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
National team appearances in the FIFA World Cup teams have appeared in FIFA World Cup finals without winning, while eleven more have appeared in semi-finals. As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws. 3 points per win, 1 point per draw and 0 points per loss. Source: The inaugural FIFA World Cup tournament in 1930 featured 13 teams. Since then, every instance of the competition has featured at least one team making their debut appearance. Except in 1934, host nations are granted an automatic spot in the World Cup