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2002 FIFA World Cup qualification

Tournament details
Dates	4 March 2000 – 25 November 2001
Teams	199 (from 6 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	777
Goals scored	2,452 (3.16 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Archie Thompson (16 goals)
← 1998 2006 →

The 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification competition was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oceania), and UEFA (Europe) — was allocated a certain number of the 32 places at the tournament. 199 teams entered the tournament qualification rounds, competing for 32 spots in the final tournament. South Korea and Japan, as the co-hosts, and France, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 29 spots open for competition.

Qualified teams

Final qualification status

  Country qualified for World Cup

  Country failed to qualify

  Country did not enter World Cup

  Country not a FIFA member

Team	Method of qualification	Date of qualification	Finals appearance	Last appearance	Consecutive finals appearances	Previous best performance	FIFA ranking at start of event[1]
Japan	Host	31 May 1996	2nd	1998	2	Group Stage (1998)	32
South Korea	Host	31 May 1996	6th	1998	5	Group Stage (1954, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998)	40
France	Defending Champions	12 July 1998	11th	1998	2	Winners (1998)	1
Cameroon	CAF Final Round Group A Winners	1 July 2001	5th	1998	4	Quarter Finals (1990)	17
South Africa	CAF Final Round Group E Winners	1 July 2001	2nd	1998	2	Group Stage (1998)	37
Tunisia	CAF Final Round Group D Winners	15 July 2001	3rd	1998	2	Group Stage (1978, 1998)	31
Senegal	CAF Final Round Group C Winners	21 July 2001	1st	–	1	–	42
Nigeria	CAF Final Round Group B Winners	29 July 2001	3rd	1998	3	Round of 16 (1994, 1998)	27
Argentina	CONMEBOL Robin Round Winners	15 August 2001	13th	1998	8	Winners (1978, 1986)	3
Poland	UEFA Group 5 Winners	1 September 2001	6th	1986	1	Third Place (1974, 1982)	38
Sweden	UEFA Group 4 Winners	5 September 2001	10th	1994	1	Runners-Up (1958)	19
Spain	UEFA Group 7 Winners	5 September 2001	11th	1998	7	Fourth Place (1950)	8
Costa Rica	CONCACAF Final Round Winners	5 September 2001	2nd	1990	1	Round of 16 (1990)	29
Russia	UEFA Group 1 Winners	6 October 2001	9th [nb 1]	1994	1	Fourth Place (1966)	28
Portugal	UEFA Group 2 Winners	6 October 2001	3rd	1986	1	Third Place (1966)	5
Denmark	UEFA Group 3 Winners	6 October 2001	3rd	1998	2	Quarter Finals (1998)	20
Croatia	UEFA Group 6 Winners	6 October 2001	2nd	1998	2	Third Place (1998)	21
Italy	UEFA Group 8 Winners	6 October 2001	15th	1998	11	Winners (1934, 1938, 1982)	6
England	UEFA Group 9 Winners	6 October 2001	11th	1998	2	Winners (1966)	12
China PR	AFC Second Round Group B Winners	7 October 2001	1st	–	1	–	50
United States	CONCACAF Final Round Runners-Up	7 October 2001	7th	1998	4	Third Place (1930)	13
Saudi Arabia	AFC Second Round Group A Winners	21 October 2001	3rd	1998	3	Round of 16 (1994)	34
Paraguay	CONMEBOL Robin Round 4th Place	8 November 2001	6th	1998	2	Round of 16 (1986, 1998)	18
Mexico	CONCACAF Final Round 3rd Place	11 November 2001	12th	1998	3	Quarter Finals (1970, 1986)	7
Belgium	UEFA play-off Winners	14 November 2001	11th	1998	6	Fourth Place (1986)	23
Germany	UEFA play-off Winners	14 November 2001	15th	1998	12	Winners (1954, 1974, 1990)	11
Slovenia	UEFA play-off Winners	14 November 2001	1st	–	1	–	25
Turkey	UEFA play-off Winners	14 November 2001	2nd	1954	1	Group Stage (1954)	22
Ecuador	CONMEBOL Robin Round Runners-Up	14 November 2001	1st	–	1	–	36
Brazil	CONMEBOL Robin Round 3rd Place	14 November 2001	17th	1998	17	Winners (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994)	2
Republic of Ireland	UEFA-AFC play-off Winners	15 November 2001	3rd	1994	1	Quarter Finals (1990)	15
Uruguay	CONMEBOL v OFC play-off Winners	25 November 2001	10th	1990	1	Winners (1930, 1950)	24

12 of the 32 teams subsequently failed to qualify for the 2006 finals: Belgium, Cameroon, China, Denmark, Ireland, Nigeria, Russia, Senegal, Slovenia, South Africa, Turkey, Uruguay.

Qualification process

The 32 spots available in the 2002 World Cup would be distributed among the continental zones as follows:

• Europe (UEFA): 14.5 places, 1 of them went to automatic qualifier France, while the other 13.5 places were contested by 50 teams. The winner of the 0.5 place would advance to the intercontinental play-offs (against a team from AFC)


• South America (CONMEBOL): 4.5 places, contested by 10 teams. The winner of the 0.5 place would advance to the intercontinental play-offs (against a team from OFC).


• North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF): 3 places, contested by 35 teams.


• Africa (CAF): 5 places, contested by 51 teams.


• Asia (AFC): 4.5 places, 2 of them went to automatic qualifiers South Korea and Japan, while the other 2.5 places were contested by 40 teams. The winner of the 0.5 place would advance to the intercontinental play-offs (against a team from UEFA).


• 
  Oceania (OFC): 0.5 place, contested by 10 teams. The winner of the 0.5 place would advance to the intercontinental play-offs (against a team from CONMEBOL).

A total of 193 teams played at least one qualifying match. A total of 777 qualifying matches were played, and 2452 goals were scored (an average of 3.17 per match).

Confederation qualification

AFC

The Asian Football Confederation was allocated four and half qualifying berths for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, South Korea and Japan, the co-hosts, qualified automatically, leaving two and half spots open for competition between 40 teams. Myanmar withdrew from the tournament after being placed in Group 2 but before any matches had been played, therefore reducing the group to 3 teams.

Afghanistan, Bhutan and North Korea chose not to participate.

Asia's two remaining automatic qualifying berths were taken by Saudi Arabia and China. Iran that defeating United Arab Emirates to become possible fifth Asian qualifier, fails after losing their AFC/UEFA playoff against Republic of Ireland.

There were three rounds of play:

• 
  First Stage: The 39 teams were divided into 9 groups of 4 teams each, and 1 group of 3 teams. The teams played against each other twice, except in Group 2, where the teams played against each other once. The group winners would advance to the Final Round.


• 
  Second Stage: The 10 teams were divided into 2 groups of 5 teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify. The runners-up would advance to the AFC Play-off.


• 
  Play-off: The 2 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would advance to the UEFA/AFC Intercontinental Play-off.

Final positions (Second Round)

Group A	Group B
Team Pld Pts  Saudi Arabia 8 17  Iran 8 15  Bahrain 8 10  Iraq 8 7  Thailand 8 4	Team Pld Pts  China PR 8 19  United Arab Emirates 8 11  Uzbekistan 8 10  Qatar 8 9  Oman 8 6

AFC Play-off

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Iran	4–0	United Arab Emirates	1–0	3–0

CAF

The Confederation of African Football was allocated five qualifying berths for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. 51 teams entered the qualification process.

Burundi withdrew before the draw was made. while Niger and Comoros chose not to participate.

Guinea was excluded from the competition during the Final Round for government interference with its national association, resulting in their results obtained in final round annulled.

Africa's five automatic qualifying berths were taken by Cameroon, Senegal, Tunisia, South Africa, and Nigeria.

There were two rounds of play:

• 
  First Round: The 50 teams were divided into 5 pools of 10 teams each. In each pool, the 10 teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The winners advanced to the Final Round.


• 
  Final Round: The 25 teams were divided into 5 groups of 5 teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners qualified.

Final positions (Final Round)

Group A	Group B	Group C
Team Pld Pts  Cameroon 8 19  Angola 8 13  Zambia 8 11  Togo 8 9  Libya 8 2	Team Pld Pts  Nigeria 8 16  Liberia 8 15  Sudan 8 12  Ghana 8 11  Sierra Leone 8 4	Team Pld Pts  Senegal 8 15  Morocco 8 15  Egypt 8 13  Algeria 8 8  Namibia 8 2
Group D	Group E
Team Pld Pts  Tunisia 8 20  Ivory Coast 8 15  DR Congo 8 10  Madagascar 8 6  Congo 8 5	Team Pld Pts  South Africa 6 16  Zimbabwe 6 12  Burkina Faso 6 5  Malawi 6 1  Guinea 0 0

CONCACAF

A total of 35 CONCACAF teams entered the competition. Mexico, USA, Jamaica and Costa Rica, the four highest-ranked teams according to FIFA, received byes and advanced to the semi-finals, while Canada advanced to the play-offs . The remaining teams were divided into zones, based on geographical locations, as follows:

• Caribbean Zone: The 24 teams were divided into groups of eight teams each. The teams played in a three-round knockout tournament. The winners would advance to the semi-finals, while the runners-up would advance to the play-offs.


• Central American Zone: The six teams are divided into groups of three teams each. The teams played against each other. The winners of the group would advance to the semi-finals, while the runners-up would advance to the play-offs.


• Play-offs: the six teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. A team from North or Central America would play against a team from the Caribbean, and the winners would advance to the semi-finals.


• Semi-finals: the 12 teams were divided into three groups of four teams each. They played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners and runners-up would advance to the final round.


• Final round: the six teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The top three teams would qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Final positions (Final Round)

Team	Pld	Pts
Costa Rica	10	23
Mexico	10	17
United States	10	17
Honduras	10	14
Jamaica	10	8
Trinidad and Tobago	10	5

CONMEBOL

A total of 10 CONMEBOL teams entered the competition. competing for four and half places in the final tournament.

The 10 teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The top 4 teams qualified. The 5th-placed team advanced to the CONMEBOL / OFC Intercontinental Play-off.

Final positions

Team	Pld	Pts
Argentina	18	43
Ecuador	18	31
Brazil	18	30
Paraguay	18	30
Uruguay	18	27
Colombia	18	27
Bolivia	18	18
Peru	18	16
Venezuela	18	16
Chile	18	12

OFC

A total of 10 teams entered the competition. competing for a half places in the final tournament.

There would be two rounds of play:

• 
  First Round: The 10 teams were divided into two groups of five teams each. The teams played against each other once. The group winners would advance to the Final Round.


• 
  Final Round: The two teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would advance to the CONMEBOL/OFC Intercontinental Play-off.

Australia's 31–0 win over American Samoa established a World Cup record for the highest margin of victory in a qualifying match.

Final positions (Final Round)

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
New Zealand	1–6	Australia	0–2	1–4

UEFA

The European section acted as qualifiers for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, for national teams which are members of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). Apart from France, who qualified automatically as holders, a total of thirteen and half slots in the final tournament were available for UEFA teams.

The 50 teams were divided into nine groups, five groups of six teams and four groups of five teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify. Among the runners-up, the runner-up of Group 2 was drawn randomly to advance to the UEFA–AFC Intercontinental play-off. The other runners-up would advance to the UEFA play-offs.

In the play-offs, the eight teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The four aggregate winners qualified. The qualifying process started on 2 September 2000, after UEFA Euro 2000, and ended on 14 November 2001.

The Netherlands and Romania both failed to qualify for the tournament for the first time since 1986, the former finishing third in Group 2 behind Portugal and Republic of Ireland and the latter suffering a shock loss to Slovenia in the play-offs.

Final positions (First Round)

Group 1	Group 2	Group 3
Team Pld Pts  Russia 10 23  Slovenia 10 20  Yugoslavia 10 19   Switzerland 10 14  Faroe Islands 10 7  Luxembourg 10 0	Team Pld Pts  Portugal 10 24  Republic of Ireland 10 24  Netherlands 10 20  Cyprus 10 8  Estonia 10 8  Andorra 10 0	Team Pld Pts  Denmark 10 22  Czech Republic 10 20  Bulgaria 10 17  Iceland 10 13  Northern Ireland 10 11  Malta 10 1
Group 4	Group 5	Group 6
Team Pld Pts  Sweden 10 26  Turkey 10 21  Slovakia 10 17  Moldova 10 7  Macedonia 10 7  Azerbaijan 10 5	Team Pld Pts  Poland 10 21  Ukraine 10 17  Belarus 10 15  Norway 10 10  Wales 10 9  Armenia 10 5	Team Pld Pts  Croatia 8 18  Belgium 8 17  Scotland 8 15  Latvia 8 4  San Marino 8 1
Group 7	Group 8	Group 9
Team Pld Pts  Spain 8 20  Austria 8 15  Israel 8 12  Bosnia and Herzegovina 8 8  Liechtenstein 8 0	Team Pld Pts  Italy 8 20  Romania 8 16  Georgia 8 10  Hungary 8 8  Lithuania 8 2	Team Pld Pts  England 8 17  Germany 8 17  Finland 8 12  Greece 8 7  Albania 8 3

Play-offs

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Belgium	2–0	Czech Republic	1–0	1–0
Ukraine	2–5	Germany	1–1	1–4
Slovenia	3–2	Romania	2–1	1–1
Austria	0–6	Turkey	0–1	0–5

Inter-confederation play-offs

There were two scheduled inter-confederation playoffs to determine the final two qualification spots to the finals. The first legs were played on 10 and 20 November 2001, and the second legs were played on 15 and 25 November 2001.^[2]

UEFA v AFC

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Republic of Ireland	2–1	Iran	2–0	0–1

OFC v CONMEBOL

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Australia	1–3	Uruguay	1–0	0–3

Top goalscorers

16 goals

• 
  Archie Thompson
  

15 goals

• 
  Carlos Pavon
  

14 goals

• 
  David Zdrilic
  

11 goals

• 
  Golman Pierre
  


• 
  Ibrahima Bakayoko
  


• 
  Hani Al-Dhabit
  


• 
  Talal Al-Meshal
  


• 
  Said Bayazid
  

10 goals

• 
  Rolando Fonseca
  


• 
  Ali Daei
  


• 
  Obeid Al-Dosari
  


• 
  Kiatisuk Senamuang
  


• 
  Andriy Shevchenko
  


• 
  Yaser Salem Ali
  


• 
  Jafar Irismetov
  

Notes

• On their way to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Brazil endured their worst qualifying campaign ever, losing 6 matches (the only time so far they lost more than 2 games in a qualifying campaign) and finishing 3rd of the South American qualifying group (the only time so far they have not emerged as leaders of their qualifying group). However, Brazil went on to win the 2002 World Cup with a record-breaking tally of 7 wins in 7 matches in the final competition, without facing extra time or penalty shoot-outs. The following teams also won all their final competition matches: Uruguay in 1930 (4 games), Italy in 1938 (4 games, among which 1 game won after extra time), Brazil in 1970 (6 games) and France in 1998 (7 games, among which one game was won in added extra time by a golden goal and one game was won on penalties). In 1970, Brazil had also won all of their 6 preliminary competition matches. Uruguay did not play any preliminary round for 1930, as there was none, and Italy did not either for 1938 as they were automatically qualified for the World Cup as title holders.


• 
  Germany lost a World Cup qualifying match for the second time only on 1 September 2001, when they were defeated 1–5 by England in Munich. They had played 62 World Cup qualifying matches before (47 wins, 14 draws, 1 loss). Apart from Germany, no team having played more than 20 World Cup qualifying matches have lost less than 3 of them. Oddly, their first loss ever in a World Cup qualifier also took place while playing home, in Stuttgart, against Portugal in 1985.


• 
  Australia netted 31 goals against newcomers American Samoa, setting the record of the highest-scoring match and biggest margin of victory in an international match ever. This was only two days after Australia thrashed Tonga 22–0, a then international record. Also, Archie Thompson's 13 goals in the match against American Samoa surpassed the previous record of 10.


• 
  Souleymane Mamam of Togo became the youngest player ever to play in a World Cup qualifying match at the age of 13 years and 310 days in the match against Zambia, in Lomé, in May 2001. He subbed in for Komlan Assignon, three minutes from full-time.


• The fastest-ever hat-trick in an "A" international was set when Abdul Hamid Bassiouny of Egypt needed only 177 seconds to bag his three goals in a game against Namibia.


• 
  Switzerland's Kubilay Türkyilmaz scored a hat trick exclusively from penalties against the Faroe Islands. Brazil's Ronaldo equaled this against Argentina in his team's 3–1 win in the 2006 World Cup qualifying round.


• This was the first and, to date, only time that Germany qualified for a FIFA World Cup after playing qualifying play-offs.

Notes

External links

• FIFA World Cup Official Site - 2002 World Cup Qualification


• RSSSF - 2002 World Cup Qualification