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2002 FIFA World Cup qualification

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A total of 199 teams entered the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 32 spots in the final tournament. Korea Republic and Japan, as the co-hosts, and France, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 29 spots open for competition.

The 32 spots available in the 2002 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:

  • Europe (UEFA): 14.5 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier France, while the other 13.5 places were contested by 50 teams. The winner of the 0.5 place would advance to the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from AFC)
  • South America (CONMEBOL): 4.5 places, contested by 10 teams. The winner of the 0.5 place would advance to the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from OFC).
  • North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF): 3 places, contested by 35 teams.
  • Africa (CAF): 5 places, contested by 51 teams.
  • Asia (AFC): 4.5 places, 2 of them went to automatic qualifiers South Korea and Japan, while the other 2.5 places were contested by 40 teams. The winner of the 0.5 place would advance to the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from UEFA).
  • Oceania (OFC): 0.5 place, contested by 10 teams. The winner of the 0.5 place would advance to the Intercontinental Play-offs (against a team from CONMEBOL).

A total of 193 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 777 qualifying matches were played, and 2452 goals were scored (an average of 3.16 per match).

Continental zones

To see the dates and results of the qualification rounds for each continental zone, click on the following articles:

Group 1 - Russia qualified. Slovenia advanced to the UEFA Play-offs.
Group 2 - Portugal qualified. Republic of Ireland advanced to the UEFA / AFC Intercontinental Play-off
Group 3 - Denmark qualified. Czech Republic advanced to the UEFA Play-offs.
Group 4 - Sweden qualified. Turkey advanced to the UEFA Play-offs.
Group 5 - Poland qualified. Ukraine advanced to the UEFA Play-offs.
Group 6 - Croatia qualified. Belgium advanced to the UEFA Play-offs.
Group 7 - Spain qualified. Austria advanced to the UEFA Play-offs.
Group 8 - Italy qualified. Romania advanced to the UEFA Play-offs.
Group 9 - England qualified. Germany advanced to the UEFA Play-offs.
Play-offs - Belgium, Germany, Slovenia and Turkey qualified over Czech Republic, Ukraine, Romania, and Austria respectively.
Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil and Paraguay qualified. Uruguay advanced to the CONMEBOL / OFC Intercontinental Play-off.
Costa Rica, Mexico and USA qualified.
Group A - Cameroon qualified.
Group B - Nigeria qualified.
Group C - Senegal qualified.
Group D - Tunisia qualified.
Group E - South Africa qualified.
Group A - Saudi Arabia qualified. Iran advanced to the AFC Play-off.
Group B - China PR qualified. United Arab Emirates advanced to the AFC Play-off.
Play-off - Iran advanced to the UEFA / AFC Intercontinental Play-off over United Arab Emirates.
Australia advanced to the CONMEBOL / OFC Intercontinental Play-off.

Intercontinental Play-offs

The teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would qualify.

UEFA – AFC Intercontinental Play-off

Republic of Ireland 2 – 0 Iran
Harte 44' (pen.)
Keane 50'		 (Report)
Attendance: 36,538
Referee: Antonio Pereira da Silva (Brazil)
Iran 1 – 0 Republic of Ireland
Golmohammadi 90' (Report)
Attendance: 100,000
Referee: Mattus (Costa Rica)

Republic of Ireland qualified by the aggregate score of 2–1.

CONMEBOL – OFC Intercontinental Play-off

Australia 1 – 0 Uruguay
Muscat 78' (pen.) (Report)
Attendance: 84,656
Referee: Cesari (Italy)
Uruguay 3 – 0 Australia
Silva 14'
Morales 70', 90'		 (Report)
Attendance: 62,000
Referee: Bujsaim (UAE)

Uruguay qualified by the aggregate score of 3–1.

Qualified teams

File:2002 world cup qualification.png
Final qualification status
  Country qualified for World Cup
  Country failed to qualify
  Country did not enter World Cup
  Country not a FIFA member

The following 32 teams qualified for the 2002 FIFA World Cup:

Team Finals Appearance Streak Last Appearance
 Argentina 13th 8 1998
 Belgium 11th 6 1998
 Brazil 17th 17 1998
 Cameroon 5th 4 1998
 China 1st 1 –
 Costa Rica 2nd 1 1990
 Croatia 2nd 2 1998
 Denmark 3rd 2 1998
 Ecuador 1st 1 –
 England 11th 2 1998
 France (c) 11th 2 1998
 Germany 15th(1) 13(1) 1998
 Italy 15th 11 1998
 Japan (h) 2nd 2 1998
 South Korea (h) 6th 5 1998
 Mexico 12th 3 1998
 Senegal 1st 1 –
 Nigeria 3rd 3 1998
 Paraguay 6th 2 1998
 Poland 6th 1 1986
 Portugal 3rd 1 1986
 Republic of Ireland 3rd 1 1994
 Russia 2nd(2) 1 1994
 Saudi Arabia 3rd 3 1998
 Slovenia 1st 1 –
 South Africa 2nd 2 1998
 Spain 11th 7 1998
 Sweden 10th 1 1994
 Tunisia 3rd 2 1998
 Turkey 2nd 1 1954
 United States 7th 4 1998
 Uruguay 10th 1 1990

(h) - qualified automatically as co-hosts

(c) - qualified automatically as defending champions

1Includes 10 appearances by DFB representing West Germany between 1954 and 1990. Excludes 1 appearance by DVF representing East Germany between 1954 and 1990.
2Excludes appearances by USSR. If those are counted together, this is their 9th appearance.

Notes

  • On their way to World Cup 2002, Brazil endured their worst qualifying campaign ever, losing 6 matches (the only time so far they lost more than 2 games in a qualifying campaign) and finishing 3rd of the South American qualifying group (the only time so far they have not emerged as leaders of their qualifying group). However, Brazil went on to win the World Cup 2002 with a record-breaking tally of 7 wins in 7 matches in the final competition, without facing extra time nor penalty shootouts. The following teams also won all their final competition matches : Uruguay in 1930 (4 games), Italy in 1938 (4 games, among which 1 game won after extra time), and Brazil in 1970 (6 games). In 1970, Brazil had also won all of their 6 preliminary competition matches. Uruguay did not play any preliminary round for 1930, as there was none, and Italy did not either for 1938 as they were automatically qualified for the World Cup as title holders.
  • Germany lost a World Cup qualifying match for the second time only on 1 September 2001, when they were defeated 1-5 by England in Munich. They had played 62 World Cup qualifying matches before (47 wins, 14 draws, 1 loss). Apart from Germany, no team having played more than 20 World Cup qualifying matches have lost less than 3 of them. Oddly, their first loss ever in a World Cup qualifier also took place while playing home, in Stuttgart, against Portugal in 1985.
  • Australia netted 31 goals against newcomers American Samoa, setting the record of the highest-scoring match and biggest margin of victory in an international match ever. This was only two days after Australia thrashed Tonga 22-0, a then international record. Also, Archie Thompson's 13 goals in the match against American Samoa surpassed the previous record of 10.
  • Togolese Souleymane Mamam became the youngest player ever to play in a World Cup qualifying match at the age of 13 years and 310 days in Lomé in May 2001.
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