2010 FIFA World Cup qualification the finals, with CONCACAF's fourth-place team facing CONMEBOL's fifth-placed team, and AFC's fifth-placed team facing the winner of the OFC. As the host nation, South Africa qualified automatically. As in 2006, the current cup holders – Italy – did not qualify automatically. For FIFA World Cup qualifying stages the method used for separating teams level on points is the same for all Confederations, as decided by FIFA itself. If teams were even on points at the end of group play, the tied teams would be ranked by: This is a change from 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification, where results between
2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) formally requested for the match to be recorded as an automatic 3-0 victory. Bahrain advanced to the AFC–CONCACAF play-off on the away goals rule. The Fourth Round winner then played the fourth-placed team of the CONCACAF qualifying group, Trinidad and Tobago, in a home-and-away play-off. The winner of this play-off qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals. The following four teams from AFC qualified for the final tournament. 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) Listed below are the dates and results for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for Asia. 44 Asian teams are affiliated with FIFA, but