Listed below are the dates and results for the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for the European zone (UEFA). For an overview of the qualification rounds, see the article 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification.
Contents
- Qualification seeding UEFA
- Group 1
- Group 2
- Group 3
- Group 4
- Group 5
- Group 6
- Group 7
- Group 8
- Group 9
- Play offs
- Matches
- References
A total of 51 UEFA teams entered the competition. The European zone was allocated 14.5 places (out of 32) in the final tournament. France, the defending champions, qualified automatically leaving 13.5 spots open for competition between 50 teams.
The 50 teams were divided into nine groups, five groups of six teams and four groups of five teams. The teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis. The group winners would qualify. Among the runners-up, the runner-up of Group 2 was drawn randomly to advance to the UEFA–AFC Intercontinental play-off. The other runners-up would advance to the UEFA play-offs.
In the play-offs, the eight teams were paired up to play knockout matches on a home-and-away basis. The four aggregate winners qualified. The qualifying process started on 2 September 2000, After UEFA Euro 2000, and ended on 14 November 2001.
Qualification seeding (UEFA)
The draw was made in December 1999, and was based on average points per game achieved in 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification and UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying.
Important notes:
Group 1
Russia qualified. Slovenia advanced to the UEFA Play-offs.
Group 2
Portugal qualified. Republic of Ireland advanced to the UEFA / AFC Intercontinental Play-off
Group 3
Denmark qualified. Czech Republic advanced to the UEFA Play-offs.
Group 4
Sweden qualified. Turkey advanced to the UEFA Play-offs.
Group 5
Poland qualified. Ukraine advanced to the UEFA Play-offs.
Group 6
Croatia qualified. Belgium advanced to the UEFA Play-offs.
Group 7
Spain qualified. Austria advanced to the UEFA Play-offs.
Group 8
Italy qualified. Romania advanced to the UEFA Play-offs.
Group 9
England qualified. Germany advanced to the UEFA Play-offs.
Germany lost a World Cup qualifying match for only the second time on 1 September 2001, when they were defeated 5–1 by England in Munich. They had played 62 World Cup qualifying matches before (47 wins, 14 draws, 1 loss). Apart from Germany, no team having played more than 20 World Cup qualifying matches has lost less than three of them.
Play-offs
Republic of Ireland qualified to the UEFA / AFC Intercontinental Play-off. The other teams qualified to the UEFA play-offs.
Matches
Belgium qualified by the aggregate score of 2–0.
Germany qualified by the aggregate score of 5–2.
Slovenia qualified by the aggregate score of 3–2.
Turkey qualified by the aggregate score of 6–0.