All 32 teams for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa are now known.
The complete line up is:
Europe
Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland
Africa
Algeria, Cameroon, Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa (hosts)
Asia
Australia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea
South America
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay
North & Central America, Caribbean
Honduras, Mexico, USA
Oceania
New Zealand
Tags
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World Cup qualification is back on the agenda this weekend as 18 teams from around the globe battle it out for the remaining 9 places. With 23 nations already qualified for next summer's tournament, here's how things stack up in the final 16 matches on the road to South Africa:

What: European playoffs

How: 8 teams clash over two-legs with 4 teams advancing to Finals.

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The United States are on the verge of qualifying for their ninth World Cup. Victory in Honduras on October 10th will secure their place in next year's finals, as they will if Costa Rica lose to bottom-placed Trinidad and Tobago. Draws for both US and Costa Rica will also enable Bob Bradley's men to start looking ahead to South Africa. Click to continue reading...

It's been a while since I've done a roundup of the leagues in Central America, but now's a good time now that we're approaching the midway point of the short seasons: In Guatemala, Municipal have opened up a four point lead over their closest rivals Xelajú. The big surprise in the Apertura has been the performance of promoted side Juventud Retalteca. Click to continue reading...

Yesterday former France international Christian Karembeu arrived in El Salvador to support the Fútbol Forever Foundation, which is an organization that attempts to keep underprivileged kids away from gangs and violence through soccer. He's going to visit a couple of soccer schools, give talks at some local private universities, and participate in the Independence Day celebrations. Click to continue reading...

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World Cup qualifiers are back, and we take a look at games from five of the FIFA qualifying regions: Europe, South America, North and Central America, Asia and Africa. Some teams have already qualified, but who will join Holland, Japan, South and North Korea, Australia and hosts South Africa?

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Do you know what the Concacaf Champions League is, or even care? It is Concacaf's attempt to create a premier tournament for the top clubs in North and Central America. The region has had some sort of Champions Cup for more than four decades, but it still hasn't found popular support among fans and clubs. Click to continue reading...

Almost the end of the week here as Friday gets closer by the second. Tonight I've got a couple links and items to discuss. Pretty much they are all MLS based, with some reactions to stuff that people wrote earlier in the day.

First up I want to get into a post that Steve Goff wrote earlier today about the lack of quality on Tuesday night's FSC broadcast of the CONCACAF Champions League.

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World Cup 2010 is just around the corner. As the last bunch of games for qualifications get played this year we face the possibility of a tournament without some of the games giants.

It's still early but in Africa we stand the chance of missing out on Nigeria, Egypt and Cameroon. In Central America Mexico are sitting 4th, although the change in management might be enough to catch up with Honduras.

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I'm confused. I know that getting a result, any result, in Central America has to be regarded as a positive. And yes, we did manage to advance to the group stage of the Champions' League. But then I look over the notes I took during the match, and... Click to continue reading...

A difficult result to swallow at home, eh? A bad defensive giveaway leads to Firpos goal midway through the second half gives Firpo the lead, before Jaime Moreno puts away a goal from the penalty spot just before halftime. United now has to go to El Salvador next Tuesday (Aug. 4) for the return leg and pull out a win - never an easy task in Central America.

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The United Staes folded under pressure from Mexico after they pushed for a victory and ultimate win of the coveted 2009 Gold Cup. The Cup represents the best soccer nation in North and Central America. Canada made it to the quarter finals but it was the U.S. who believed they had it in the bag.

Mexico wins 2009 Gold Cup

The United States has won the cup four times in the past, Mexico now has them beat with five Gold Cup wins.

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And the funny thing is, I hate Van Halen a lot.
Anyone else picture Barack Obama and John McCain watching this together, with Obama talking up Brian Ching constantly and telling McCain his team are a bunch of hacks? No, obviously no one did, it's a stupid premise and doesn't deserve consideration. Click to continue reading...

For several years now we've heard pundits proclaim Panama the next big thing in CONCACAF. The Central Americans have certainly teased us: the development of Jorge Dely Valdes and Roberto Brown as legitimate goal scoring threats were indications that the traditional Baseball country was shifting towards being competitive in football.

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You wouldn't know it from the absolute lack of media coverage in the UK, but the CONCACAF Gold Cup - North & Central America's equivalent of the European Championships - is currently being played out in the USA, and one of the minor surprises of the competition so far has been the progress of the Canadian national team, who have comfortably qualified for the quarter-finals with two wins from their three group matches against Jamaica and El Salvador.

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OAKLAND (California): Guade­loupe, surprise Gold Cup semi-finalists in 2007, showed they may be able to repeat that performance, opening their campaign with a 2-1 win over Panama while Mexico laboured to beat Nicaragua 2-0.

Panama, the current champions of Central America, fell behind in the 33rd minute when Loic Loval slotted home after latching on to a weak chest back to the goalkeeper by defender Armando Gun.

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OAKLAND (California): Guade­loupe, surprise Gold Cup semi-finalists in 2007, showed they may be able to repeat that performance, opening their campaign with a 2-1 win over Panama while Mexico laboured to beat Nicaragua 2-0.

Panama, the current champions of Central America, fell behind in the 33rd minute when Loic Loval slotted home after latching on to a weak chest back to the goalkeeper by defender Armando Gun.

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I have never really understood why CONCACAF has to play the Gold Cup every two years. But then I take a look at Mexico's possible itinerary, and it become$ abundantly clear. I hope Mexico's players have frequent flier accounts. If they somehow make it the Gold Cup final later this month at the Meadowlands, they will have played in 6 venues, made 5 flights, crossed over three time zones, and traveled a total of 5036 miles (as the golden goose flies). Click to continue reading...

CONCACAFÂ 's oddities have struck once again. The Confederation that has done some odd things through the years (most notably the re-branding of the entity as the Football Confederation about ten years ago) has once again done something that seems from the perspective of someone who watches a lot of football, quite odd.

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The USMNT's first trip to Central America as part of the final round of World Cup Qualifying did not go as planned back in March, as Bob Bradley's side needed two late goals just to salvage a 2-2 draw against underdogs El Salvador. Back in hostile territory for the first time since that game, Landon Donovan talked this week about lessons the team learned from the El Salvador result, saying the come-from-behind tie served as a wake-up call, opening their eyes for what they would have to do on Wednesday night against a stronger Costa Rican side. Click to continue reading...

Many fans newer to the game in this country who perhaps form their opinions by listening to anglicized radio programs or perhaps football themed shows direct from Britain have formed a completely invalid and biased opinion about CONCACAF. Many of the Anglicized pundits who make the assertions about the region have never watched a game either live or on television from venues such as the Mateo Flories or Saprissa Stadium.

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Hostile environments are par for the course in the CONCACAF region of international soccer. Mexico and Central America are notoriously difficult places to play for visitors, who often leave less...

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by GIANFRANCO PANIZO

MIAMI- With the United States' men's national team halfway through their training camp, head coach Bob Bradley feels that the team has prepared well so far in South Florida during the build-up to next week's World Cup qualifiers.

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by GIANFRANCO PANIZO

MIAMI- With the United States' men's national team halfway through their training camp, head coach Bob Bradley feels that the team has prepared well so far in South Florida during the build-up to next week's World Cup qualifiers.

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Maurice Edu played a key role in helping Glasgow Rangers catch Celtic and win its first Scottish League title in four years, but the race to that title might keep him from playing in some very important upcoming matches.

Edu is questionable for Rangers' Scottish Cup final vs. Falkirk on Saturday with a thigh injury suffered in the team's season-ending and league-clinching victory vs.

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Maurice Edu played a key role in helping Glasgow Rangers catch Celtic and win its first Scottish League title in four years, but the race to that title might keep him from playing in some very important upcoming matches.

Edu is questionable for Rangers' Scottish Cup final vs. Falkirk on Saturday with a thigh injury suffered in the team's season-ending and league-clinching victory vs.

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I haven't done a roundup of league action throughout the Caribbean in the past. Information from the island countries isn't easy to get and is very spotty when it does arrive. (But thanks to Edwin for his regular updates on Puerto Rican football!) It's past time for me to do the same kind of update that I do for Central America, so here it goes. Click to continue reading...

We're halfway through the finals in Honduras, and the finalists of the various tournaments in Central America are becoming known. Here's a roundup: In Honduras, Real España and Olimpia played an exciting first leg of the Clausura final which ended 2-2. You can watch a video of the match highlights here. Click to continue reading...

The past several months have been a game of cat and mouse for Fox and ESPN. This year has already seen Fox beat ESPN to the UEFA Champions League TV rights in the United States, Central America and South America. Now, ESPN along with SBS have acquired the TV rights in Australia to the Champions League, Europa League and UEFA Super Cup

According to The Australian, it's not known whether Fox tendered a bid for the Australian rights.

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It's been a few months since I last did a round-up of league action in Central America, but almost all of them are in playoff mode, and the relegation battles have been settled, too. Here's a summary: In Honduras, Real España and Olimpia will meet on Saturday for the first leg of the Clausura final. Click to continue reading...

Hector Reynosa of Club Gualdajara uses Sebastian Penco of Chile's Everton as a spittoon. The Chilean media saw this as a way of intimidating players using the threat of swine flu. Reynosa later apologized but said he was reacting to taunts calling him "a leper."

Its quite graphic but it tell us that swine flu fears are causing havoc with soccer matches all across Latin and Central America with clubs like Boca Juniors expressing concern about traveling to Mexico to meet SLP in the Copa Libertadores.

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Speaking with the Soccerlens blog David Sternberg, the Executive Vice-President and General Manager of Fox Sports International said the following:
"The international element is very important. It creates a context for the sport when you have MLS teams playing against teams from Mexico or Central America or other countries in meaningful competitions. Click to continue reading...

On Saturday, MLS goals were scored by guys we all know: Freddie Ljungberg, Kenny Cooper, Steve Ralston and Luciano Emilio. On Sunday, MLS goals were scored by guys nobody ever heard of: Eduardo Lillingston, Marco Pappa, Andy Iro and Aaron Hohlbein.
Chicago got a sendoff in the 14th minute and went on to win, while Columbus got a sendoff and not only lost but are now down to about six guys who are both a) healthy and b) available. Click to continue reading...

It's time for the finals in the remaining four Central American leagues still ongoing. Two of them got started tonight.Comunicaciones defeated Municipal 2-1 in the first leg of the Apertura finals in Guatemala tonight. The return leg will be Sunday at Estadio Mateo Flores. In Costa Rica, Alajuelense broke a 20-match winless drought over their biggest rival by defeating Saprissa 2-0 at the Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto. Click to continue reading...

** This post will be updated during the day on Sunday **The finalists are being confirmed in Central America, and there are new champions in Honduras and Belize. Here's an update: Marathón are the new champions of Honduras after winning a dramatic Apertura final over Real España. The first leg at Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano ended 1-0 to the Green Monsters, but Real España leveled the aggregate scoreline through a goal by Everaldo Ferreira on 33 minutes. Click to continue reading...