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Do you want to know who is competing in the World Cup? Perhaps you just want to know who else is in your team's group?
The World Cup is a competition between 32 countries. In order to decide which 32 countries are to take part, qualifying matches are held the previous year with only the top 32 teams making it through to the competition. As the host nation, South Africa automatically qualified for the World Cup and were thefore not required to take part in the qualifying process, however since the matches were also serving as the qualifying tournament for the 2010 African Cup of Nations they did participate. They were the first host since 1934 to participate in preliminary qualifying. Italy also had to compete for their place in the World Cup as an automatic place is no longer granted to defending champions. List of qualified teams
Controversy surrounded final qualification match played between France and the Republic of Ireland in November 2009. In the second leg of the play-off between France and the Republic of Ireland, French captain Thierry Henry, unseen by the referee, illegally handled the ball in the lead up to the winning goal, which saw France make the final 32 teams ahead of Ireland. FIFA rejected a request from the Football Association of Ireland to replay the match and Ireland had to withdraw their request to be allowed to compete as an unprecedented 33rd team. This incident (and others during the qualification rounds) along with a match fixing controversy, spurred widespread debate on how matches should be refereed at the highest level. After an extraordinary general meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee they set up an inquiry into technology and extra officials in the game, however they did state that the competition in South Africa would be officiated as before, with one referee, two assistants and a fourth official. However FIFA President Sepp Blatter asked the players and coaches to "please observe fair play so they will be an example to the rest of the world", he also stated that "in 2010 we want to prove that football is more than just kicking a ball but has social and cultural value Groups
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