(Photo by Jamie McDonald/Getty Images)
Mid-October is when the European nations give their final battle for a place in World Cup next summer. The 13 best countries from Europe will become eligible to play in the World Cup 2010, which consists of 32 teams.
England, Spain, and Netherlands have booked a ticket to next year's World Cup. So who else will qualify from the remaining 10 spots available?
The group winners of the nine groups in the qualifier will advance automatically to the World Cup and the eight best runner-ups will be drawn into the playoffs, where the four winners will advance to the finals as well.
Since there are only five teams in Group Nine, one less than the other groups. When calculating the best runners-up, therefore, matches played against the sixth-placed finishers in Groups One to Eight will not be taken into consideration.
Denmark are currently leading in Group One with 18 points, three points more than second-placed Sweden and five points more than Portugal and Hungary.
Will the Portuguese make a late comeback and qualify automatically? Or will the 2006 World Cup semi-finalist need the lottery of playoffs to qualify?
Portugal play Hungary next, the team they had beaten 1-0 away from home recently. Playing at home against Hungary in 10th October 2009 is a must-win encounter for the Portuguese, especially when Denmark and Sweden go head-to-head on the similar day.
Besides Sweden, Denmark also have to play against Hungary in their final qualifying games which will not be easy at all.
Sweden and Portugal shouldn't have any problem collecting maximum points against Albania and Malta respectively.
Therefore, the key lies in the Denmark-Sweden and Portugal-Hungary encounter. My bet would be both Portugal and Denmark making the top two, the order is hard to predict though.
In Group Two, Switzerland are sitting at the peak with a three-point cushion over Greece and Latvia but I wouldn't say the lead is a comfortable one. While a trip to Luxembourg shouldn't be a problem, the following game against Israel at home could be tricky.
The Israel's other game is against bottom team Moldova. Winning both games could see the Israelis making the playoffs.
Fortunately for Switzerland, Greece and Latvia will go head-to-head on 10th October. Greece and Latvia will then play winnable matches against Luxembourg and Moldova.
My prediction is, Switzerland to qualify automatically. It's hard to tell whether Greece, Latvia or Israel will come second though.
Slovakia have a five-point lead over Slovenia and Northern Ireland currently and face difficult matches against Slovenia and Poland in mid-October.
Czech Republic are currently behind leaders Slovakia by seven points. In order to at least get a chance in the playoffs, the Czechs need to beat both Poland and Northern Ireland at home.
The other remaining fixture is a winnable one for Slovenia, a trip to San Marino who have conceded 44 goals so far, scoring only once.
The key in this group lies in the Slovakia-Slovenia encounter. Slovakia should be able to at least earn a draw and therefore, they are my pick to qualify automatically. Either Czech Republic or Slovenia will finish second and could play in the playoffs.
Group Four is only between Germany and Russia. Due to the numerous points both teams have accumulated, whoever finishes second will make the playoffs for sure.
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