• HOST
South Africa. Some would consider that they played well at the Confederations Cup, but failed to qualify for the African Nations Cup.
That was obvious… the other 31 after the jump…
• UEFA REGION
Denmark: They earned the top spot by going 1 – nil over Sweden and losing just once in a group they weren’t expected to win, England: Impressive going 9 for 10, Germany: Domination at home, Italy: Need to get it together, Netherlands: Gave up just two goals on their way to the finals, Serbia:Held off France, and boat raced Romania 5-0, Spain: Spain is Spain, Slovakia and Switzerland:
PLAY-OFFS:
Greece, Slovenia: the first time since 2002, Portugal: got the results when it mattered most, France: handball by Henry
• CONMEBOL
Brazil: Favourites in the group, Paraguay: Winning seven of their eight home games, Chile: Getting to a World Cup for the first time since France ’98, Argentina: Made it by beating Uruguay away in the last game
• CONCACAF
Mexico: No real surprises in a group they were always going to find easy, United States: Impressive home record, lot of work to do, Honduras: Beat El Salvador 1-0 but only qualified when the U.S. equalised against Costa Rica with 20 seconds remaining.
INTERCONTINENTAL PLAY-OFF:
Uruguay: 1-0 win over Costa Rica and 1-1 draw in the second leg proved enough
CAF
Ghana: Dominant home form, Ivory Coast: They did not lose a game in either group stage on their way to the finals, Nigeria: Nigeria won nine of 12 qualifiers across both group stages, drawing the other three games, Cameroon: A win away at Morocco saw Cameroon hold off the challenge of Gabon, Algeria: Needed a sudden death play-off to beat Egypt, the play-off was held in neutral Sudan and Algeria won 1-0, sending them to their first World Cup since 1986.
• ASIA
Australia: Qualified with ease, Japan, South Korea: they topped both their groups without losing a game and netted 22 goals in the process too, Korea DPR: Getting through for the first time since 1966
INTERCONTINENTAL PLAY-OFF
New Zealand: Defeated Bahrain 1-0 on aggregate.
Who are you picking to take it all home next year?
