Going against what this writer wanted, New Zealand became the 24th nation with a ticket for South Africa by beating Bahrain at home. The only goal of the match was scored by Rory Fallon in the final moments of the first-half. The first-leg of this playoff ended 0-0, which gave Bahrain the chance of qualifying with a draw different from the nil one.

Cameroon and Nigeria have guaranteed a spot in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa today. Cameroon beat Morroco 2-0 (second goal by Eto'o) and Nigeria beat Kenya 3 2.

So far 26 countries are going to South Africa next June: Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, Mexico, USA, Honduras, Netherlands, Spain, England, Germany, Denmark, Serbia, Italy, Slovakia, Switzerland, South Korea, North Korea, Japan, Australian, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon, New Zealand and South Africa.

No more. Done. Finito. Acabou. The fight for the 32 golden spots to play the most exciting football (and sports) tournament on the planet has ended. Some big ones almost did not manage. And some return after 24 years.

Today was the day for the last 6 squads to qualify. The brave (or lucky?