Schedule For World Cup 2010 Qualifiers in September

World Cup qualifying returns this weekend, on every continent. It’s the big qualifying kickoff in Europe, the start of the final group stage in Asia, and the campaigns continue in Africa, South America, CONCACAF (not really a continent, but still) and the ever glamorous Oceania.

Read on for the complete September World Cup 2010 Qualifying fixtures, a quick explanation of how things work (semi-complicated but just about comprehensible) and my pick of the most interesting games.

[note: Yeah, we know, we showed you this already on Wednesday. But here it is again just so everyone knows who's playing who today...]

AFRICA

The Situation: Six World Cup spots, but actually only five since South Africa qualify as hosts. South Africa are still involved since these double as Africa Cup of Nations 2010 qualifiers.

The remaining 48 teams are currently in 12 Groups of four. Four games have been played. The 12 group winners plus eight best runners up advance to next stage. Those twenty teams will be drawn into five groups of four. All five group winners will qualify.

Games to Watch:
Zimbabwe vs Guinea (Sep 7th) - Guinea currently top Group 2, level on seven points with Kenya. Zimbabwe are currently third with five points. So this is pretty much a must win for Zimbabwe.
Congo DR vs Egypt (Sep 7th) - Two teams tied at the top of Group 12 with nine points, but neither are safe because Malawi are just three points behind.
Zambia vs Togo (Sep 10th) - Both teams are in the weird three team Group 11, currently topped by Swaziland, so a win here would be huge for either team.


Full September Schedule:

05 Sep 08 21:00 Djibouti vs Malawi
05 Sep 08 22:00 Libya vs Ghana
05 Sep 08 22:00 Algeria vs Senegal
06 Sep 08 15:00 Mauritius vs Tanzania
06 Sep 08 15:00 South Africa vs Nigeria
06 Sep 08 16:00 Cape Verde Islands vs Cameroon
06 Sep 08 16:00 Kenya vs Namibia
06 Sep 08 16:30 Sierra Leone vs Equatorial Guinea
06 Sep 08 16:30 Seychelles vs Burundi
06 Sep 08 17:00 Gambia vs Liberia
06 Sep 08 17:00 Mauritania vs Rwanda
06 Sep 08 18:00 Burkina Faso vs Tunisia
06 Sep 08 22:00 Sudan vs Chad
07 Sep 08 14:30 Madagascar vs Botswana
07 Sep 08 15:00 Zimbabwe vs Guinea
07 Sep 08 15:00 Lesotho vs Gabon
07 Sep 08 15:00 Mozambique vs Côte d’Ivoire
07 Sep 08 15:30 Congo vs Mali
07 Sep 08 15:30 Congo DR vs Egypt
07 Sep 08 16:00 Benin vs Angola
07 Sep 08 16:30 Niger vs Uganda
10 Sep 08 14:00 Zambia vs Togo

10 Sep 08 22:00 Chad vs Sudan

ASIA

The Situation: 4.5 World Cup qualification places = We’re down to 10 teams, in two groups of five. Top two from each group go to the World Cup. Third place in each group faces a double playoff. One playoff vs each other, then the winner plays off against the winner of the Oceania group for a World Cup place . No games have been played in the two groups yet, so it’s all to play for.

Game to Watch:
North Korea vs South Korea (Sep 10th) - Political tensions are still, er, tense between these two, so the game will actually be played in Shanghai.
Saudi Arabia vs Iran (Sep 6th) - Two teams that will expect to make it to South Africa, so an important game.


Full September Schedule:

06 Sep 08 21:30 Bahrain vs Japan
06 Sep 08 22:00 Qatar vs Uzbekistan
06 Sep 08 22:15 United Arab Emirates vs Korea DPR
06 Sep 08 22:15 Saudi Arabia vs Iran

10 Sep 08 20:00 Korea DPR vs Korea Republic
10 Sep 08 20:30 Uzbekistan vs Australia
10 Sep 08 22:00 Qatar vs Bahrain
10 Sep 08 22:15 United Arab Emirates vs Saudi Arabia

EUROPE

The Situation: If you ignore Kazakhstan vs Andorra last month then these are the opening games of European qualification for the World Cup.

13 qualifications spots = 53 teams in nine groups.

The nine group winners qualify, eight best runners up are drawn against each other in playoffs for remaining four places.

Games to Watch:
Austria vs France (Sep 6th) - Somehow, Raymond Domenech is still in charge of France and has a chance to redeem himself after the disaster that was Euro 2008. Austria have a new coach in Karel Bruckners and will be confident after a recent 2-2 draw with Italy (just a friendly, but still.)
Spain vs Bosnia-Herzegovina (Sep 6th) The new European Champions back in action. Can new boss Vicente Del Bosque keep the good times going, even with Fernando Torres out injured?
Cyprus vs Italy (Sep 6th) Marcello Lippi returns to the Azzurri to defend his World Cup trophy. There are definitely easier ways to start than an away trip to Cyprus.
Croatia vs England (Sep 6th) It’s the rematch. Croatia beat England home and away in Euro 2008 qualification and then went on and impressed in SwissAustria. England stayed home. Fabio Capelo is being paid millions to make sure that doesn’t happen again, so a defeat in Croatia would be nothing short of a disaster for him.


Full September Schedule:

06 Sep 08 15:00 Wales vs Azerbaijan
06 Sep 08 15:00 Macedonia FYR vs Scotland
06 Sep 08 17:00 Poland vs Slovenia
06 Sep 08 17:30 Slovakia vs Northern Ireland
06 Sep 08 18:00 Georgia vs Ireland Republic
06 Sep 08 18:45 Albania vs Sweden
06 Sep 08 19:00 Moldova vs Latvia
06 Sep 08 19:00 Norway vs Iceland
06 Sep 08 19:45 Hungary vs Denmark
06 Sep 08 20:00 Malta vs Portugal
06 Sep 08 20:00 Andorra vs England
06 Sep 08 20:00 Ukraine vs Belarus
06 Sep 08 20:00 Montenegro vs Bulgaria
06 Sep 08 20:15 Luxembourg vs Greece
06 Sep 08 20:15 Croatia vs Kazakhstan
06 Sep 08 20:15 Serbia vs Faroe Islands
06 Sep 08 20:30 Austria vs France
06 Sep 08 20:45 Liechtenstein vs Germany
06 Sep 08 20:45 Belgium vs Estonia
06 Sep 08 20:55 Israel vs Switzerland
06 Sep 08 21:00 Armenia vs Turkey
06 Sep 08 21:00 Romania vs Lithuania
06 Sep 08 21:45 Cyprus vs Italy
06 Sep 08 22:00 Spain vs Bosnia-Herzegovina

10 Sep 08 ??:?? Kazakhstan vs Ukraine
10 Sep 08 17:30 Faroe Islands vs Romania
10 Sep 08 18:30 Iceland vs Scotland
10 Sep 08 19:00 Russia vs Wales
10 Sep 08 19:00 Andorra vs Belarus
10 Sep 08 19:00 Montenegro vs Ireland Republic
10 Sep 08 19:45 Northern Ireland vs Czech Republic
10 Sep 08 20:15 Sweden vs Hungary
10 Sep 08 20:15 Bosnia-Herzegovina vs Estonia
10 Sep 08 20:30 Moldova vs Israel
10 Sep 08 20:30 Switzerland vs Luxembourg
10 Sep 08 20:30 San Marino vs Poland
10 Sep 08 20:30 Lithuania vs Austria
10 Sep 08 20:30 Macedonia FYR vs Netherlands
10 Sep 08 20:35 Finland vs Germany
10 Sep 08 20:45 Albania vs Malta
10 Sep 08 20:45 Portugal vs Denmark
10 Sep 08 20:45 Slovenia vs Slovakia
10 Sep 08 20:50 Italy vs Georgia
10 Sep 08 21:00 Azerbaijan vs Liechtenstein
10 Sep 08 21:00 Turkey vs Belgium
10 Sep 08 21:00 Croatia vs England
10 Sep 08 21:00 France vs Serbia
10 Sep 08 21:15 Latvia vs Greece
10 Sep 08 22:00 Spain vs Armenia

CONCACAF

The Situation: 12 teams remain. Currently in three groups of four. Top two from each group go through to the final six team group (aka the hexagonal) in 2009. All teams have currently played one game.

3.5 qualifications spots = top three in the hexagonal qualify, fourth place team plays off against CONMEBOL 5th place team.

Games to Watch:
Cuba vs USA (Sep 6th) - not a great footballing contest, but the political aspect is fascinating.
All games involving Mexico, Jamaica, Canada and Honduras - because Group 2 is the Group of Death. Two of those teams won’t get to the hexagonal.

Full September Schedule:

06 Sep 08 13:00 Jamaica vs Mexico
06 Sep 08 17:30 Trinidad and Tobago vs Guatemala
06 Sep 08 20:00 Canada vs Honduras
06 Sep 08 20:00 Costa Rica vs Suriname
06 Sep 08 20:00 El Salvador vs Haiti
06 Sep 08 20:11 Cuba vs USA

10 Sep 08 16:30 Suriname vs El Salvador
10 Sep 08 17:00 Haiti vs Costa Rica
10 Sep 08 19:11 USA vs Trinidad and Tobago
10 Sep 08 19:30 Honduras vs Jamaica
10 Sep 08 20:00 Guatemala vs Cuba
10 Sep 08 20:00 Mexico vs Canada

OCEANIA

The Situation: Four teams left in one single group, competing for a measly half a World Cup spot. Teams have played three or four games and New Zealand lead, with New Caladonia in touching distance abd Fiji ad Vabuatu already too far behind. Winner (aka New Zealand) has a playoff against an Asian team for a World Cup spot.

Games to Watch:
New Caledonia vs New Zealand x 2 Depending on results, NZ could sew it up here and the start thinking about that playoff.


Full September Schedule:

06 Sep 08 15:00 Fiji vs Vanuatu
06 Sep 08 17:00 New Caledonia vs New Zealand

10 Sep 08 14:00 Vanuatu vs Fiji
10 Sep 08 19:35 New Zealand vs New Caledonia

SOUTH AMERICA

The Situation: All 10 teams in one big group. Top four go to the World Cup, fifth place team plays off against fourth place CONCACAF team. After six games the top five are (in this order) Paraguay, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Brazil.

Games to Watch:
Argentina vs Paraguay (Sep 6th) - The top two meet in Buenos Aires.
Chile vs Brazil (Sep 7th) - Brazil need a win to leapfrog Chile. Defeat could mean the end for under fire Dunga.


Full September Schedule:

06 Sep 08 16:00 Argentina vs Paraguay
06 Sep 08 16:10 Ecuador vs Bolivia
06 Sep 08 18:20 Colombia vs Uruguay
06 Sep 08 20:30 Peru vs Venezuela
07 Sep 08 21:00 Chile vs Brazil

09 Sep 08 20:00 Paraguay vs Venezuela
10 Sep 08 17:40 Uruguay vs Ecuador
10 Sep 08 18:40 Chile vs Colombia
10 Sep 08 21:30 Peru vs Argentina
10 Sep 08 21:50 Brazil vs Bolivia

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