Japan became the first country to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, clinching a place with a 1–0 win in Uzbekistan in the Asian zone Group One qualifier. A goal in the ninth minute by Shinji Okazaki proved enough for Japan, who qualified with two games to spare. Uzbekistan must win their final qualifier and rely on Bahrain losing their two remaining matches if they are to have a chance of progressing.
Australia followed Japan by qualifying for South Africa with a 0–0 draw away to Qatar.
The Netherlands became the first European nation to qualify, with a 2-1 win in Iceland. Goals from Nigel de Jong and Mark van Bommel left the Dutch uncatchable at the top of qualifying Group Nine with a maximum 18 points, 11 clear of second-placed Scotland.
Serbia piled the pressure on France in Group Seven, opening up a five-point lead at the top thanks to a 1-0 home victory over Austria, while Denmark beat Sweden 1-0 in Stockholm to remain in control of Group One.
Stuttering Portugal kept alive their hopes of qualifying with a last-gasp 2-1 victory in Albania. They have nine points, seven behind Denmark and four shy of second-placed Hungary with four matches remaining.
Only the winners of the nine European qualifying groups automatically qualify for South Africa, with the best eight runners-up having to come through a two-legged play-off.
In England's group, Group Six, Croatia had to rely on an equaliser from Luka Modric to secure a 2-2 draw at home to Ukraine. Croatia are seven points behind England.
South Korea qualified for their seventh successive World Cup finals when they beat the United Arab Emirates 2-0.
North Korea spurned the chance of an early place in the qualifying play-off when they were held to a goalless draw by Iran. The draw did Iran no good either, and they face an uphill struggle to reach the finals.
In Africa, Burkina Faso and Gabon kept up their unlikely march on World Cup places with key wins. Both kept their 100 per cent records in the final phase of Africa's qualifiers, as did Tunisia, who beat Mozambique 2-0.
Gabon, who scored an upset victory in Morocco in their opening Group A match, disposed of Togo 3-0 while Burkina Faso won 1-0 away in Malawi.
Australia, Japan, South Korea and the Netherlands have all qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Australia drew 0–0 with Qatar, Japan defeated Uzbekistan 1–0, South Korea qualified by defeating the United Arab Emirates 2–0 and a 2–1 win over Iceland saw the Netherlands qualify. All four countries have two games to play in qualifying.
Mark Schwarzer, Australian  goalkeeper. 
"They put us under pressure," Australia coach Pim Verbeek said of his team's games. "We thought they could only do that for 20 minutes and they did it for almost 90 so I have to congratulate the young players from Qatar. They made it very difficult for us."

In a statement emailed out to the media, Football Federation Australia CEO Ben Buckley said, "It's another first for Australian football, and it's come off the back of a comprehensive qualification pathway which began in February last year. Qualifying this time around, with the travel and match conditions the team has experienced, is a true measure of the progress football has made. While 'do or die' results, such as the famous Uruguay game four years ago are exciting, a qualifying campaign such as this one through the Asian zone is a tough test."

FIFA named the Japan-Uzbekistan game as match of the day. Japanese forward Shinji Okazaki scored the only goal of that match, securing Japan's place at the World Cup.

"This away game was really tough but I'm really happy, because I'd only scored in friendly games previously," Okazaki said. "This time, I feel like I did very well for the Japanese team.

"Japan are a big team — both on and off the field — who have become a major force in world football. We are delighted that they today became the first team to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup," Danny Jordaan, World Cup organising committee chief, said.

South Korea opened the scoring in there match with the UAE through Park Chu-young after five minutes. Ki Sung-yueng sealed qualification for the Koreans on 37 minutes.

The Netherlands scored their two goals in the first ten minutes. Nigel de Jong scored after eight minutes and Mark van Bommel scored on 15 minutes.