2010 update - All 32 reams have qualified. Henry Handball helps the french through.

Posted by: Lorenzo Maggels in 2010 World Cup on Nov 19, 2009

All 32 teams have now qualified for the world cup after an enthralling final night of fixtures last night, leaving all nations in tears, albeit some of joy and some of utter heart-break.

What an exciting night it was last night as over a year of qualification boiled down to a final 90 minutes of action that would be definitive in the realisation of a World Cup dreams for many football pro’s and the chance for several nations to boast there nations chances as we build up to the finals in 2010, and the importance of the group draw on December 4th.

Portugal followed up their 1-0 lead with another 1-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. Guus Hiddink’s Russian side were knocked out of the tournament on away goals as Slovenia snuck it through with a 1-0 win. Hiddink has remained quiet on his future but many pundits believe an administrative job back at Chelsea is on the cards.

The pick of the euro qualifiers however was definitely the clash between Ireland and France, with France carrying a 1-0 lead courtesy of Nicholas Anelka in Dublin on the weekend. The match was set to be a cooker from the outset, with the French the favourites, but the Irish inspired for glory. Robbie Keane the Irish Captain said before the game that ‘this is not a game you try to prove to the fans you can win now and again, this is to qualify for the World Cup in South Africa’! In short... HUGE!

And it was the irish Capitan who set the fixture alight, scoring in Paris to level the play off and head it into extra time with a resurgent Irish side dominating a very out of sort French outfit.

It was the French Captain, Thierry Henry who would cause the real controversy of the night, not hand balling but hand controlling the ball before knocking it to William Gallas to seal the victory 13 minutes into extra time. France sneak through, leaving the Irish shattered.

Henry admitted after the game to Irish Defender Richard Dunne what he had done and apologised but despite their obvious friendship it will be a tough pill to swallow. A tough decision to rule you out of the world cup and one that is going to tarnish, even if only slightly, the illustrious career of Henry the uber- professional – much like Zidanes head but in the last world cup final. You could see Henry was visibly upset about it after but his statement to the media was that the ref did not call it and that’s football. Tell that to the Irish son...

Despite this shocker, i am Happy the French qualified and, in my opinion, if they lose their coach Domenech, get someone like Zidane in his place; they are major contenders to the title. I mean, Benzema and Malouda on the bench is one serious squad.

The biggest upset of the qualification process will definitely be the African Champs Egypt stumbling at the final hurdle to continental rivals Algeria for the last African spot at the world cup.

Final 32 teams to compete for world cup glory at South Africa 2010:

QUALIFIERS
Asian Football Confederation

Australia

Japan

Korea DPR

Korea Republic

Confederation of African Football

Algeria

Cameroon

Côte d'Ivoire

Ghana

Nigeria

South Africa (hosts)

Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football

Honduras

Mexico

United States

South American Football Confederation (Conmebol)
Argentina

Brazil

Chile

Paraguay

Uruguay

Oceania Football Confederation

New Zealand

Union of European Football Associations (Uefa)

Denmark

England

France

Germany

Greece

Italy

Netherlands

Portugal

Serbia

Slovakia

Slovenia

Spain

Switzerland