Current format

Currently, 32 places are available in the final tournament. One of them is reserved for the host nation, but if two or more nations host the competition jointly, each is awarded a place. The 2006 Finals were the first in which an automatic entry was not guaranteed to the previous champion; 2002 winner Brazil qualified for 2006 at the top of their group.

FIFA decides beforehand the number of spots awarded to each of the continental zones. For the 2010 World Cup, the following numbers will be used :

* UEFA (Europe) - 13 berths
* CAF (Africa) - 5 berths, plus the host South Africa
* AFC (Asia) and OFC (Oceania) - 4 berths for AFC countries, with the fifth going to the winners of an AFC-OFC playoff
* CONMEBOL (South America) - 4 berths
* CONCACAF (North and Central America and Caribbean) - 3 berths
* 1 berth for the winners of CONMEBOL-CONCACAF playoff

These numbers vary slightly between tournaments (see above).

Qualification in all zones ends at approximately the same time, in September–November of the year preceding the finals.

The formats of the qualification tournaments differ between confederations and are outlined below.

Africa

The CAF qualification process will begin with a preliminary round to narrow the field to 48 teams, and then groups will be drawn in Durban in November 2007.

The qualifying competition for the 2010 World Cup will be combined with the qualification process for the 2010 African Cup of Nations. Since South Africa is hosting the World Cup, it has automatically qualified, but will play in the qualifiers themselves (becoming the first hosts to do so since 1934 qualifying) to facilitate the African Cup of Nations version of the qualifiers.

The first group stage will see 12 groups of 4, with the group winners and 8 best runners-up advancing to the second group stage. That will consist of 5 groups of 4 - with group winners advancing to the World Cup finals and top three nations in each group advancing to the 2010 African Cup of Nations.

Asia

Brunei, Laos and Philippines did not enter, with Bhutan given permission to enter after the official close of acceptances.

Qualifying has been substantial altered from the 2006 method, with two knock-out preliminary rounds to reduce the 43 entrants to 20, a first group stage with the top-two sides from 5 groups of 4 advancing to a final group stage. The winners and runners-up of the two final groups of 5 advance to the World Cup finals with the two third-placed sides playing off for the right to play an Oceania side for a final World Cup spot.

Europe

The European qualification games will start in September 2008. The 53 national teams will be divided into eight groups of six teams, and one group of five. The nine group winners will qualify directly and the best eight runners-up will play home and away play-off matches for the remaining four places.

North and Central America and Caribbean

The proposed CONCACAF qualification process is identical to that for 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF). It would consist of two preliminary rounds to reduce the 35 entrants to 24 and then 12 teams, followed by 3 semifinal groups of 4 (likely to occur in the second half of 2008), with the top two in each group advancing to a final 6-team group (held during 2009).

The top three teams would qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup while the fourth placed side would enter a play-off with the fifth placed CONMEBOL nation.

Oceania

Qualification in Oceania is composed of two rounds. The first round will take place at the 2007 South Pacific Games, where the top 3 teams will advance to a final round group stage with New Zealand, although the latest information from FIFA may suggest otherwise. The winning team will then playoff against the 5th Asian side for a spot in the finals. This is a major change from the initial FIFA information on Oceania's qualification which suggested inclusion in the second Asian group stage.

South America

The simplest system is used by CONMEBOL. Ten participating teams play each other twice in a single group.

The qualification process takes about 25 months. The top 4 teams advance to the World Cup finals while the 5th place team goes into a playoff with the fourth placed CONCACAF nation.

Intercontinental play-offs

Intercontinental play-offs are played as two home-and-away matches. The team that scores a greater aggregate number of goals qualifies. Away goals rule applies. If these rules fail to determine the winner, extra time and penalty shootouts are used.

Group tournaments rules

In all group tournaments, three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss. FIFA has set the order of the tie-breakers for teams that finish level on points:

1. goal difference in all group matches
2. greater number of goals scored in all group matches

Where teams are still not able to be separated, the following tie-breakers are used:

1. greater number of points obtained in matches between the tied teams
2. goal difference in matches between the tied teams
3. greater number of goals scored in matches between the tied teams

Where teams are still equal, then a play-off on neutral ground, with extra time and penalties if necessary will be played if FIFA deems such a play-off able to be fitted within the coordinated international match calendar. If this is not deemed feasible, then the result will be determined by the drawing of lot.

Note that this order of tie-breaker application differs from that used in the qualification for the 2006 World Cup (although it was - where applicable - used in the 2006 finals themselves). If these rules had applied in 2006, then Nigeria would have qualified rather than Angola.