2002 FIFA World Cup qualification 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification competition was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oceania), and UEFA (Europe) — was allocated a certain number of the 32 places at the tournament. 199 teams entered the tournament qualification rounds, competing for 32 spots in the final tournament. South Korea and Japan, as the co-hosts, and France, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 29 spots open for competition. "12 of the 32 teams subsequently
South American nations at the FIFA World Cup 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 in the