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2002 FIFA World Cup qualification

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2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
Tournament details
Dates4 March 2000 – 25 November 2001
Teams199 (from 6 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played777
Goals scored2,452 (3.16 per match)
Attendance17,242,036 (22,191 per match)
Top scorer(s)Australia 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

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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 Co-hosts 31 May 1996 2nd 1998 2 Group stage (1998) 32
 South Korea 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 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 [2] 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 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
 Ecuador CONMEBOL runners-up 7 November 2001 1st 1 36
 Paraguay CONMEBOL 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
 Brazil CONMEBOL 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
1Includes 10 appearances by DFB representing West Germany between 1954 and 1990. Excludes 1 appearance by DVF representing East Germany between 1954 and 1990.
2Includes appearances by USSR.

Qualification process

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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).

Summary of qualification

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Confederation Available slots in finals Teams started Teams eliminated Teams qualified Qualifying start date Qualifying end date
AFC 2+2 or 3+2 39+2 37 2+2 24 November 2000 15 November 2001
CAF 5 50 45 5 7 April 2000 29 July 2001
CONCACAF 3 34 31 3 4 March 2000 11 November 2001
CONMEBOL 4 or 5 10 5 5 28 March 2000 25 November 2001
OFC 0 or 1 10 10 0 7 April 2001 25 November 2001
UEFA 13+1 or 14+1 50+1 36 14+1 16 August 2000 15 November 2001
Total 29+3 193+3 164 29+3 4 March 2000 25 November 2001

Confederation qualification

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AFC

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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 three 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 lost their AFC–UEFA playoff against the Republic of Ireland.

There were three rounds of play:

  • First round: The 39 teams were divided into nine groups of four teams each, and one group of three teams. The teams played against each other twice, except in group 2, where the teams played against each other once. The group winners advanced to the final round.
  • Second round: The ten group winners from the first round were divided into two groups of five teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners qualified directly to the World Cup. The runners-up advanced to the AFC play-off.
  • Play-off: The two group runners-up from the second round played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner advanced to the UEFA–AFC inter-confederation play-off.

Final positions (second round)

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Group A Group B

Pos Team Pld Pts
1  Saudi Arabia 8 17
2  Iran 8 15
3  Bahrain 8 10
4  Iraq 8 7
5  Thailand 8 4
Source: [3]

Pos Team Pld Pts
1  China 8 19
2  United Arab Emirates 8 11
3  Uzbekistan 8 10
4  Qatar 8 9
5  Oman 8 6
Source: [3]

AFC play-off

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

CAF

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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 the final round being 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 five pools of ten 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 second round.
  • Second round: The 25 teams were divided into five groups of five teams each. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners qualified.

Final positions (second round)

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Group A Group B Group C

Pos Team Pld Pts
1  Cameroon 8 19
2  Angola 8 13
3  Zambia 8 11
4  Togo 8 9
5  Libya 8 2
Source: [4]

Pos Team Pld Pts
1  Nigeria 8 16
2  Liberia 8 15
3  Sudan 8 12
4  Ghana 8 11
5  Sierra Leone 8 4
Source: [4]

Pos Team Pld Pts
1  Senegal 8 15
2  Morocco 8 15
3  Egypt 8 13
4  Algeria 8 8
5  Namibia 8 2
Source: [4]
Group D Group E

Pos Team Pld Pts
1  Tunisia 8 20
2  Ivory Coast 8 15
3  DR Congo 8 10
4  Madagascar 8 6
5  Congo 8 5
Source: [4]

Pos Team Pld Pts
1  South Africa 6 16
2  Zimbabwe 6 12
3  Burkina Faso 6 5
4  Malawi 6 1
5  Guinea 0 0
Source: [4]

CONCACAF

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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.
Legend
Countries that qualified for the 2002 World Cup

Final positions (final round)

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Pos Team Pld Pts
1  Costa Rica 10 23
2  Mexico 10 17
3  United States 10 17
4  Honduras 10 14
5  Jamaica 10 8
6  Trinidad and Tobago 10 5
Source: FIFA

CONMEBOL

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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.

Legend
Countries that qualified for the 2002 World Cup

Final positions

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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

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

Papua New Guinea chose not to participate.

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 second round.
  • Second round: The two teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would advance to the CONMEBOL/OFC inter-continental 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 (second round)

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

UEFA

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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.


Legend
Countries that qualified for the 2002 World Cup
Countries that advanced to the Play-offs

Final positions (first round)

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Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
Team Pld Pts
 Russia 10 23
 Slovenia 10 20
 FR 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
 Macedonia 10 7
 Moldova 10 6
 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

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Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score 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

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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.[6]

UEFA v AFC

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

OFC v CONMEBOL

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

Top goalscorers

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There were 2,452 goals scored in 777 matches, for an average of 3.16 goals per match.

16 goals

15 goals

14 goals

11 goals

10 goals

Below are goalscorer lists for all confederations and the inter-confederation play-offs:

Trivia

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  • On their way to the 2002 World Cup, Brazil endured their worst qualifying campaign ever, losing 6 matches (the only time they have lost more than 2 games in a qualifying campaign) and finishing 3rd of the South American qualifying group (the only time 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, 1 of which after extra time), Brazil in 1970 (6 games) and France in 1998 (7 games, of which 1 with a golden goal during extra time and 1 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.
  • After finishing second in the group, where they famously lost 1–5 to England, Germany had to play qualifying play-offs for the only time in their history.
  • 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 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 would equal this against Argentina in his team's 3–1 win in the 2006 World Cup qualifying round.

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ "FIFA/Coca Cola World Ranking (15 May 2002)". FIFA.com. FIFA. 15 May 2002. Archived from the original on October 26, 2015. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  2. ^ This is the 2nd appearance of Russia at the FIFA World Cup. However FIFA considers Russia as the successor team of the USSR.
  3. ^ a b "FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) 2010, football - table and standings". soccer365.me. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e "FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF) 2002, football - table and standings". soccer365.me. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  5. ^ "Fifa confirm Guinea ban". BBC Sport. 19 March 2001. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  6. ^ "International match Calendar 2013–2018" (PDF). FIFA. 1 May 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 7, 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
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