South America boasts the oldest, smallest and most successful Continental Confederation. CONMEBOL (Confederacion Sudamericana de Futbol) was founded in 1916 with headquarters in Paraguay’s capital Asuncion. They have just ten members, but can proudly claim nine FIFA World Cup™ champions in 17 finals held so far: Brazil five times (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002) plus Argentina (1978, 1986) and Uruguay (1930, 1950) twice each.

System: All ten teams play a one group, home and away round-robin in the South Americaqualifications. The first playing day was September 6, 2003, the 18th and last has been scheduled for October 11, 2005. The best four teams qualify automatically; the fifth-placed team and the winners of the Oceaniaqualification will contest two play-off matches to determine another FIFA World Cup™ participant.

Analysis: Three playing days before the end of this marathon qualification Argentina (31 points) ensured their place at the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ finals. The night of June 8/9, 2005, gave two reasons for the fans of the “Albiceleste” to celebrate in Buenos Aires with the customary car convoys and incessant honking of horns; they had not only overcome their arch rivals Brazil 3-1, but the victory meant qualification for Germany. Argentina, the twice FIFA World Cup™ champions and 14-times Copa America champions, are regulars at FIFA World Cup™ finals. The “Gauchos” missed only the 1938, 1950, 1954 and 1970 tournaments.

The successful qualification is also a personal triumph for coach José Nestor Pekerman. The former youth coach succeeded Marcelo Bielsa, who was tired of the constant criticism in his home country despite guiding Argentina to the Olympic gold medal in 2004. Pekerman has, however, the largest number of top players across the world: 30 to 50 élite performers make up the enlarged squad. The team as a whole is the star, though defender Roberto Ayala, midfield director Juan Roman Riquelme, goalscorer Hernan Crespo and the promising juniors Javier Mascherano, Luis Gonzalez, Javier Saviola and Carlos Tevez have matured into outstanding players in recent times.

Brazil’s “Selecao” (27 points) failed to find true form when outplayed 3-1 by the on-the-day brilliant Argentines, but they retain the best chance to qualify soon. The reigning FIFA World Cup™ champions, who for the first time do not qualify automatically by right, can confidently make travel plans with their next match, at the beginning of September, being home to Chile. According to coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, super scorer Ronaldo will return after missing the game in Argentina for personal reasons (separation from his wife).

Behind those two leading teams, there is a quintet consisting of Ecuador (23 points), Paraguay (22), Colombia (20), Chile (20) and Uruguay (18) battling for the two remaining automatic qualifying places and the play-off fifth position. Ecuador stands the best chance – thanks to their strength at home. The team from the small Equatorial country, which played in Japan and South Korea in 2002, gained 22 of a possible 24 points at the "Estadio Olimpico" in Quito, located at an altitude of 2,850 metres. On the other hand they achieved just one (!) point in seven away matches. Should they fail to improve this away record, life could become difficult as two of the remaining three matches are abroad.

In contrast, Paraguay, currently fourth, found commendable consistency. The six-times FIFA World Cup™ finalists have looked certain qualifiers from the third day of the tournament. But Colombia has set a blistering pace behind the team of Bayern Munich’s forward Roque Santa Cruz, winning eight of the last nine encounters and losing only in Argentina. The exchange of coaches seems to have paid off in Chile. Nelson Acuna, who last April succeeded luckless Juvenal Olmos, also unpopular with the media, has led his team back on course by two victories at home in June.

Though Uruguay lag behind on points, the stars around Diego Forlan (FC Villarreal), Ernesto Chevanton (AS Monaco) and Marcelo Zalayeta (Juventus Turin) can still climb back into contention with two wins at home, against Colombia and Argentina. The two-times FIFA World Cup™ champions recorded five draws in the last six games – not enough for their own, high aspirations.

Peru (15 points), whose striking force lacked punch despite the expertise of Bayern Munich attackers Claudio Pizarro and Paolo Guerrero, Venezuela (15) and bottom-of-the-table Bolivia (13) may be considered out of the race.

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