2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)
 | This article documents a current sporting event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses. Initial news reports, scores, or statistics may be unreliable. The last updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. (March 2008) |
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) qualifying stage for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification will see 52 teams competing for 5 berths. In addition the host, South Africa, qualify automatically. A preliminary round will be played in October 2007 (before the draw on November 25, 2007) to trim the competing teams to just 48 nations.[1]
For the first time since the 1934 World Cup, the hosts (South Africa) will compete in the qualification process (making them the 53rd nation involved in the African qualifiers) - although they are guaranteed a spot in the finals. This is necessitated by the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification doubling as qualification for the 2010 African Cup of Nations (to be held in Angola). Similarly, Angola will automatically qualify for that competition, although they will play in the qualification process.
Angola's situation mirrors that seen in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers in Africa, which doubled as the qualifiers to the 2006 African Cup of Nations and included Egypt (who qualified for that tournament as hosts).[2]
Round One
Five knockout ties were originally required, involving the ten lowest ranked African countries (based on FIFA rankings as of July 2007). The actual draw was apparently conducted one day before the format was announced by CAF. The pairings were:
Madagascar v 
Comoros
Somalia v 
Eswatini
São Tomé and Príncipe v 
Central African Republic
Sierra Leone v 
Guinea-Bissau
Seychelles v 
Djibouti
São Tomé and Príncipe and the Central African Republic both withdrew in early September. As a result, Swaziland and Seychelles (the highest ranked of the ten nations) were no longer required to play in this round, and the teams they were originally matched against, Somalia and Djibouti, were redrawn to play each other instead.[3] The tie between Djibouti and Somalia was played as a one leg tie in Djibouti, as Somalia was not deemed suitable for FIFA matches; the other two ties were played as two leg ties.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Madagascar 
|
10–2 |  Comoros
|
6–2 | 4–0 |
Djibouti 
|
1–0 |  Somalia
|
1–0 | n/a |
Sierra Leone 
|
1–0 |  Guinea-Bissau
|
1–0 | 0–0 |
Round Two
The 48 qualifiers were split into 12 groups of 4 in the draw held in Durban, South Africa on 25 November 2007. These teams will play a full round-robin in 2008, with the 12 groups winners and 8 best runners-up advancing to the second group round. As not all groups are of equal size after the withdrawal of Eritrea, when ranking the runners-up, their results against their group's 4th placed team will not be counted.[4]
Seeding
One team from each of the following pots were drawn into each group.[5]
Group 1
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - CAF First Group Round (Group 1)
On the next matchday (6/7 September):
- Cameroon will ensure first place in the group if they defeat Cape Verde.
Group 2
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - CAF First Group Round (Group 2)
Kenya's participation in the group is under threat, following a court ruling upholding the appointment of a group led by Sam Nyamweya to run the Kenya Football Federation. This is contrary to FIFA's rules as the appointment was made by a government minister, and FIFA recognises a separate group led by Mohammed Hatimy as the true executive of the KFF.[6]
On the next matchday (6/7 September):
- Namibia will be eliminated if they do not beat Kenya.
- Zimbabwe will be eliminated if they lose and Kenya wins.
Group 3
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - CAF First Group Round (Group 3)
On the next matchday (5/7 September):
- Benin will ensure first place in the group if they defeat Angola and Uganda don't beat Niger.
Group 4
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - CAF First Group Round (Group 4) Note:
- South Africa are automatically qualified as hosts of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. However, they are subject to the same rules as other nations for continuation to the next stage of the qualifiers. Failure to advance from this group would eliminate them from the qualifiers for the 2010 African Cup of Nations.
On the next matchday (5/6 September):
- "Sierra Leone will be elimitated if they lose AND South Africa beat Nigeria
- Equatorial Guinea will be eliminated if they lose to Sierra Leone.
Group 5
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - CAF First Group Round (Group 5)
On the next matchday (28 June):
- Lesotho will be eliminated if they do not beat Gabon.
Group 6
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - CAF First Group Round (Group 6)
On the next matchday (5/6 September):
- Senegal will ensure first place in the group if they defeat Algeria and Gambia don't beat Liberia.
- Liberia will be eliminated if they lose to Gambia OR if they draw and Senegal don't beat Algeria
Group 7
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - CAF First Group Round (Group 7)
On the next matchday (5/7 September):
- Cote D'ivoire will ensure first place in the group if they defeat Mozambique and Botswana don't beat Madagascar.
- Madagascar will be eliminated if they lose to Botswana OR if they draw and Mozambique beat Cote d'Ivoire
On 19 March 2008, FIFA announced the immediate suspension of the Malagasy Football Federation (FMF).[7] The suspension was lifted on 19 May 2008.[8]
Group 8
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - CAF First Group Round (Group 8)
On the next matchday (5/6 September):
- Ethiopia will be eliminated if they lose to Morocco AND Rwanda do not lose to Mauritania
Group 9
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - CAF First Group Round (Group 9)
On the next matchday (5/6 September):
- Burkina Faso will ensure first place in the group if they beat Tunisia
- Burundi will be eliminated unless they win AND Burkina Faso beat Tunisia.
Group 10
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - CAF First Group Round (Group 10)
On the next matchday (5/7 September):
- Mali will ensure first place in the group if they win AND Chad vs Sudan is a draw (or if the outstanding Sudan vs Chad fixture is played in the interim and is a draw or a different result to Chad vs Sudan)
For African Cup of Nations qualification: Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - CAF First Group Round (Group 10 ACN)
On 28 March 2008, FIFA announced the immediate suspension of the Chadian Football Federation (FTFA).[9]. The suspension was lifted on 7 May.[10]
1Chad was disqualified from the 2010 African Nations Cup qualifiers after failing to show up for the away match against Sudan, despite security guarantees. Only matches between Mali, Sudan and Congo will be taken into account for the qualification of the second round of the preliminaries of the African Cup of Nations. However, Chad could still qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[11] This may lead to complications in the 2nd round and CAF are yet to clarify the position.
Group 11
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - CAF First Group Round (Group 11)
Eritrea withdrew from the qualifiers on 25 March 2008 and were not replaced.[12]
Togo are barred from hosting qualifiers due to violence during their 2008 Africa Cup of Nations qualification against Mali.
Group 12
Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - CAF First Group Round (Group 12)
On the next matchday (5/7 September):
- Malawi will be eliminated if they lose to Djibouti AND the other match is a draw.
Current rankings of second placed teams
Along with 12 group winners, 8 group runners-up will also advance to the second group stage. In determining the ranking of the runners-up, results against the fourth-placed team (for groups with 4 teams) will be excluded (and are hence excluded from the table below). Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - CAF First Group Round (2nd place)
Round Three
The 20 remaining sides will be split into five groups of four using a seeded system composed of three components:[13]
- A component based on the number of points obtained during the group matches of the first round. Most teams will play six matches in this round, with maximum of 18 points available. While no official decision has been communicated on the impact of the withdrawal of Eritrea from Group 11, and how the teams that advance from this group (who will only play 4 matches for a maximum of 12 points possible) will be assessed on this criteria, FIFA's clarification that ranking of group runners-up will exclude results against the bottom team in the group suggests something similar may apply to the ranking at this stage, meaning all nations have a maximum of 12 points on this criteria. Earlier media releases (which can no longer be accessed) from CAF suggested that the first three matches in the group (2 for each nation) would count twice for the purposes of comparison. [14]
- A component based on performance at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations. The nations that competed have been classified from 1st to 16th by their finishing position. The African Champion will receive 16 points, the runner-up 15, the team coming at the third place 14 and so on. The team coming in last place will get only one point, as will any teams that qualify for the second round that did not qualify for the finals of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations.
- A component based on FIFA ranking. The 20 teams that qualify for the second round will be ranked from 1st to 20th in order of their last FIFA ranking before the date scheduled for the second round draw. The top team will be allocated 20 points, the second 19 points and the team coming in 20th place will get one point.
The points attained through each of the above criteria will be added together, and the teams will be ranked according to their points. The first five teams will be placed in Pot 1, the teams from 6 to 10 in Pot 2, the teams from 11 to 15 in Pot 3 and the teams from 16 to 20 in Pot 4.
If South Africa advance to this stage, the team will play in the relevant group and any points won will count towards the 2010 African Cup of Nations qualifiers but not those for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. If Angola advances to this stage then all teams in the group will automatically advance to 2010 African Cup of Nations.
The winners of each group will qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the top three in each group will also qualify for the African Cup of Nations.
Prospective seeding
The seeding list is based on.
- Group positions as at 22 June. While only the 12 group leaders and 8 best-placed second placed teams (see list above) will qualify, all teams that can still advance are shown.
- FIFA ranks are as at June 2008.
- CAN 2008 rankings have not been officially confirmed, but are believed to be correct.
- This list also assumes that the excluding results against 4th placed sides criteria is also used in this ranking (to be fair to those qualifiers from Group 11).
| Key to colours in the prospective seeding table |
|---|
| Team that has secured qualification to the second group stage |
| Group winner or higher ranked second place side that is not assured a place in the next stage |
| Teams that can mathematically advance to the next stage but are currently outside the top 20 seeds |
Note that because the true FIFA ranking component can only be applied to the top 20 qualifiers, the nature of this component differs between those in the top 20 and those outside.
- For the top 20 nations, the FIFA ranking component is the ranking among the top 20.
- For the other nations, the FIFA ranking component is the minimum value the team could achieve. This value assumes that all possible teams with a higher FIFA rank qualify (which may not always be possible).
Green lines mark the current seeding pots (Not visible in IE)
| Team | Pos-Gp | Adj-Pts | FIFA Rank | CAN 2008 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cameroon
|
W-Grp1 | 7 | 20 | 15 | 42 |
 Egypt
|
RU-Grp12 | 6 | 18 | 16 | 40 |
 Ghana
|
W-Grp5 | 6 | 19 | 14 | 39 |
 Ivory Coast
|
W-Grp7 | 7 | 17 | 13 | 37 |
 Nigeria
|
W-Grp4 | 6 | 16 | 10 | 32 |
 Tunisia
|
RU-Grp9 | 6 | 11 | 12 | 29 |
 Morocco
|
W-Grp8 | 6 | 15 | 6 | 27 |
 Angola
|
RU-Grp3 | 4 | 10 | 11 | 25 |
 Mali
|
W-Grp10 | 6 | 12 | 7 | 25 |
 Guinea
|
W-Grp2 | 1 | 14 | 9 | 24 |
 Senegal
|
W-Grp6 | 4 | 13 | 5 | 22 |
 Zambia
|
RU-Grp11 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 21 |
 South Africa
|
RU-Grp4 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 14 |
 Rwanda
|
RU-Grp8 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 13 |
 Benin
|
W-Grp3 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 12 |
 DR Congo
|
W-Grp12 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 12 |
 Togo
|
3rd-Grp11 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 12 |
 Burkina Faso
|
W-Grp9 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 10 |
 Botswana
|
RU-Grp7 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 10 |
 Kenya
|
RU-Grp2 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
 Congo
|
RU-Grp10 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
 Libya
|
RU-Grp5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 |
 Equatorial Guinea
|
4th-Grp4 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 7 |
 Namibia
|
4th-Grp2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 |
 Gambia
|
3rd-Grp6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Sierra Leone
|
3rd-Grp4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
 Eswatini
|
W-Grp11 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
 Uganda
|
3rd-Grp3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
 Zimbabwe
|
3rd-Grp2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
 Algeria
|
RU-Grp6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
 Chad
|
3rd-Grp10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
 Cape Verde
|
RU-Grp1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
 Gabon
|
3rd-Grp5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
 Malawi
|
3rd-Grp12 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
 Sudan
|
4th-Grp10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Madagascar
|
4th-Grp7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
 Liberia
|
4th-Grp6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
 Mozambique
|
3rd-Grp7 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
 Burundi
|
3rd-Grp9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 Ethiopia
|
3rd-Grp8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 Lesotho
|
4th-Grp5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Goalscorers
Key:
— – Bye
X – Eliminated
- 1 goal
|
|
|
|
|
- Own goal
|
References
- ^ FIFA.com
- ^ Hosts South Africa to play in 2010 World Cup qualifiers
- ^ African pair pull out of qualifying race
- ^ Second place Clarification, FIFA, retrieved 15 June 2008
- ^ Preliminary Draw Information - Africa, FIFA, retrieved 23 November 2007
- ^ "Kenya face World Cup crisis". BBC. 2008-05-20. Retrieved 2008-05-21.
- ^ "Malagasy Football Association suspended". FIFA. 2008-03-19. Retrieved 2008-03-29.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Suspension of the Madagascan football association lifted". FIFA. 2008-05-19. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
- ^ "FIFA suspends Chad soccer federation because of government interference". Yahoo! Sports. 2008-03-28. Retrieved 2008-03-28.
- ^ "Suspension of the Chad football association lifted". FIFA. 2008-05-07. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
- ^ "Disqualification of Chad National team from ACN 2010". CAF. 2008-06-03. Retrieved 2008-06-04.
- ^ "Eritrea withdraw from qualifiers". FIFA. 2008-03-25. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Decisions of CAF Executive Committee Meeting". CAF. 2008-01-16. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "ACN 2010 and World Cup 2010: Standings and results". CAF. 2008-05-10. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
External links
- African zone at FIFA.com
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