FIFA World Cup 2010 South Africa Qualifying: Africa Zone

The 2010 FIFA World Cup is not around the corner, but some nations already have a slight edge in squeezing themselves among the 32 finalists in South Africa.

While South Africa has already qualified for the 2010 World Cup as the host nation, the other African countries still have a lot to do. Only the best five teams from three qualifying phases will qualify for the prestigious competition.

The African qualifying zone is already in the third phase made up of five groups.

Gabon, Togo, Morocco, and Cameroon are tied in Group A.

Tunisia, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Kenya are tied in Group B.

Egypt, Zambia, Algeria, and Rwanda are tied in Group C.

Ghana, Mali, Sudan, and Benin are tied in Group D.

While Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Malawi are tied in Group E.

All teams have played a game each and have only five matches remaining. Here are my predictions on the five African countries that will qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Group A is probably the hardest to pick. Cameroon, Togo, and Morocco would not surprise anybody should they qualify, but Gabon should not be overlooked as they are topping the group at the moment.

Judging by Togo's struggle in the previous qualifying round, having Emmanuel Adebayor on their side seems not enough to bring them to two consecutive World Cups.

Therefore, I feel the winner of Group A is between Morocco and Cameroon, who will go head-to-head with one another on 6 June 2009.

In Group B, Tunisia and Nigeria are my two favourites to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Tunisia have the upper hand at the top of the group, but I think Nigeria might just squeeze past Tunisia.

Meanwhile, Egypt is in a good position to qualify for the World Cup. The African champions are drawn into a group of relatively weaker opponents and should be among the earliest teams to book a spot in South Africa.

FIFA World Cup 2006 top-16 Ghana face a tough competition with a tricky Mali side for a place in the 2010 World Cup in Group D. With Mohamed Sissoko, Frederic Kanoute, and Seydou Keita on their side, Mali proved that it is a tough team to beat in recent years.

Group D can really go either way, but I'll stick with Ghana going through, very narrowly ahead of Mali.

Like Group C, Ivory Coast is a clear favourite to progress to the World Cup for two consecutive times. The Elephants are now at the peak of Group E after trashing Malawi 5-0 in the opening game.

After experiencing four World Cup debutantes from Africa in 2006, this qualifying is going to be as thrilling as ever.