Football World Cup 2006

Whilst qualification tournaments are still years away, there has been some interest in the allocation of places in the finals to the various football confederations. The big winner was undoubtedly the Oceania confederation (or at least the biggest nation within it), for the first time receiving one guaranteed place and thus ensuring that Australia's team has the easiest run of all into the cup (the rest of the Oceania confederation is extremely weak by world football standards, consisting of New Zealand (a small nation where football is a minor sport) and a variety of small island nations with little sporting infrastructure and tiny populations).

South America's confederation, by contrast, has been allocated only 4 places, down from 4.5 (4 guaranteed and one playoff spot against the Oceania regional qualifier) last time, despite the onfield strength of South American football. North America gained an extra half a place, whilst Europe lost half a place. The defending champion (Brazil) does not qualify automatically, but hosts Germany gain an automatic spot.

There has been some discussion of expanding the final to 36 teams, but no definitive move in that direction has been made.

• Football World Cup