,
Belarus. Group 6: Belgium, Scotland, Croatia, Latvia,
San Marino. Group 7: Spain, Austria, Israel, Bosnia-
Herzegovina, Lichtenstein. Group 8: Romania, Italy,
Lithuania, Hungary, Georgia. Group 9: Germany, England,
Greece, Finland, Albania.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Second phase, group A: Porto 1 Hertha Berlin 0,
Barcelona 5 Sparta Prague 0.
Group B: Girondins Bordeaux 0 Fiorentina 0, Manchester
United 3 Valencia 0.
Scottish premier league: Aberdeen 3 Hearts 1,
Motherwell v Kilmarnock postponed.
Scottish division three: Cowdenbeath 0 Dumbarton 2.
Soccer
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