2010 FIFA World Cup qualification scored over 852 matches, scoring on average 2.74 per match. At the close of entries on 15 March 2007, 204 football associations had entered the preliminary competition: 203 out of the 207 FIFA members at that time (including the host nation, South Africa, as the qualification procedure in Africa also acted as the qualification for the 2010 African Cup of Nations) and the Montenegro team, which later became FIFA's 208th member. The final number of teams entered breaks the previous record of 199 entrants set during the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Four FIFA members (all from the AFC) failed to
2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF) announced the immediate suspension of the Malagasy Football Federation (FMF). The suspension was lifted on 19 May 2008. Ethiopia played four matches in this group, before FIFA announced the immediate suspension of the Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) on 29 July 2008. On 12 September 2008, FIFA excluded the EFF from the 2010 World Cup qualifiers and the results of their matches were cancelled. While it was not clear if they were also explicitly excluded from the 2010 African Cup of Nations, their failure to complete the remaining fixtures effectively eliminated them from the tournament. On 28 March 2008, FIFA announced