2010 Football / Soccer World Cup

31/8/09 England squad for Slovenia and Croatia - There is still no place for Michael Owen as England head into Saturday's friendly with Slovenia, followed by Wednesday's World Cup qualifier against Croatia. Rio Ferdinand misses out with a thigh strain while David James is again absent through injury.

Full Squad: Goalkeepers: Ben Foster (Man Utd), Rob Green (West Ham), Paul Robinson (Blackburn).

Defenders: Wayne Bridge (Man City), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Wes Brown (Man Utd), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Joleon Lescott (Man City), John Terry (Chelsea), Matthew Upson (West Ham)

Midfielders: Shaun Wright-Phillips (Man City), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham), David Beckham (LA Galaxy), Gareth Barry (Man City), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Michael Carrick (Man United), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Ashley Young (Aston Villa), James Milner (Aston Villa)

Strikers: Wayne Rooney (Man United), Emile Heskey (Aston Villa), Jermaine Defoe (Tottenham), Carlton Cole (West Ham), Peter Crouch (Tottenham).

12/08/09 Friendly result: Holland 2 England 2 - Substitute Jermaine Defoe's second half brace rescued a deserved draw for England in Amsterdam tonight. Shaky first half defending, from first Rio Ferdinand and then Gareth Barry, had gifted the Dutch a 2-0 half time lead despite a bright performance from the 3 lions. Spurs striker Defoe, a half time substitute for Emile Heskey, broke free from the defence shortly after the break to haul England back into the game, before debutant James Milner set up England's equalizer to cap a largely promising display from Fabio Capello's men.

Group 6 result: Belarus 1 Croatia 3 - There were no shocks in Minsk tonight as Croatia cruised past the Belarusians to keep the pressure on England in World Cup qualifying. Bayern Munich's Ivica Olic hit a goal in each half while Arsenal's Eduardo continued his rehabilitation with Croatia's second. England's lead in Group 6 is cut to 7 points with 3 games left.

8/08/09 England squad to face the Dutch on Wednesday: Goalkeepers: Ben Foster (Man Utd), Rob Green (West Ham), Paul Robinson (Blackburn).

Defenders: Wayne Bridge (Man City), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Man Utd), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Joleon Lescott (Everton), John Terry (Chelsea), Matthew Upson (West Ham)

Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Man City), David Beckham (LA Galaxy), Michael Carrick (Man Utd), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), James Milner (Aston Villa), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Man City), Ashley Young (Aston Villa)

Forwards: Emile Heskey (Aston Villa), Wayne Rooney (Man Utd), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Carlton Cole (West Ham)

18/6/09 North Korea book place in South Africa - North Korea will join their neighbours in the south on the plane to South Africa after a battling goalless draw in Saudi Arabia. Bahrain and Saudi Arabia play a home and away play-off to determine who will play New Zealand for a place in the finals.

Final standings and all the results from the final qualifying round in Asia Group 1 Group 2

10/6/09 Result: England 6 (Rooney 4, 38, Lampard 29, Defoe 73, 75, Crouch 80) Andorra 0

6/6/09 Result: Kazakhstan 0 England 4 (Barry 40, Heskey 45+, Rooney 72, Lampard 77 (pen)

24/5/09 England squad for crucial World Cup qualifiers announced - Fabio Capello today named a 24 man squad for June's matches against Kazakhstan and Andorra. Paul Robinson has a chance to reclaim his rightful spot between the sticks as David James and Ben Foster miss out through injury while Manchester United and England veteran Gary Neville earns a recall.

Full squad: Goalkeepers: Paul Robinson (Blackburn), Rob Green (West Ham), Scott Carson (West Brom).

Defenders: John Terry (Chelsea), Joleon Lescott (Everton), Wayne Bridge (Man City), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Man Utd), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), Gary Neville (Man Utd), Matthew Upson (West Ham).

Midfielders: David Beckham (LA Galaxy), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Man City), Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Ashley Young (Aston Villa).

Forwards: Wayne Rooney (Man Utd), Peter Crouch (Portsmouth), Jermaine Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur), Emile Heskey (Aston Villa), Carlton Cole (West Ham).

1/4/09 100% England squeeze past Ukraine - A late John Terry goal maintained England's winning streak in World Cup qualifying - despite a disjointed team performance from the hosts at Wembley tonight. With injury hit England struggling for strikers, Peter Crouch filled the void with his 13th goal in 15 starts to give the three lions a half time lead. But, with England struggling to find their rhythm against the tenacious Ukrainians, ex Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko came off the bench to haul the visitors level on 74 minutes. As England looked to have missed the opportunity to stamp real authority on the group, up stepped captain Terry to hook in a Steven Gerrard header.

Group 6 results: England 2 Ukraine 1, Andorra 0 Croatia 2, Kazakhstan 1 Belarus 5

Australia on the brink of qualification in Asia - Australia need just one more point from their final 3 games to secure qualification for the 2010 World Cup after a 2-0 victory over Uzbekistan in Sydney. Goals from Joshua Kennedy and Harry Kewell mean that a draw in June against Qatar will see the Socceroos qualify - over a year in advance of the finals in South Africa.

12/02/09 Final qualifying group stages underway in the CONCACAF region - The final group stage for North and Central America and the Caribbean kicked off today and 2006 qualifiers Costa Rica jumped out of the blocks with a 2-0 win over Honduras. The USA join 'La Sele' at the top of the group after a 2-0 victory over Sven Goran Eriksson's Mexico while Trinidad and Tobago and El Salvador played out a 2-2 draw in San Salvador.

World Cup qualifying results: Europe - San Marino 0 Northern Ireland 3, Republic of Ireland 2 Georgia 1, Malta 0 Albania 0

Asia: Japan 0 Australia 0, Uzbekistan 0 Bahrain 1, Iran 1 South Korea 1, North Korea 1 Saudi Arabia 0

15/11/08 England squad named for Germany friendly - And there is no place for David Beckham or Michael Owen in the group of 23 for the crunch clash in Berlin on Wednesday. England will be travelling light to the German capital with Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand ruled out through injury and John Terry struggling with a knock.

Micah Richards returns for his first call up under Cappello as Manchester City players outnumber United players 3-1. Aston Villa trio Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Curtis Davies come in while Darren Bent's recent hot streak wins the Tottenham striker a recall.

Full Squad: Goalkeepers - David James (Portsmouth), Scott Carson (West Brom), Joe Hart (Man City)

Defenders: John Terry (Chelsea), Joleon Lescott (Everton), Cutis Davies (Aston Villa), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), Wayne Bridge (Chelsea), Michael Mancienne (Chelsea - On Loan at Wolves), Matthew Upson (West Ham), Micah Richards (Man City)

Midfielders: Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Man City), Ashley Young (Aston Villa), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), Michael Carrick (Man Utd)

Forwards: Darren Bent (Spurs), Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa), Jermaine Defoe (Portsmouth), Peter Crouch (Portsmouth), Theo Walcott (Arsenal)

22/10/08 Third round qualifying draw made for African zone - The twenty remaining teams in Africa have been split into 5 groups of four for the final round of qualifiers. The winners of each group will qualify for the World Cup finals.

Group A: Togo, Cameroon, Morocco, Gabon, Group B: Mozambique, Nigeria, Kenya, Tunisia, Group C: Rwanda, Algeria, Egypt, Zambia, Group D: Ghana, Benin, Sudan, Mali, Group E: Ivory Coast, Malawi, Burkina Faso, Guinea.

16/10/08 Paraguay six points clear in South America - The latest round of South America qualifiers saw disappointment for Brazil - who were only able to draw 0-0 at home with Colombia - and Argentina who were beaten 1-0 by Chile. Paraguay capitalised on the failure of the big two by beating bottom side Peru 1-0 to take a major step towards South Africa. Latest results and table

In North and Central America and the Caribbean third round qualifying is almost complete. The top two from each of the three groups will make up a final group of six for the fourth round group phase. Latest results and tables: Group 1 Group 2 Group 3

15/10/08 Belarus 1 England 3 - England capped their best ever start to a World Cup qualifying campaign with a solid performance in Minsk. After four games you can't ask for anything more than twelve points and the table looks pretty sweet tonight:

The fourth round of Asian qualifiers continues as Australia hammer Qatar and Japan draw with Uzbekistan in Group A. Four nations are on four points in Group B after the latest fixtures.

12/10/08 Second qualifying round in Africa completed - Twenty nations have qualified for the third round of Africa 2010 world cup qualifying. The successful teams are Cameroon, Ghana, Egypt, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Morocco, Tunisia, Mali, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Gabon, Zambia, Kenya, Benin, Rwanda, Togo, Mozambique, Sudan and Malawi.

The draw for the third round group phase will be made on 22nd October in Zurich. The twenty nations will be split into five groups of four. The winners of each group will qualify for the finals in South Africa.

11/10/08 England 5 Kazakhstan 1 - England maintained their 100% record in Group 6 as Kazakhstan were brushed aside at Wembley - but the scoreline doesn't tell the whole story of a strange evening under the arch.

Fabio Cappello had admitted before the game that he didn't know a lot about a much changed Kazakhstan outfit - and it showed as England toiled against the minnows, going in goalless at half-time without chalking up a shot on target.

Stand in skipper Rio Ferdinand settled England's nerves after the break, heading in Frank Lampard's corner, but England still couldn't find their rhythm - even after an Alexandr Kuchma own goal had gifted England a second.

What happened next is embarrassing for every England fan and makes you wonder if the throngs of supporters that filled Wembley tonight have any knowledge - or any class.

On 68 minutes, and under no pressure on the left touchline, Ashley Cole lazily lobbed the ball into the heart of his own defence. In a flash, Kazakhstan striker Zhambyl Kukeyev raced on to the ball and struck it into the corner. It was poor work from Cole - a player who has looked out of sorts in an England shirt for some time - and the idiots in the stands were not shy in showing their disappointment.

Cole's next touch was greeted with loud boos from thousands of so called England supporters - and continued for most of the game. England looked for all the world as if they were wilting as Kazakhstan pressed for an equaliser. It was only a Wayne Rooney header that steadied the ship and following the introduction of Beckham on 79 minutes, showing that he still has a right foot like a nine iron, England ended up winning easily. But there is a sour taste in the mouth tonight.

Ashley Cole may not be a likeable man. If you believe everything you read in the tabloids and/or are an Arsenal fan, then he is a thoroughly unlikeable man. But how can football fans boo their own players after a mistake?. Everybody makes mistakes. How do these fans think this behaviour is going to effect 19 year old Theo Walcott? Or any of the other players come to think of it.

There is a section of the England support that is a disgrace. England MUST play their next home game away from Wembley to weed these people out. Hopefully, the hugely embarrassing, incessant, and let's face it, just plain cheesy England band could also be weeded out.

5/10/08 England squad to face Kazakhstan and Belarus - Fabio Cappello tonight named his second competitive England squad and there is still no place for Michael Owen. Peter Crouch returns in place of Joe Cole who limped out of Chelsea's win over Aston Villa on Sunday. Scott Carson also wins a recall in place of injured Paul Robinson.

Goalkeepers: David James (Portsmouth), Scott Carson (West Brom), Robert Green (West Ham)

Defenders: Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), John Terry (Chelsea), Joleon Lescott (Everton), Wayne Bridge (Chelsea), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Wes Brown (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), Matthew Upson (West Ham)

Midfielders: David Beckham (LA Galaxy), Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham)

Forwards: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Jermain Defoe (Portsmouth), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Emile Heskey (Wigan), Peter Crouch (Portsmouth).

10/09/08 Theo Walcott hat-trick sinks Croatia - England sensationally moved top of group 6 tonight with a stunning 4-1 win in Zagreb. Table, fixtures and results

Group 6 Results - Croatia 1 England 4, Kazakhstan 1 Ukraine 3, Andorra 1 Belarus 3

For all World Cup qualifying groups in Europe with results and tables click here

6/09/08 Group 6 Result - Andorra 0 England 2 - Joe Cole came off the bench to bag a brace as England's 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign got underway with a win against whipping boys Andorra. England again struggled to break the part-timers down as Andorra played almost the full 90 minutes with 10 men behind the ball. With the game level at half time, the mood of the fans was not quite as vitriolic as 18 months ago - when clown Steve McClaren brought the 3 Lions here. Following Cole's double, on 46 and 55 minutes, England looked more effective but Fabio Capello will have his hands full finding a combination to unlock Croatia on Wednesday.

Group 6 Results - Andorra 0 England 2, Ukraine 1 Belarus 0, Croatia 3 Kazakhstan 0

World Cup qualifiers were going on all around the world over the weekend. For all the results and tables follow the continent links on the left or click here for links to all the fixtures.

31/08/08 Full England squad for the Andorra and Croatia qualifiers announced - as injuries decimate England's midfield, Jimmy Bullard is the surprise name in Fabio Capello's first competitive squad. There is no place for Michael Owen despite the Newcastle striker's return to fitness and goals while Rob Green benefits from West Ham's bright start to the season with a recall.

Goalkeepers: David James (Portsmouth), Paul Robinson (Blackburn), Robert Green (West Ham)

Midfielders: David Beckham (LA Galaxy), Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Jimmy Bullard (Fulham), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), David Bentley (Tottenham), Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham)

Forwards: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Jermain Defoe (Portsmouth), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Emile Heskey (Wigan).

21/08/08 Latest CONCACAF qualifiers underway - The third round of World Cup qualifying in North and Central America kicked off in the small hours. Former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson saw his new charges Mexico come from behind to beat Honduras - a late brace from Pavel Pardo securing the points to take the Mexicans top of Group 2. The USA safely negotiated their trip to Guatemala with a 1-0 win in Group 1 while Costa Rica sit at the top of Group 3 following a narrow win over El Salvador.

20/08/08 The first results in England's qualifying group are in - and as England are held to a friendly draw at Wembley by the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan top group 6 in European World Cup qualifying after a 3-0 victory over Andorra.

30/06/08 Third round qualifying fixtures in North and Central America - Twelve teams have made it through to the third round of qualifying in the CONCACAF region. The top two sides from each group will qualify for the fourth round.

Group 1 sees the USA take on Guatemala, Cuba and 2006 qualifiers Trinidad and Tobago.

Former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson will be hoping his new charges Mexico can see him through to another World Cup. Standing in his way in Group 2 are Canada, Jamaica and Honduras.

Group 3 gives a smaller nation the chance to qualify. Costa Rica are hot favourites after qualifying for the last World Cup but at least one from El Salvador, Suriname and Haiti will make it to the next qualifying round.

27/06/08 Fourth round qualifying draw made in Asia - The 10 qualifiers from the third round of World Cup qualifying in Asia were split into two groups of 5 teams today in Kuala Lumpur. Australia were placed in Group A alongside Japan, Bahrain, Uzbekistan and Qatar. Group B sees North and South Korea paired together again while Iran, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates complete the group.

14/06/08 Australia, North and South Korea, Bahrain, Iran, Japan, Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia all qualify for the next stage of Asian World Cup qualifying following the latest round of matches. 10 teams in Asia will be split into two groups of 5 to determine the four qualifiers for the finals in South Africa. Iraq must win their final game against Qatar in group 1 to join the elite, while the United Arab Emirates need only avoid defeat in their final game to progress. The draw for the fourth round of Asian qualifying will be held in Kuala Lumpur on 27th June. All details of the draw will appear here at www.england2010.co.uk.

6/03/08 Latest 2010 World Cup ticket news - South African residents will be able to secure hospitality packages to watch World Cup matches from June, sales agents Match Hospitality have announced. Speaking in Johannesburg at the launch of the hospitality program, Chief Operating Officer Pascal Portes said, 'We want to give priority to the domestic market'.

There will be five hospitality packages on sale at an average price of US$1450 (around £750). The packages included a Big Six Series costing US$1750 a person, a Gauteng Series at between US$1400 and US$1750, a Venue Series for US$380 to US$1400, a Follow Your Team Series for US$1500 to US$1750 and a Final Round Series for US$3500 to US$6000.

The hospitality packages are expected to go on sale to the rest of the world from September 2008. Individual tickets will be available from February 2009.

16/01/08 Northern Ireland qualifiers decided - A full timetable for Group 3 of European World Cup qualifying was released today. Following their heroics in almost qualifying for Euro 2008, Northern Ireland were rewarded with a place in one of the toughest groups for 2010 World Cup qualification. Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia all stand in the way of the Irish in their attempts to reach South Africa. Group 3 fixtures schedule

15/01/08 Republic of Ireland qualifiers announced - The dates for Group 8 in Europe have been revealed and the Republic of Ireland kick off the campaign with a tough test away to Georgia on 6th September. Ireland's qualifiers against Italy take place away on 1st April 2009 and at home on 10th October 2009. Group 8 timetable/schedule

14/01/08 England World Cup qualifying fixtures revealed - New England boss Fabio Capello was in Zagreb today to thrash out the dates for England's 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign. First up for England is a trip to minnows Andorra on 6th September 2008. Four days later, England must travel to Croatia to face their Euro 2008 qualifying demons. All England fans will be hoping automatic qualification is in the bag before the last round of fixtures on 14th October 2009. The big hitters in the group have relatively easy fixtures last up while England entertain Belarus.

10/01/08 Wales World Cup qualifying dates and fixtures revealed - Following a meeting in Frankfurt today, the Group 4 qualifying timetable was announced. Wales have a tough job on their hands to qualify for South Africa, sharing a group with Germany, Russia and Finland. Follow Group 4 matches here

14/12/07 Scotland World Cup qualifying fixtures announced - Matches in Group 9 of European qualifying were revealed today. The Scots have a tough challenge on their hands to make South Africa after being lumped in the small group and must beat Holland to the top spot to qualify. Scotland begin their campaign on 6th September 2008 with a trip to Macedonia before another away day in Iceland 4 days later. The final game of qualifying could see a Hampden Park blockbuster - Scotland v Holland on 9th September 2009.

25/11/07 England have a chance for revenge following the World Cup draw in Durban - Croatia knocked England out of Euro 2008 just 4 days ago but the two nations were drawn together again for World Cup qualifying. England were drawn in Group 6 and must also face Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and minnows Andorra.

22/11/07 All eyes on the World Cup draw in Durban as World Cup qualifiers break for the winter - Paraguay top the South American World Cup qualifying group following the latest round of matches. They thumped Chile in Santiago and move on to 10 points from their opening 4 games. Brazil squeaked past Uruguay at home and sit in third place. Argentina lost their 100% record, going down 2-1 in Colombia and drop to second in the group.

New Zealand look comfortable in Oceania World Cup qualifying. They have now won all of their opening 3 games as they strive for the right to challenge the fifth place qualifier in Asia for a place in the 2010 World Cup. Results

18/11/07 Latest South American World Cup qualifiers see Argentina win, Brazil held - Argentina maintained their 100% record in the South American World Cup qualifying group with a 3-0 win over Bolivia in Buenos Aires on Saturday. Colombia and Paraguay also won to take 2nd and 4th place in the group respectively. In Sunday's games, Brazil moved into 3rd place in the group with a draw in Peru while Uruguay disappointed again as they could only draw at home to Chile.

The second phase of Asian qualifying was also completed over the weekend. The lowest 8 seeded teams after the first knockout phase were drawn together in a second, 2 legged preliminary phase to whittle down the field for the group stages.

18/08/07 Argentina top the South American World Cup qualifying group - Two wins out of two for Argentina see them go top of the group after the second round of games in South American World Cup qualifying. They travelled to Venezuela to claim all three points with a 2-0 win. Barcelona's mercurial whizkid Lionel Messi and defender Gabriel Milito bagged the goals in the first half.

Brazil go second courtesy of a win over 2006 World Cup qualifiers Ecuador. Much more impressive on their home turf than in the recent qualifier with Colombia, Brazil notched five goals without reply to leave Ecuador bottom of the group.

In other matches Colombia played out their second goalless draw in 5 days in Bolivia, while there were home wins for Paraguay and Chile against Uruguay and Peru respectively.

15/08/07 South America World Cup qualifiers begin - Uruguay top the South American World Cup qualifying group after thumping Bolivia 5-0 in Montevideo. In other games, two wonder goals from Riquelme inspired Argentina to a 2-0 home victory against Chile, while Venezuela travelled to Ecuador and took all three points to go third in the group. Brazil were uninspiring in a 0-0 draw against Colombia in Bogota while Peru and Paraguay played out the same result in Lima.

27/08/07 2010 World Cup qualification process kicks off in Samoa - With over 1000 days to go until the South Africa World Cup, qualifying for the tournament has begun at the South Pacific Games in Samoa. There was no shortage of goals on the first day of the first phase of Oceania qualifying, where the mighty Fiji hit 16 past hapless Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands racked up a 12-1 win against American Samoa. A total of 34 goals were scored in the opening 4 games on match day 1 as New Caledonia edged past Tahiti 1-0 and Vanuatu thumped hosts Samoa 4-0.

The 2010 World Cup will be held in South Africa after FIFA decided to host the competition on the African continent for the first time. South Africa won the nomination from unlucky bidders Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Libya.

Follow England's progress in the Euro 2008 qualifiers at england2008.co.uk. All the latest Euro 2008 news and group tables as well as host city travel and tourist information and a full Euro 2008 timetable. click here