Finals guide

A summary of the progress of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers so far, with the teams who have already made it, the teams who face play-offs to get there and the big teams who have missed out.

Qualified

Europe: Denmark, Switzerland, Slovakia, Germany, Spain, England, Serbia, Italy, Netherlands.

South America: Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Argentina

Asia: Australia, Japan, South Korea, Korea DPR

America: U.S.A., Mexico, Honduras

Play-offs:

South America:Uruguay

Europe: Portugal, Greece, Slovenia, Russia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ukraine, France, Republic of Ireland

America: Costa Rica

Asia and Oceania: Bahrain, New Zealand

Who missed out

Sweden – Sweden's 4-1 victory over Albania in the last game of the group was not enough to secure them a play-off spot because of Portugal's 4-0 victory over Malta. Their absence means Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the world's most expensive striker, will miss the finals.

Czech Republic – A poor qualifying campaign from the Czech Republic, finished off with a 0-0 draw at home to N. Ireland, means they miss out on a play-off spot and Chelsea keeper Petr Cech will not be at the finals.

Turkey – Usually a good footballing nation, Turkey had a poor campaign and missed out on a play-off spot by four points to surprise package Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Croatia – The team that have really troubled England in recent years have also failed to qualify. Ukraine's victory over England put them in control and a 6-0 victory over Andorra put them one point clear of Croatia. Premier League stars Luka Modric and Eduardo will now miss out on the finals.
Ecuador – Ecuador have appeared in the last two World Cups and have become a real South American power, but a poor qualifying campaign and a large improvement from teams such as Chile mean they will be missing the finals this time.