2002 FIFA World Cup qualification

A total of 199 teams entered the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 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.

Spots distribution

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).

Continental zones

To see the dates and results of the qualification rounds for each continental zone, click on the following articles:

• Europe (UEFA)

Group 1 – Russia qualified. Slovenia advanced to the UEFA play-offs.

Group 2 – Portugal qualified. Republic of Ireland advanced to the UEFA–AFC intercontinental play-off

Group 3 – Denmark qualified. Czech Republic advanced to the UEFA play-offs.

Group 4 – Sweden qualified. Turkey advanced to the UEFA play-offs.

Group 5 – Poland qualified. Ukraine advanced to the UEFA play-offs.

Group 6 – Croatia qualified. Belgium advanced to the UEFA play-offs.

Group 7 – Spain qualified. Austria advanced to the UEFA play-offs.

Group 8 – Italy qualified. Romania advanced to the UEFA play-offs.

Group 9 – England qualified. Germany advanced to the UEFA play-offs.

Play-offs – Belgium, Germany, Slovenia and Turkey qualified over Czech Republic, Ukraine, Romania, and Austria respectively.

• South America (CONMEBOL)

Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil and Paraguay qualified. Uruguay advanced to the CONMEBOL–OFC intercontinental play-off.

• North, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF)

Costa Rica, Mexico and USA qualified.

• Africa (CAF)

Group A – Cameroon qualified.

Group B – Nigeria qualified.

Group C – Senegal qualified.

Group D – Tunisia qualified.

Group E – South Africa qualified.

• Asia (AFC)

Group A – Saudi Arabia qualified. Iran advanced to the AFC play-off.

Group B – China PR qualified. United Arab Emirates advanced to the AFC play-off.

Play-off – Iran advanced to the UEFA–AFC intercontinental play-off over United Arab Emirates.

• Oceania (OFC)

Australia advanced to the CONMEBOL–OFC intercontinental play-off.

Intercontinental play-offs

The teams would play against each other on a home-and-away basis. The winner would qualify.

UEFA–AFC intercontinental play-off

Republic of Ireland  v  Iran

2001-11-10 18:00 UTC±0

Republic of Ireland	2–0	Iran
Harte  44' (pen.) Keane  50'	(Report)

Lansdowne Road, Dublin Attendance: 36,538 Referee: Antonio Pereira da Silva (Brazil)

Iran  v  Republic of Ireland

2001-11-15 17:30 UTC+3:30

Iran	1–0	Republic of Ireland
Golmohammadi  90'	(Report)

Azadi Stadium, Tehran Attendance: 100,000 Referee: Mattus (Costa Rica)

Republic of Ireland qualified by the aggregate score of 2–1.

CONMEBOL–OFC intercontinental play-off

Australia  v  Uruguay

2001-11-20 20:15 UTC+11

Australia	1–0	Uruguay
Muscat  78' (pen.)	(Report)

Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Attendance: 84,656 Referee: Cesari (Italy)

Uruguay  v  Australia

2001-11-25 16:00 UTC−3

Uruguay	3–0	Australia
Silva  14' Morales  70', 90'	(Report)

Estadio Centenario, Montevideo Attendance: 62,000 Referee: Bujsaim (UAE)

Uruguay qualified by the aggregate score of 3–1.

Qualified teams

The following 32 teams qualified for the 2002 FIFA World Cup:

Final qualification status

  Country qualified for World Cup

  Country failed to qualify

  Country did not enter World Cup

  Country not a FIFA member

Team	Finals appearance	Streak	Last appearance
Argentina	13th	8	1998
Belgium	11th	6	1998
Brazil	17th	17	1998
Cameroon	5th	4	1998
China PR	1st	1	–
Costa Rica	2nd	1	1990
Croatia	2nd	2	1998
Denmark	3rd	2	1998
Ecuador	1st	1	–
England	11th	2	1998
France (c)	11th	2	1998
Germany	15th(1)	13(1)	1998
Italy	15th	11	1998
Japan (h)	2nd	2	1998
South Korea (h)	6th	5	1998
Mexico	12th	3	1998
Senegal	1st	1	–
Nigeria	3rd	3	1998
Paraguay	6th	2	1998
Poland	6th	1	1986
Portugal	3rd	1	1986
Republic of Ireland	3rd	1	1994
Russia	2nd(2)	1	1994
	3rd	3	1998
	1st	1	–
	2nd	2	1998
	11th	7	1998
	10th	1	1994
	3rd	2	1998
	2nd	1	1954
	7th	4	1998
	10th	1	1990

(h) – qualified automatically as co-hosts

(c) – qualified automatically as defending champions

Notes

• On their way to World Cup 2002, 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 World Cup 2002 with a record-breaking tally of 7 wins in 7 matches in the final competition, without facing extra time nor penalty shootouts. 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.

External links

• FIFA World Cup Official Site - 2002 World Cup Qualification
• RSSSF - 2002 World Cup Qualification