2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA–AFC play-off) 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA–AFC play-off) The 2002 FIFA World Cup UEFA–AFC qualification play-off was a two-legged home-and-away tie between a group runner-up of the European qualifying tournament, the Republic of Ireland, and the winners of the AFC play-off, Iran. The games were played on 10 November and 15 November 2001 in Dublin and Tehran, respectively. Ireland qualified for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Finals in South Korea and Japan, and were drawn into Group E with Germany, Cameroon and Saudi Arabia. Ireland drew Cameroon and Germany with the same score 1–1 and in the final match they won
South American nations at the FIFA World Cup the Americas. South American nations at the FIFA World Cup Nine of ten members of the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) have competed in the men's FIFA World Cup finals. National association football teams from CONMEBOL have won the tournament nine times, including Brazil's record five championships. CONMEBOL countries have hosted the finals five times. The team ranking in each tournament is according to FIFA. The rankings, apart from the top four positions (top two in 1930), are not a result of direct competition between the teams; instead, teams eliminated in the same round are ranked by their full results