“Hosting the FIFA World Cup would give the whole nation the opportunity to demonstrate our generous hospitality to teams and fans from all over the world. Each city’s, each town’s identity in this country is intertwined with football. I believe England has everything needed to stage a truly memorable and fantastic festival of football.”

Those were the words of FA President, Prince William at the Wembley Stadium where the campaign for England to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup was launched. The ceremony also counted with the presence of  Prime Minister Gordon Brown, England legends Sir Geoff Hurst and Sir Bobby Charlton and current England stars David Beckham and Wayne Rooney.

The launch event marks the start of a campaign that England hopes will culminate in December 2010 with FIFA awarding England the privilege of hosting the FIFA World Cup.

Prime Minister Brown also demonstrated the government support by saying that bringing back to England the biggest event of football on the planet  would inspire football and sporting fans up and down the country and cap what looks to be an exceptional decade of sport for Britain. He also assured that the Government is fully committed to this bid and is looking forward to working with the FA on their campaign to bring the greatest game in the world to England

England has 19 months to present their project to FIFA and the biggest challenge might be to engage the whole country in supporting the English Team with the same passion as they support their league teams. For that to happen we all know that Capello's lads need to continuously present high quality football, secure their spot in the next World Cups and do a descent job showing evolution and determination. 

After a long break the 2010 World Cup qualifying is back. We're now 500 days away from the kick-off in South Africa and now it's time for the countries to invest hard on performing their best to secure their spot for final tournament.

20 nations will step on the pitch on February 11 for another round of the qualifying battle. There aren't quite any interesting matches for the Europeans and none for the South Americans but for the countries battling in North and Central America (CONCACAF) and Asia (AFC) it's time to start defining who will win the ticket to the 2010 World Cup.

Here is a table with all the matches happening on the 11th of February

2010 Word Cup Qualif. - 11 Feb. 2009
	Iran		South Korea
	North Korea		Saudi Arabia
	Uzbekistan		Bahrain
	El Salvador		Trinidad & Tobago
	USA		Mexico
	Japan		Australia
	Malta		Albania
	Ireland Republic		Georgia
	San Marino		N. Ireland
	Costa Rica		Honduras

Three matches of the bunch deserve a special look:

Iran v. South Korea:  The Koreans are on top of Group B for this final stage of the AFC qualifying process with 7 points in three matches. Iran comes right behind with 5 points. The draw would benefit the South Koreans that would still keep the first place on the group even if their neighbors from the North beat Saudi Arabia. In that case the Iranians would fall to the third place in the group. For the Iranians a win is a must. 

Japan v. Australia: Qatar, Bahrain and Uzbeskitan were just warm-up matches for this big clash between the socceroos and the samurais.Australia is at the top of the Group A with 3 wins in the three first matches and no goals allowed so far. Coach Pim Verbeek already declared that the pressure is on the Japanese side "They have to win at home against us. That means they are under more pressure than we are, we want to win, but we don't have to win. The pressure is more on their side." Those were his words. Japan knows about this immense responsibility to beat Australia in Yokohama. The Japanese failed to impress so far especially after the draw against Uzbekistan in Saitama. For Japan it's not only the three points it's a matter of honour.

   USA v. Mexico: Although it's only the first round of the final stage for the CONCACAF qualifying tournament for the 2010 World Cup, this match between the United States and Mexico is the most important of the year for both teams. The USA hasn't had any problems so far to reach their goals in the qualifying tournament. They will play with the home advantage and the support of the fans from Columbus, Ohio. A "soccer city" as they call it, that is the home of the current MLS Champions, Columbus Crew. The drama is really on the Mexican side. Mexico hasn't been able to beat the North Americans in USA grounds since 2000; a 10-match run that has been bothering the supporters and the federation. And to add to the "Telenovela" the team has not shown the quality football that the fans expected since the arrival of Sven-Göran Eriksson. This one promises to be a great battle! 

Tickets are already available and you can buy right here at OleOle. Easy, fast and safe.

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We are still 610 days away from kick off in the 2010 FIFA World Cup but the qualifying process for the most important football competition on the planet is at it's full force all over the world.

This month the only confederation that does not have any matches scheduled is Oceania (OFC). All the other will have their nations battling for precious points that will get them closer to the World Cup 2010 in South Africa.

Some important matches this month are:

UEFA:

Sweden v. Portugal (Saturday 11 October)

We will be able to watch Zlatan Ibrahimovic's class battle his new teammate Ricardo Quaresma. Not to mention the return of Cristiano Ronaldo to the national team after his injury.

Germany v. Russia (Saturday 11 October)

The German team will count on Ballack when the Euro runners-up face the Ruski with Pavlyuchenko and Arshavin in Dortmund.

Romania v. France (Saturday 11 October)

These two teams presented the most boring match of the Euro 2008. The fans expect a much different pace this time. Ribery will be on the pitch for France. Romania will count on the talent of Mutu.

Bulgaria v. Italia (Saturday 11 October)

Fabio Cannavaro already declared his desire of breaking Paolo Maldini's number of appearances for the Scuadra Azzura. Maldini has 126 appearances and Cannavarro can reach 120 if he play the next two matches. The first one is on Saturday against Dimitar Berbatov's Bulgaria.

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CONMEBOL

Argentina v. Uruguay (Saturday 11 October)

Messi and Aguero will lead Argentina in their attempt to secure three precious points that could put them closer to Paraguay in the race for one of the spots in the World Cup 2010. Uruguay has Forlan and Abreu among the three top scorers of the South American qualifiers and Uruguay could really use their goals in this clash. Uruguay has 12 points, one less than the Argentines, Brazil and Chile, leaving them in 5th place right now.

Colombia v. Paraguay (Saturday 11 October)

Colombia is in a dangerous 6th position with 10 points and beating the leader of the tournament would definitely boost the team's confidence.   

Venezuela v. Brazil (Sunday 12 October)

A match that wouldn't normally attract a lot of attention as Brazil would crash the Venezuelans with at least 4 goals but last time these two faced each other we saw an incredible performance by the "Red Wine" especially from Giancarlo Maldonado and Ronald Vargas. But can thy repeat the 2-0 win from the friendly in June?

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CONCACAF

USA v. Cuba (Saturday 11 October)

The North-Americans should not have a problem to win this match but with all the political rivalry between the two countries it would be interesting to see the outcome of this clash.

Canada v. Mexico (Wednesday 15 October)

Mexico is in a comfortable position but Canada is the team who needs to prove that they really improved since their last and only appearance in a World Cup back in 1986. But so far the Canucks have failed to cause an impression.

Trinidad and Tobago v. USA (Wednesday 15 October)

The USA could get to this match against the Socca Warriors with enough points to move to the final round of the CONCACAF Tournament so it's Trinidad and Tobago who needs to come string at home and take the three points in their battle against Guatemala for the remaining spot.

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AFC (Asia)

Australia v. Qatar (Wednesday 15 October)

Australia had a hard time to beat Uzbekistan 1-0 last month and now they face Qatar at home. A great opportunity for the Australians to move to the top spot of their group. 

Japan v. Uzbekistan (Wednesday 15 October)

The 63,000 seats at Saitama Stadium are already sold out for this important match for the Japanese. It's their home opening in this fouth round of the AFC qualifiers and the team wants to give their fans what they want: a convincing victory.

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CAF (Africa)

All the African Nations will play this coming week but there are no big clashes scheduled.
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You can check the table with all the upcoming matches bellow:

CAF 

DATE	MATCHES
11 October 2008	Ghana-Lesotho
	Côte d'Ivoire-Madagascar
	Malawi-Congo DR
	Cameroon-Mauritius
	Gabon-Libya
	Togo-Swaziland
	Tanzania-Cape Verde
	Namibia-Zimbabwe
	Nigeria-Sierra Leone
	Equatorial Guinea-South Africa
	Senegal-Gambia
	Liberia-Algeria
	Botswana-Mozambique
	Tunisia-Seychelles
	Mali-Chad
	Morocco-Mauritania
	Sudan-Congo
	Uganda-Benin
	Guinea-Kenya

AFC

DATE	MATCHES
15 October 2008	Ira-Korea DPR
	Japan-Uzbekistan
	Australia-Qatar
	Korea Republic-United Arab Emirates

UEFA

DATE	MATCHES
11 October 2008	Faroe Islands-Austria
	Finland-Azerbaijan
	England-Kazakhstan
	Wales-Liechtenstein
	Switzerland-Latvia
	Denmark-Malta
	Sweden-Portugal
	Ukraine-Croatia
	Luxembourg-Israel
	Serbia-Lithuania
	Poland-Czech Republic
	San Marino-Slovakia
	Slovenia-Northern Ireland
	Germany-Russia
	Belgium-Armenia
	Turkey-Bosnia-Herzegovina
	Greece-Moldova
	Romania-France
	Estonia-Spain
15 October 2008	Czech Republic-Slovenia
	Iceland-Macedonia FYR
	Latvia-Israel
	Russia-Finland
	Lithuania-Faroe Islands
	Norway-Netherlands
	Malta-Hungary
	Northern Ireland-San Marino
	Ireland Republic-Cyprus
	Luxembourg-Moldova
	Bosnia-Herzegovina-Armenia
	Croatia-Andorra
	Slovakia-Poland
	Austria-Serbia
	Georgia-Bulgaria
	Portugal-Albania
	Germany-Wales
	Belgium-Spain
	Italy-Montenegro
	Greece-Switzerland
	Estonia-Turkey
	Belarus-England

CONCACAF

DATE	MATCHES
11 October 2008	Suriname-Costa Rica
	Haiti-El Salvador
	Jamaica-Mexico
	USA-Cuba
	Honduras-Canada
	Guatemala-Trinidad and Tobago
15 October 2008	Jamaica-Honduras
	Canada-Mexico
	Cuba-Guatemala
	Costa Rica-Haiti
	El Salvador-Suriname
	Trinidad and Tobago-USA

CONMEBOL

DATE	MATCHES
11 October 2008	Bolivia-Peru
	Argentina-Uruguay
	Colombia-Paraguay
12 October 2008	Venezuela-Brazil
	Ecuador-Chile
14 October 2008	Bolivia-Uruguay
15 October 2008	Paraguay-Peru
	Chile-Argentina
	Venezuela-Ecuador
	Brazil-Colombia

 

The race for a spot in the 2010 FIFA World Cup will now get tougher and tougher. Even though some confederations have already started their qualifying tournaments a while ago we can say that now, when the European nations begin their battle, the world of football will turn their eyes attention to the World Cup qualifiers.

So here is an update from each confederation for you:

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UEFA

On Wednesday, 20^th of August, Kazakhstan hosted Andorra in the first match of the UEFA qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup. The match finished with a 3-0 score for the home team.

On the 6^th and the 10^th of September more than 40 matches will be played to complete the first two rounds of the UEFA qualifying tournament for the World Cup 2010.

Among those matches are:

Armenia x Turkey (6 sept)

Austria x France (6 sept)

Spain x Bosnia-Herzegovina (6 sept)

England x Croatia (10 sept)

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CONCACAF

The preliminary rounds have already been played and now we entered the final group stages of the Concacaf Qualifying process for the FIFA World Cup.

Also on Wednesday (20 Aug.) the first round of the group stage was played and here are the results:

Guatemala 0 x 1 USA

Cuba 1 x 3 Trinidad and Tobago

Mexico 2 x 1 Honduras

Costa Rica 1 x 0 El Salvador

Canada 1 x 1 Jamaica

Haiti 2 x 2 Suriname

The next rounds also happen on the 6th and 10th of September.

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CAF (Africa)

48 African nations are in dispute in the second round of the CAF qualifying tournament for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

After four matches Cameroon, Guinea, Benin and Nigeria lead their groups with Cape Verde, Kenya, Angola and South Africa* coming in second.

The next batch of matches in this second round will be played on the 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th of September.

(*South Africa is automatically qualified as hosts of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. But, they are subject to the same rules as other nations for continuation to the next stage of the qualifiers. If they fail to advance from this group they could be eliminated from the qualifiers for the 2010 African Cup of Nations)

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AFC (Asia)

The fourth and final round of the AFC qualifiers for the World Cup starts on the 6^th of September for the 10 teams that made this far.

The nations are now split into two groups and the top two teams will automatically qualify for the 2010 WC.

Group A has Australia, Japan, Bahrain, Uzbekistan and Qatar

Group B has Korea Republic, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Korea DPR and United Arab Emirates

Some of the matches coming up are:

Bahrain x Japan (6 sept)

Saudi Arabia x Iran (6 sept)

Korea DPR x Korea Republic (10 sept)

Uzbekistan x Australia (10 sept)

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CONMEBOL

The qualifying process in the South American Continent almost a year ago and so far each country played six matches. Each team will play each other twice in a round robin tournament. At this point Paraguay leads the table followed by Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Brazil.

The next two rounds take place on the 6^th, 9^th and 10^th of September and the leaders will fight for the top of the table. Argentina will host Paraguay on the 6^th in Buenos Aires. On the same day Brazil will visit Chile trying to get closer to the top of the table.

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OFC

After the South Pacific Games in August of 2007 Fiji, New Caledonia and Vanuatu joined New Zealand for the final group tournament.

The group tournament is already going on and the next two rounds - on the 6^th and 10^th of September might be decisive to give either New Zealand or New Caledonia the first place on the table and the title of Oceania winners. That would give either one of them the chance to play the decisive match against an Asian country for that spot among the best 32 countries that will play in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

The Copa America has passed, the Euro has passed and now we can officially say that we are ready for the 2010 FIFA World Cup!!!

Well, sort of ready.

The qualifying process has already started in most of the continents and Europe will start the selection of countries which will represent the continent in South Africa right about now, in August.

203 nations are fighting for the 31 remaining spots and will join host South Africa in the battle for the World Supremacy of football.

At this point we are 678 days away from kick-off and a lot of blood will be shed before we find out who will enter the biggest football event in the planet. The FIFA World Cup 2010.

Here is the qualifying scenario:

AFRICA (CAF): 53 countries competing for 5 berths + South Africa)

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ASIA (AFC): 43 countries competing for 4 or 5 spots (a playoff against a team from Oceania will decided who gets the last spot)

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EUROPE (UEFA): 53 countries competing for 13 places

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NORTH, CENTRAL AMERICA & CARIBBEAN (CONCACAF): 35 countries compete for 3 or 4 spots (a playoff against South America determines which confederation gets the extra spot)

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OCEANIA (OFC): 10 countries competing for 0 or 1 berth. (the appearance or not of a Oceania country will be decided by a playoff against an Asian nation)

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SOUTH AMERICA (CONMEBOL): 10 countries competing for 4 or 5 spots (a playoff against a CONCACAF team will decide the extra berth)

So there it is. From now on we will follow the news and all the action in preparation for the World Cup 2010 in South Africa.

Stay tuned.