The South American zone of 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification saw ten teams competing for places in the finals in South Africa. The format is identical to that used for the previous three World Cup qualification tournaments held by CONMEBOL. Matches were scheduled so that there were always two games within a week, which was aimed at minimizing player travel time, particularly for players who were based in Europe.
The top four teams in the final standings qualified automatically for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The fifth-placed team met the fourth-placed team from the CONCACAF qualifying tournament in a two-legged play-off for a place at the World Cup.[1]
On 24 November 2008, FIFA suspended the Peruvian Football Federation from all international competition due to governmental interference in its operations.[2] The suspension was lifted on 20 December 2008.[3]
The round-by-round fixtures were same as the 2002 and 2006 qualifying tournament.
The team from fourth place in the CONCACAF qualifying fourth round (Costa Rica) entered into a home and away play-off against the team which finished fifth in the CONMEBOL qualifying group (Uruguay). The winner of this play-off qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals. The draw for the order in which the two matches were played was held on 2 June 2009 during the FIFA Congress in Nassau, the Bahamas.[4]
The following five teams from CONMEBOL qualified for the final tournament.
There were 232 goals scored in 90 matches, for an average of 2.58 goals per match.
10 goals
9 goals
8 goals
7 goals
6 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Mario Bolatti Esteban Cambiasso Jesús Dátolo Daniel Díaz Lucho González Gonzalo Higuaín Gabriel Milito Rodrigo Palacio Martín Palermo Maxi Rodríguez Carlos Tevez
Juan Carlos Arce Álex da Rosa Edgar Rolando Olivares Didi Torrico Gerardo Yecerotte
Adriano Dani Alves Elano Felipe Melo Juan Luisão Ronaldinho Vágner Love
Jean Beausejour Marco Estrada Ismael Fuentes Rodrigo Millar Waldo Ponce Jorge Valdivia Arturo Vidal
Radamel Falcao Teófilo Gutiérrez Dayro Moreno Giovanni Moreno Adrián Ramos Wason Rentería Macnelly Torres
Felipe Caicedo Isaac Mina.svg/1280px-Flag_of_Ecuador_(1900%E2%80%932009).svg.png){kind=small}
Jefferson Montero Pablo Palacios Carlos Tenorio Patricio Urrutia.svg/1280px-Flag_of_Paraguay_(1990%E2%80%932013).svg.png){kind=small}
Néstor Ayala Édgar Benítez.svg/1280px-Flag_of_Peru_(state).svg.png){kind=small}
Piero Alva Juan Carlos Mariño Andrés Mendoza
Vicente Sánchez Andrés Scotti.svg/1280px-Flag_of_Venezuela_(state).svg.png){kind=small}
Alejandro Guerra Alejandro Moreno Alexander Rondón1 own goal
Gabriel Heinze (against Paraguay) Ronald Rivero (against Venezuela) Juan Fuenmayor (against Peru)Source: FIFA.com: Scorer stats
This was the first time that Argentina lost more than 2 or 4 matches and has not finished as leader (1st) or runner-up (2nd) of their qualifying group, during a FIFA World Cup qualification.[citation needed]