WORLD CUP 2010 - PARTICIPANTS
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- Time limit: Friday 11/06/2010, 10:00 (UK)
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- World Cup Select 17 from 17 Fixtures
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- FIRST PAST THE POST - £300.00
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The Algeria national football team, nicknamed Les Fennecs (The Desert Foxes), is the national team of Algeria and is controlled by the Fédération Algérienne de Football. Algeria managed to qualify to two consecutive World Cups in 1982 and 1986. Algeria also won the Africa Cup of Nations once in 1990 when they hosted the tournament. In November 2009, Algeria beat North African rivals Egypt in a World Cup qualification tiebreaker to secure a place at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
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The Argentina national football team is the national football team of Argentina and is controlled by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Argentina has won the most international titles by any national team (19), a record shared with Uruguay.
Argentina is one of the most successful national football teams in the world, and is currently seventh in the FIFA world rankings.The team has twice won the FIFA World Cup, in 1978 and 1986. Argentina has won the Copa América 14 times, a record shared with Uruguay, won the Confederations Cup in 1992 and the Olympic Football Tournament in 2004 and 2008.
Argentina and France are the only national teams which have won the three most important men's titles recognized by FIFA: the World Cup, the Confederations Cup, and the Olympic tournament. They have both also won their respective continental championship (Copa América for Argentina, and UEFA European Football Championship for France).
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The Australia national football team represents Australia in international association football competitions. Its official nickname is the "Socceroos". The team is controlled by Football Federation Australia (FFA), which is currently a member of the Asian Football Confederation and also an invitee member of the ASEAN Football Federation since 2006.
Australia is a four-time Oceania Football Confederation champion and has been represented at two FIFA World Cup tournaments, in 1974 and 2006. 14th is Australia's highest ever FIFA World Ranking since the rankings were introduced in 1992. Australia topped their group in the 2010 World Cup qualification and became one of the first nations to qualify for the finals tournament without losing a match and only conceding one goal.
World Cup qualification in 2005 has seen Australian association football increase considerably in domestic popularity and in international competitiveness.
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The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation. They are the most successful national football team in the history of the World Cup, with five championships (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002). A common quip about football is: "The English invented it, the Brazilians perfected it."
Currently ranked first by FIFA, Brazil is consistently among the strongest football nations by Elo Ratings and is the only team to have played in every World Cup.
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The Cameroon national football team, nicknamed Les Lions Indomptables (The Indomitable Lions), is controlled by the Fédération Camerounaise de Football and is Africa's most successful side; Cameroon has qualified for the FIFA World Cup six times - in 1982, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2010- more than any other African nation. They were the first African team to reach the quarterfinals of the World Cup, in 1990, losing to England in extra time. They have also won four Africa Cup of Nations, as well as the gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics
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The Chilean national football team represents Chile in all major international football competitions. The team is controlled by the Federación de Fútbol de Chile which was established in 1895. They have appeared in seven World Cup tournaments and were hosts of the 1962 FIFA World Cup finishing in third place.
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The Côte d'Ivoire national football team (written as "Ivory Coast" in English), nicknamed Les Éléphants (The Elephants), represents Côte d'Ivoire in international football and is controlled by the Fédération Ivoirienne de Football. Until 2005, their greatest accomplishment was winning the 1992 African Cup of Nations against Ghana on penalties at the Stade Leopold Senghor in Dakar, Senegal.
They have qualified for two World Cup finals, first in Germany in 2006, losing to Argentina and the Netherlands and beating Serbia and Montenegro as they failed to progress beyond the group stage. They qualified again for South Africa in 2010.
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The Denmark national football team is controlled by the Danish Football Association and has represented the country of Denmark in international football competitions since 1908. The team has been a solidly competitive side in international football since the mid-1980s, with the triumph in the 1992 European Championships (Euro 1992) tournament as its most prominent victory, beating the the European champions in the semi-final, and the world champions in the final . They also won the Confederations Cup in 1995 defeating Argentina 2–0 in the final match.
On October 10, 2009, Denmark qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup by winning their qualification group with a victory over Sweden.
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The England national football team represents England in international association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. Although most national teams worldwide represent a sovereign state, the four Home Nations which form the United Kingdom are each represented separately in international tournaments, except at the Olympics. England's home ground is Wembley Stadium in London and their head coach is Fabio Capello.
England are one of seven national teams to have won the FIFA World Cup, which they did in 1966 when they hosted the finals. They defeated West Germany 4–2 in extra time in the final. Since then their best performance at a World Cup was reaching the semifinals in 1990, where they lost to West Germany on penalties. They reached the semifinals of the UEFA European Championship in 1968 and 1996. They were the most successful of the home nations in the British Home Championship with 54 wins (including 20 shared wins) before the competition was suspended in 1984. They remain a prominent team on the global stage, rarely dropping outside of the top ten on both the FIFA and Elo rankings.
Traditionally, England's greatest rivals have been Scotland, who were their opponents in the first-ever international football match in 1870. Rivalries with other countries have become more prominent since regular fixtures against Scotland came to an end in the late 1980s. Matches against Argentina and Germany have produced particularly eventful encounters.
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The France national football team represents the nation of France in international football. It is fielded by the French Football Federation and competes as a member of UEFA.
France was one of the four European teams that participated at the inaugural World Cup in 1930 and are one of seven national teams to have won the competition, which they did in 1998 when they hosted the Cup. They defeated Brazil 3–0 in the final. France and England share the record of having one World Cup victory. France has also won two UEFA European Football Championships, winning the first in 1984, led by Ballon d'Or winner Michel Platini, and the most recent in 2000, led by FIFA World Player of the Year Zinedine Zidane. Following France's 2001 Confederations Cup victory, they became, along with Argentina, the only national teams to win the three most important men's titles organized by FIFA: the FIFA World Cup, the FIFA Confederations Cup, and the Olympic Tournament.
France currently share a competitive rivalry with neighbors Italy, whom they first contested in 1910. The rivalry laid dormant for awhile, but re-ignited following the controversial circumstances surrounding Zinedine Zidane's sending-off in the 2006 World Cup final.
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The German national football team (German: Die deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft) is the football team representing the country of Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association DFB (Deutscher Fußball-Bund) which was founded in 1900.
From 1950 to 1990, the team was called West Germany in English, as since World War II, the DFB is based in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) which was commonly referred to as West Germany from 1949 to 1990. The DFB continues to field the German national team that had been fully reinstated by FIFA after the 1950 FIFA World Cup, retaining all records and traditions. Under Allied occupation and division, two other separate national teams had also been recognized by FIFA, the Saarland team (1950–1956), and the East German team (1952–1990). Both have been absorbed into the current national team, along with their records (caps and goal scorers). The official name and code "Germany FR (FRG)" was shortened again to "Germany (GER)" in 1990.
Germany is one of the three most successful national teams at international competitions, having won a total of three World Cups and three European championships. They are also one of the most consistent teams. Aside from winning three world and continental titles, they were also runners-up three times in the European Championships, four times in the World Cup and won 3rd place in the World Cup three times as well. East Germany won Olympic Gold in 1976. Germany is the only nation to have won both the men's and women's World Cups.
The current coaching staff of the national team include head coach Joachim Löw, assistant coach Hans-Dieter Flick, goalkeeper coach Andreas Köpke, athletic coach Mark Verstegen, athletic coach Oliver Schmidtlein, scout Urs Siegenthaler, technical director Matthias Sammer and team manager Oliver Bierhoff.
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The Ghana national football team, popularly known as the Black Stars, is the national association football team of Ghana and is controlled by the Ghana Football Association. Before gaining independence from Great Britain in 1957, the country played as the Gold Coast.
Although the team did not qualify for the senior FIFA World Cup until 2006, they had qualified for five straight Olympic Games Football Tournaments when the tournament was still a full senior national team competition. The team have won the Africa Cup of Nations four times (in 1963, 1965, 1978, and 1982), making Ghana the second most successful team in the contest's history, behind Egypt. The Olympic Team, the Black Meteors, in 1992 became the first African country to win a medal at football.
After going through 2005 unbeaten, Ghana won the FIFA most improved team of the year award and they reached the second round of the 2006 Germany World Cup.
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The Greece national football team represents Greece in international football and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation. Greece spent most of their history in relative obscurity, having participated only twice in the final tournaments of the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship, in 1994 and 1980 respectively. But it was in the UEFA Euro 2004, when Greece were crowned European champions in only their second participation in the tournament, in one of international football's greatest surprises. The Greeks, dismissed as rank outsiders before the tournament with bookmakers giving odds of between 80–1 to 150–1 for them to win, defeated some of the favourites in the competition including defending champions France and hosts Portugal; the latter succumbed twice to Greece, the first time coming in the inaugural game of the tournament and the second in the final.
Since then, Greece have received several distinctions for their triumph and have reached a higher status in international football. They have also been proven more competitive than they used to be and often reach high places in the FIFA World Rankings. Furthermore, the team attracts large numbers of fans not only at home matches, a rare phenomenon in the previous years, but even when they play abroad, providing the team with great support. For instance, a friendly clash between Australia and Greece in 2006 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, in Melbourne, Australia, set a stadium attendance record for association football attracting 95,103 fans, a portion of whom originated from the large Greek Australian community.
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The Honduran national football team, nicknamed Los Catrachos, is the national team of Honduras and is controlled by the Federación Nacional Autónoma de Fútbol de Honduras (founded in 1951). They are a rising team in CONCACAF, an ascent that started with their third place finish in the 2001 Copa América, where they were a late invitee, due to a withdrawal by Argentina one day prior to kickoff. In October 2009, they confirmed qualification to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, which will be their first appearance in the competition since 1982
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The Italy national football team represents Italy in international football competition and is controlled by the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC). They are the current World Champions, having won the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
Italy is among the top teams in international football and the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four titles (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), just one fewer than Brazil. To this tally they can add one European championship (1968), one Olympic football tournament (1936) and two (defunct) Central European International Cups.
The traditional colour of the national team (as well as all Italian teams and athletes) is azure blue (azzurro, in Italian), due to the "Azzurro Savoia" (Savoy Blue), the colour traditionally linked to the royal dynasty which unified Italy in 1861, and maintained in the official standard of the President of the Italian Republic.
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The Japan national football team is the national association football team of Japan and is controlled by the Japan Football Association.
Takeshi Okada, who had previously served as the manager for Japan leading up to and during the 1998 FIFA World Cup is the current coach for the team.
The Japanese team is commonly known by the fans and media as Soccer Nippon Daihyō (サッカー日本代表?, lit. Japanese representatives of soccer), or Nippon Daihyō (日本代表?, lit. Japanese representatives), Daihyō (代表?, lit. representatives) as abbreviated expressions. Although the team does not have an official nickname as such, it is often known by the name of the manager. For example, under Ivica Osim, the team was known as Osim Japan. Recently the team has been known or nicknamed as the "Samurai Blue".
Japan is one of the most successful national teams in Asia, being a three-time winner of the Asian Cup and having qualified for the last four consecutive World Cup finals.
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The national football team of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (recognized as Korea DPR by FIFA) is the national team of North Korea and is controlled by the DPR Korea Football Association. The team has qualified for the FIFA World Cup twice; in 1966, where they reached the quarter-finals, and for the forthcoming competition in 2010. Korea DPR have qualified for the AFC Asian Cup three times; in 1980, when they finished fourth, in 1992 and in 2011. The current team is composed of both native North Koreans and Zainichi Koreans born in Japan.
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The Korea Republic national football team represents the Republic of Korea in international football competitions. The team, also known as South Korea, is recognized as Korea Republic by FIFA.
South Korea has participated in seven World Cup final tournaments and became the first and only Asian team to reach the semi-finals, doing so when it co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup with Japan. South Korea is considered as the most successful international soccer team in Asia. It has qualified for its eighth World Cup final tournament, the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, having been the only unbeaten team during the AFC qualification tournament. It won the first two editions of the AFC Asian Cup.
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The Mexico national football team represents Mexico in international football competition and is managed by the Mexican Football Federation (FEMEXFUT), who also manages the women's national team. The team is currently ranked 17th in the FIFA World Rankings and 8th in the World Football Elo Ratings, making Mexico one of the strongest teams in the Americas.
Mexico has qualified for thirteen World Cups and has qualified consecutively since 1994. Mexico's best progression was reaching the Quarterfinals in both the 1970 and 1986 FIFA World Cups, both of which were staged on Mexican soil. Mexico holds one FIFA Confederations Cup, five CONCACAF Gold Cups, three CONCACAF Championships, one North American Nations Cup and two NAFC Championships. Although Mexico is under the jurisdiction of CONCACAF, the national football team has been regularly invited to compete in the CONMEBOL Copa América since Ecuador 1993 finishing as runner-up twice and obtaining the third place medal on three occasions.
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The Netherlands national football team is the national football team of the Netherlands and is controlled by the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB). It won Euro '88 and reached two consecutive World Cup finals in 1974 and 1978, but lost both finals to their respective host nations, West Germany and Argentina. At the peak of its success in the 1970s, the team was famous for its mastery of Total Football and was nicknamed Clockwork Oranje for its precision passing. In many countries and even the Netherlands itself, the team is colloquially referred to as Holland. It is currently ranked fourth in the FIFA World Rankings and third in the World Football Elo Ratings.
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The New Zealand national football team, nicknamed the All Whites, is the national association football team of New Zealand and is controlled by New Zealand Football.
The All Whites played in the 1982 FIFA World Cup and on 14 November 2009 qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Because of the lack of a high-quality domestic league, most talented New Zealand footballers play their trade in the higher-class leagues of Europe or the United States, or in the Australian A-League.
New Zealand formerly battled Australia for top honours in the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). This is no longer the case as Australia now plays in the Asian Football Confederation, leaving New Zealand as the only seeded team left in OFC. New Zealand has won the OFC Nations Cup four times, in 1973, 1998, 2002 and 2008. The white strip was originally based on the colour of England's strip and name is in contrast with the New Zealand national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks.
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The Nigeria national football team, nicknamed the Super Eagles, is the national team of Nigeria and is controlled by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). According to the FIFA World Rankings, Nigeria ranks 21st and holds the third highest place among the African nations behind Egypt (17th) and Cameroon (20th). Their highest position ever reached on the ranking was 5th in April 1994.
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The Paraguay national football team is the national team of Paraguay and is controlled by the Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol. The Paraguay national football team has reached the second round of the World Cup on three occasions (in 1986, 1998 and 2002) but has never advanced beyond that stage. Paraguay's only major tournament victories have come in the Copa América, in which they triumphed in 1953 and 1979. They also won a silver medal in the football tournament at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, being defeated 1-0 by Argentina in the final.
Since the 1998 World Cup qualifiers Paraguay has been established between the top 3 teams of CONMEBOL.
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The Portuguese national football team is governed by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), finishing 4th at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The first appearance in the 1966 FIFA World Cup saw them reach the semifinal, losing 2–1 at Wembley to the eventual world champions England. Portugal finished in third place and Eusébio was considered the best player of the tournament. The next two times Portugal qualified for the World Cup were 1986 and 2002, with Portugal going out in the first round both times. In the 1986 tournament, players went on strike over prize-money and refused to train between their first and second games.
In 2003, the Portuguese Football Federation decided to hire Luiz Felipe Scolari, the Brazilian who had led the Brazil national football team to win the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Scolari led Portugal to the final of UEFA Euro 2004, where they lost to the Greek national team, and to their second World Cup semi-final in the 2006 World Cup. Scolari left after the Euro 2008 championships to manage Chelsea. Carlos Queiroz was appointed the new manager of Portugal in 2008.
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The Serbia national football team is controlled by the Football Association of Serbia. Both FIFA and UEFA consider the Serbia national team the direct descendant of the Serbia and Montenegro national football team and the SFR Yugoslavia national football team.
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The Slovakia national football team represents Slovakia in international football and is controlled by the Slovak Football Association. After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, the Slovak Football Association was founded in 1993, and has been affiliated to both FIFA and UEFA since the same year.
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The Slovenia national football team is the national football team of Slovenia and is controlled by the Football Association of Slovenia. They played their first match in 1992 after the split of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1991. Before that, Slovenian players played for the Yugoslavia national football team.
Slovenia were surprise qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2000, when they beat Ukraine in a playoff. They turned some heads during the tournament, drawing with Yugoslavia and Norway, and only losing to Spain 2–1. Slovenia achieved another major success two years later, qualifying for the 2002 World Cup, this time defeating Romania in a playoff. They did not lose a match in their whole qualifying campaign, recording six wins and six draws. However, they did not do as well in the finals, as they went home pointless.
Despite failing to qualify for the 2006 World Cup, they were the only team to beat Italy on their way to winning the tournament with a shock 1–0 victory on home turf. It wasn't the only time they avoided defeat against the team – in 1995 they held them to 1–1 draw in the qualifying campaign for UEFA Euro 1996, and also took the lead. In November 2009, Slovenia defeated Russia in a playoff to clinch a berth in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
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The South Africa national football team or Bafana Bafana is the national team of South Africa and is controlled by the South African Football Association. They returned to the world stage in 1992, after years of being banned from FIFA. They will be hosting the 19th FIFA World Cup in June 2010 after they hosted the Confederation Cup in 2009. South Africa will be the first African nation to host FIFA World Cup.
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The Spanish national football team represents Spain in international football and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation. The Spanish side are commonly referred to as La Furia Roja (The Red Fury)
Spain are the current European champions, having won the UEFA European Championship in 2008. They also won the European Nations' Cup in 1964 and reached the UEFA Euro 1984 Final. Spain have qualified for the FIFA World Cup twelve times, reaching fourth place in the 1950 tournament.
In July 2008, Spain rose to the top of the FIFA World Ranking for the first time in their history, becoming the sixth nation, and the first who has never won the World Cup, to top this ranking. Between November 2006 and June 2009, Spain went undefeated for a record tying 35 consecutive matches —record shared with Brazil— including a record 15-game winning streak.
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The Swiss national football team (also known as the Schweizer Nati in German, La Nati in French and Squadra nazionale in Italian) is the national football team of Switzerland and is controlled by the Swiss Football Association.
Its best performances in the World Cup have been reaching the quarter-finals three times, in 1934, 1938 and when the country hosted the event in 1954. Switzerland also won silver at the 1924 Olympics. The youth teams have been more successful, winning the 2002 U-17 European Championship and the 2009 U-17 World Cup.
In 2006, Switzerland set a FIFA World Cup record by being eliminated from the competition despite not conceding a goal, losing to Ukraine in a penalty shootout in the last 16, by failing to score a single penalty - becoming the first national team in Cup history to do this.
Switzerland co-hosted Euro 2008 with Austria, making their third appearance in the competition. As with the two previous appearances, they did not clear the group stages.
In October 2009, Switzerland booked their place at the 2010 World Cup finals with a goalless draw against Israel at St Jacob stadium in Basel.
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The United States men's national soccer team represents the United States in international association football competition and is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation. Though soccer has not traditionally had a high profile in American sporting life, the sport has steadily grown in popularity since the 1970s. The team is, according to the FIFA World Rankings, ranked 14th in the world and first in CONCACAF, has appeared in the last five FIFA World Cups, and will appear in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
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The Uruguay national football team represents Uruguay in international football competition and is controlled by the Asociación Uruguaya de Fútbol.
Uruguay have won two FIFA World Cups, including the first ever World Cup in 1930 as hosts, beating Argentina 4-2 in the final. They won their second title in 1950, upsetting hosts Brazil 2-1 in the final match. They also won the Gold Medals in football at the Summer Olympics twice, in 1924 and 1928, before the creation of the World Cup. They also won the 1980 Mundialito, a tournament among former World Cup champions Uruguay hosted in 1980 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first World Cup. Uruguay is one of the most successful teams in the world, having won 18 official titles: 2 FIFA World Cup, 2 Olympic Games and 14 Copa América.
Their success is amplified by the fact that the nation has a very small population. Uruguay is the only country in the world to win a World Cup with a general population of under 4 million inhabitants and is by far the smallest nation to do so. The second smallest country to have won the World Cup is Argentina with a total population of over 40 million people. Uruguay is also the smallest country ever to win any World Cup medals. In fact, only six nations with populations smaller than Uruguay's have ever participated in any World Cup: Northern Ireland (3 times), Wales, Kuwait, Jamaica, Slovenia and Trinidad and Tobago. Uruguay is also the smallest nation to win Olympic gold medals in any team sport.
Uruguay is also the smallest member nation of CONMEBOL, South American Football Association. Nevertheless, Uruguayan national team also have won the Copa América 14 different times, a record it shares with Argentina.
However, the level of the Uruguay national team has decreased lately as Uruguay has only qualified on two occasions in the last five World Cups, although it remains a strong team in South America, having reached third place and fourth place in the last two Copa América tournaments, respectively.
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