Teams and Countries Playing in the FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup
Overview of Countries and National Teams that qualified for FIFA 2010 and will be playing in the Soccer World Cup in South Africa

Overview of the 32 National Teams & Countries playing in the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa per FIFA Zone:

Africa:
1. Ghana qualified on 6 September 2009
2. Côte d'Ivoire qualified on 10 October 2009
3. South Africa automatically qualified as the host country
4. Cameroon qualified on 14 November 2009
5. Nigeria qualified on 14 November 2009
6. Algeria qualified on 18 November 2009

Asia:
7. Australia qualified on 6 June 2009
8. Japan qualified on 6 June 2009
9. Korea Republic qualified on 6 June 2009
10. Korea DPR qualified on 17 June 2009

Europe:
11. Netherlands qualified on 6 June 2009
12. England qualified on 9 September 2009
13. Spain qualified on 9 September 2009
14. Germany qualified on 10 October 2009
15. Italy qualified on 10 October 2009
16. Serbia qualified on 10 October 2009
17. Denmark qualified on 10 October 2009
18. Switzerland qualified on 14 October 2009
19. Slovakia qualified on 14 October 2009
20. France qualified on 18 November 2009
21. Greece qualified on 18 November 2009
22. Portugal qualified on 18 November 2009
23. Slovenia qualified on 18 November 2009

The Americas:
24. Mexico qualified on 10 October 2009
25. USA qualified on 10 October 2009
26. Honduras qualified on 14 October 2009

South America:
27. Brazil qualified on 5 September 2009
28. Paraguay qualified on 9 September 2009
29. Chile qualified on 10 October 2009
30. Argentina qualified on 14 October 2009
31. Uruguay qualified on 18 November 2009

Oceania:
32. New Zealand qualified on 14 November 2009

The story so far:

Japan: The first team to qualify winning 1-0 at Uzbekistan on a ninth-minute goal by Shinji Okazaki. It will be the fourth straight World Cup appearance for the Japanese, who were eliminated in the first round of the 2006 tournament in Germany.

Australia: Appearing for the second straight time following a 0-0 tie at Qatar. It will be the third World Cup appearance for Australia, which qualified in 1974 and was eliminated three years ago with a second-round defeat to Italy.

Korea: South Korea clinched a berth in the other Asian group with a 2-0 victory at the United Arab Emirates. South Korea was a semi-finalist when it co-hosted the 2002 World Cup co-host. South Korea will be making its seventh straight World Cup appearance.

The Netherlands: Qualified for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa after beating Iceland 1-2 in Reyjavik on 6 June. Nigel de Jong opened the scoring for the Oranje and former PSV captain Mark van Bommel crowned a career highlight by netting the second goal. Ooijer also won his fiftieth cap for his country.

Korea DPR: The team will return to the World Cup next year for the first time since 1966. The side sealed their second trip to the global finals with a goalless draw with Saudi Arabia.

Nigeria: the Nigerians strode to a comfortable 2-0 win over Equatorial Guinea in Abuja to win Group Four with two more matches to go after South Africa and Sierra Leone drew 0-0 in Pretoria.

Brazil: The team qualified for 2010 South Africa after beating Argentina with a 3-1 score. Fabiano scored two goals and Luisao added another in Brazil’s 3-1 victory. Brazil have won the World Cup five times, and have played in every World Cup so far.

Ghana: The team walked away with a 2 - 0 victory against Sudan to qualify for 2010. In the 2006 World Cup Ghana reached the second round where they were defeated by Brazil.

Spain: The European Champion qualified for the 2010 World Cup after a 3-0 victory against Estonia. Fábregas scored the first goal in the match. Spain have won all the 8 qualification matches.

England: The team qualified for the World Cup 2010 after their match against Croatia in London. After their 5-0 win against Croatia England showed the world that they are a serious candidate to compete for the World Cup.

Paraguay: The team beat Argentina 1-0 to qualify for the 2010 World Cup This victory made Paraguay the second South America team to qualify for the World Cup.

Denmark: The European's beat Sweden 1-0 to qualify for South Africa FIFA 2010 World Cup.

Germany: Despite playing with only 10 players Germany qualified for World Cup 2010 after beating Russia 1-0.

Serbia: The Serbian's qualified for the World Cup after a 5-0 win against Romania.

Italy: The Italians qualified after a draw against Ireland. ITALY scraped a draw against the Republic of Ireland to join Germany, Denmark and Serbia as the latest European teams to secure 2010 World Cup places.

The Ivory Coast: As the second African country to qualify they've got a point to prove for the African continent. They beat Malawi 1-1 to qualify.

Chile: The team qualified for the World Cup 2010 after beating Colombia 4-2.

USA: The Americans are on their way to South Africa after beating Honduras 2-3.

Mexico: The Mexicans earned their place in the FIFA C 2010 World Cup after a 4-1 win against El Salvador.

Argentina: The team booked their place at the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa finals as substitute Mario Bolatti hit a later winner to end Uruguay's hopes of snatching automatic qualification.

Switzerland and Slovakia: The teams became the last two European sides to book automatic places at the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa after clinching top spot in groups 2 and 3 respectively on the final day of qualifiers.

Honduras: Will be coming to South Africa after a 1-0 win against El Salvador and after USA tied 2-2 with Costa Rica. After 28 years, Honduras will once again be present at the World Cup.

Cameroon: The team coasted to a 2-0 win in Morocco on Saturday 14 November 2009 and clinched a record sixth appearance for an African team at the FIFA World Cup finals.

New Zealand: The team qualified for the World Cup finals on Saturday 14 November 2009 with a 1-0 win over Bahrain in the Asia/Oceania final second leg.

Nigeria: The Nigerian's qualified for South Africa 2010 after defeating Kenya's Harambee Stars 3-2.

France: The French beat the Republic of Ireland 2-1 to reach World Cup finals. A blatant handball from Thierry Henry set up an extra-time winner for defender William Gallas and handed France a controversial passage into the World Cup finals.

Greece: The team qualified for the 2010 World Cup finals when they beat Ukraine 1-0 in the second leg of their playoff in Donetsk.

Algeria: The African squad became the last African nation to qualify for the 2010 World Cup finals after beating Egypt 1-0.

Portugal: Coached by former Bafana Bafana mentor Carlos Queiroz, the team qualified for the World Cup for the third time in a row when they beat Bosnia 1-0.

Slovenia: The European team earned their ticket when they beat Russia, who finished with nine men, 1-0.

Uruguay: The team completed the list of 32 nations that will be competing in South Africa in June next year with a 1-1 draw against Costa Rica