2002 FIFA World Cup qualification

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.

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)
Top scorer(s)Australia Archie Thompson
(16 goals)

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]
 JapanHost31 May 19962nd19982Group stage (1998)32
 South KoreaHost31 May 19966th19985Group stage (1954, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998)40
 FranceDefending Champions12 July 199811th19982Winners (1998)1
 CameroonCAF final round group A winners1 July 20015th19984Quarter-finals (1990)17
 South AfricaCAF final round group E winners1 July 20012nd19982Group stage (1998)37
 TunisiaCAF final round group D winners15 July 20013rd19982Group stage (1978, 1998)31
 SenegalCAF final round group C winners21 July 20011st142
 NigeriaCAF final round group B winners29 July 20013rd19983Round of 16 (1994, 1998)27
 ArgentinaCONMEBOL winners15 August 200113th19988Winners (1978, 1986)3
 PolandUEFA Group 5 winners1 September 20016th19861Third place (1974, 1982)38
 SwedenUEFA Group 4 winners5 September 200110th19941Runners-up (1958)19
 SpainUEFA Group 7 winners5 September 200111th19987Fourth place (1950)8
 Costa RicaCONCACAF final round winners5 September 20012nd19901Round of 16 (1990)29
 RussiaUEFA Group 1 winners6 October 20019th [2]19941Fourth place (1966)28
 PortugalUEFA Group 2 winners6 October 20013rd19861Third place (1966)5
 DenmarkUEFA Group 3 winners6 October 20013rd19982Quarter-finals (1998)20
 CroatiaUEFA Group 6 winners6 October 20012nd19982Third place (1998)21
 ItalyUEFA Group 8 winners6 October 200115th199811Winners (1934, 1938, 1982)6
 EnglandUEFA Group 9 winners6 October 200111th19982Winners (1966)12
 ChinaAFC second round Group B winners7 October 20011st150
 United StatesCONCACAF final round runners-up7 October 20017th19984Third place (1930)13
 Saudi ArabiaAFC second round Group A winners21 October 20013rd19983Round of 16 (1994)34
 EcuadorCONMEBOL runners-up7 November 20011st136
 ParaguayCONMEBOL 4th place8 November 20016th19982Round of 16 (1986, 1998)18
 MexicoCONCACAF final round 3rd place11 November 200112th19983Quarter-finals (1970, 1986)7
 BelgiumUEFA play-off winners14 November 200111th19986Fourth place (1986)23
 GermanyUEFA play-off winners14 November 200115th199812Winners (1954, 1974, 1990)11
 SloveniaUEFA play-off winners14 November 20011st125
 TurkeyUEFA play-off winners14 November 20012nd19541Group stage (1954)22
 BrazilCONMEBOL 3rd place14 November 200117th199817Winners (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994)2
 Republic of IrelandUEFA-AFC play-off winners15 November 20013rd19941Quarter-finals (1990)15
 UruguayCONMEBOL v OFC play-off winners25 November 200110th19901Winners (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

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.
Legend
Countries that qualified for the 2002 World Cup
Countries that advanced to the Play-off for 3rd place

Final positions (second round)

Group A Group B
Team Pld Pts
 Saudi Arabia 817
 Iran 815
 Bahrain 810
 Iraq 87
 Thailand 84
Team Pld Pts
 China 819
 United Arab Emirates 811
 Uzbekistan 810
 Qatar 89
 Oman 86

AFC play-off

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score 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.
Legend
Countries that qualified for the 2002 World Cup

Final positions (final round)

Group A Group B Group C
Team Pld Pts
 Cameroon 819
 Angola 813
 Zambia 811
 Togo 89
 Libya 82
Team Pld Pts
 Nigeria 816
 Liberia 815
 Sudan 812
 Ghana 811
 Sierra Leone 84
Team Pld Pts
 Senegal 815
 Morocco 815
 Egypt 813
 Algeria 88
 Namibia 82
Group D Group E
Team Pld Pts
 Tunisia 820
 Ivory Coast 815
 DR Congo 810
 Madagascar 86
 Congo 85
Team Pld Pts
 South Africa 616
 Zimbabwe 612
 Burkina Faso 65
 Malawi 61
 Guinea 00

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.
Legend
Countries that qualified for the 2002 World Cup

Final positions (final round)

Team Pld Pts
 Costa Rica 1023
 Mexico 1017
 United States 1017
 Honduras 1014
 Jamaica 108
 Trinidad and Tobago 105

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.

Legend
Countries that qualified for the 2002 World Cup

Final positions

Team Pld Pts
 Argentina 1843
 Ecuador 1831
 Brazil 1830
 Paraguay 1830
 Uruguay 1827
 Colombia 1827
 Bolivia 1818
 Peru 1816
 Venezuela 1816
 Chile 1812

OFC

A total of 10 teams entered the competition. competing for a half places 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 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.Tooltip Aggregate score 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.


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

Final positions (first round)

Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
Team Pld Pts
 Russia 1023
 Slovenia 1020
 FR Yugoslavia 1019
  Switzerland 1014
 Faroe Islands 107
 Luxembourg 100
Team Pld Pts
 Portugal 1024
 Republic of Ireland 1024
 Netherlands 1020
 Cyprus 108
 Estonia 108
 Andorra 100
Team Pld Pts
 Denmark 1022
 Czech Republic 1020
 Bulgaria 1017
 Iceland 1013
 Northern Ireland 1011
 Malta 101
Group 4 Group 5 Group 6
Team Pld Pts
 Sweden 1026
 Turkey 1021
 Slovakia 1017
 Moldova 107
 Macedonia 106
 Azerbaijan 105
Team Pld Pts
 Poland 1021
 Ukraine 1017
 Belarus 1015
 Norway 1010
 Wales 109
 Armenia 105
Team Pld Pts
 Croatia 818
 Belgium 817
 Scotland 815
 Latvia 84
 San Marino 81
Group 7 Group 8 Group 9
Team Pld Pts
 Spain 820
 Austria 815
 Israel 812
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 88
 Liechtenstein 80
Team Pld Pts
 Italy 820
 Romania 816
 Georgia 810
 Hungary 88
 Lithuania 82
Team Pld Pts
 England 817
 Germany 817
 Finland 812
 Greece 87
 Albania 83

Play-offs

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

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.[3]

UEFA v AFC

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

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

Top goalscorers

16 goals
15 goals
14 goals
11 goals
10 goals

Trivia

  • 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

    References

    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. "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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