Following a hiatus of almost six months, Africa's fight for places at the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ will resume this weekend. The final phase of regional qualifying will begin with 20 teams competing for five positions at the global finals.All but one of the continent's representatives at Germany 2006 are still in contention, with Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo and Tunisia all playing in separate sections. Angola are the only side who did not progress past the first group phase, which ended last October.
However, returning to the FIFA World Cup at the first time of asking will not be easy for the successful quartet, who must contend with a series of former qualifiers, including Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Morocco and Nigeria. The Egyptians, the reigning African champions, are confident they can make the cut, while the Indomitable Lions will be out to extend their own record of qualifications by an African team to six.
African Zone qualifying, final phase, Matchday 1 fixtures
Saturday 28 March
Rwanda-Algeria
Togo-Cameroon
Kenya-Tunisia
Burkina Faso-Guinea
Morocco-Gabon
Sudan-Mali
Sunday 29 March
Mozambique-Nigeria
Ghana-Benin
Côte d'Ivoire -Malawi
Egypt-Zambia
Asian qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ enters the final stages on Saturday 28 March as eight of the remaining ten teams resume battle on Matchday 6. With group leaders Australia and Korea Republic both sitting this round of fixtures out, their rivals are provided with a precious chance to move to the top of the standings.
