Four More World Cup Berths To Be Decided on Wednesday

The World Cup 2010 picture is getting clearer and clearer. Right now 19 of the 32 available spots are booked. Qualified teams are: South Africa, Japan, Australia, S. Korea, Netherlands, N. Korea, Brazil, Ghana, England, Spain, Paraguay, Cote d’Ivoire, Germany, Denmark, Serbia, Italy, Chile, Mexico, USA.

So that leaves 13 places still to be filled. Four of these will be decided on Wednesday: Two in Europe plus one each in South America and CONCACAF.

Also decided on Wednesday: The playoff teams from CONCACAF and CONMEBOL (who’ll play each other for one golden ticket) and the eight from UEFA (who’ll be drawn to play each other for four spots).

The most interesting showdown looks to be in South America, where 4th place (and automatic qualification) will be decided. Argentina, Uruguay and Ecuador are still in the hunt. Table looks like this:

October 14th games to watch:

Uruguay vs Argentina
Chile vs Ecuador

Argentina need a win to guarantee fourth place. Fifth place gets a playoff vs the fourth place CONCACAF team. Sixth place gets a box of tissues.

Speaking of CONCACAF…

It’s either Costa Rica or Honduras for third place and automatic qualification. Costa Rica goes into the final game with a two point advantage. Fourth place gets that not so coveted playoff vs a South American team.

Games to watch October 14th:

USA vs Costa Rica
El Salvador vs Honduras

In Europe, seven of the nine group winners (and therefore automatic World Cup qualifiers) have been decided. Switzerland or Greece can still claim Group 2, while either Slovenia or Slovakia can take Group 3.

Russia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, France and the Republic of Ireland have all secured second place in their groups, and will be drawn against each other in four (seeded) playoff matches. More on that tomorrow.

Teams looking to make the playoffs include Portugal and Sweden in Group 1 (though Portugal need only a win against played nine, won none Malta), Israel and Latvia in Group 2 (assuming they can catch Greece or Switzerland), Czech Republic and Northern Ireland in Group 3 (assuming they can catch either Slovakia or Slovenia), Ukraine and Croatia in Group 6 (Ukraine need only to beat Andorra).

Here’s the complete European standings if you want to study in detail. Everything will make a lot more sense by Thursday morning.

Games to watch October 14th:

Portugal vs Malta
Greece vs Luxembourg
Poland vs Slovakia

So, who will you be supporting in Wednesday’s games?

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