CLASSIC FOOTBALL DVDs

In the qualification process for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the six FIFA confederations were allocated a share of the 31 remaining spots on the basis of the strength of their teams. The final distribution was as follows:

• Europe (UEFA): 13 places
• Africa (CAF): 5 places (South Africa qualified automatically as host nation for a total of 6 places)
• South America (CONMEBOL): 4 or 5 places
• Asia (AFC): 4 or 5 places
• North, Central American and Caribbean (CONCACAF): 3 or 4 places
• Oceania (OFC): 0 or 1 place

Each confederation with no secure number of place(s) indicates a place in inter-confederation matchups for the last two spots, namely a playoff between CONMEBOL and CONCACAF and another between the OFC and AFC.

At the close of entries on 15 March 2007, 204 out of the 208 FIFA members (including hosts South Africa) had entered the preliminary qualifying competition for the 2010 World Cup.

Only three AFC members: Brunei, Laos and the Philippines had failed to register for the tournament.

Bhutan were allowed to enter at the last minute and were included in the Asian preliminary draw, Papua New Guinea were disqualified from the Oceania Preliminary competition, and Brunei and the Philippines had their entries rejected (having missed the deadline). The final number of teams entered breaks the previous record of 199 entrants set in 2002. However, five of those teams withdrew during qualifying: Bhutan, Central African Republic, Eritrea, Guam and São Tomé and Príncipe.