# 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC–OFC play-off)

The 2010 FIFA World Cup AFC–OFC qualification play-off was a two-legged home-and-away tie between the winners of the Oceania qualifying tournament, New Zealand, and the fifth-placed team from the Asian qualifying tournament, Bahrain.
The games were played on 10 October and 14 November 2009 in Riffa and Wellington, respectively. With New Zealand winning 1–0 on aggregate to qualify for the FIFA World Cup for the first time since the 1982 tournament.
It was the second consecutive FIFA World Cup play-off for Bahrain, which lost 2–1 on aggregate to Trinidad and Tobago in their 2006 play-off.
New Zealand took part in their first FIFA World Cup inter-confederation play-off after years of Australia appearing in the inter-confederation play-offs of 1986 vs Scotland, 1994 (1st play-off vs Canada and 2nd play-off vs Argentina), 1998 vs Iran, 2002 vs Uruguay, and 2006 vs Uruguay, and Israel appearing in 1990 against Colombia.
The draw for the order in which the two matches would be played was held on 2 June 2009 during the FIFA Congress. New Zealand won 1–0 on aggregate and a second consecutive appearance for an OFC team in the FIFA World Cup.

## Background

| Bahrain | Bahrain | Round | New Zealand | New Zealand |
| Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Australia 86201211120  Japan 8431116515  Bahrain 831468−210  Qatar 8134514−96  Uzbekistan 8116510−54 | Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  Australia 86201211120  Japan 8431116515  Bahrain 831468−210  Qatar 8134514−96  Uzbekistan 8116510−54 | Final standings | Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  New Zealand 6501145915  New Caledonia 6222121028  Fiji 6213811−37  Vanuatu 6114513−84 | Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts  New Zealand 6501145915  New Caledonia 6222121028  Fiji 6213811−37  Vanuatu 6114513−84 |
| Opponent | Result | Fifth round (AFC) | Opponent | Result |
| Saudi Arabia (H) | 0–0 | 1st leg | | |
| Saudi Arabia (A) | 2–2 | 2nd leg | | |

## Match details
### First leg

| GK | 1 | Sayed Mohammed Jaffer |
| RB | 15 | Abdullah Omar |
| CB | 16 | Sayed Mohamed Adnan |
| CB | 17 | Hussain Ali Baba |
| LB | 14 | Salman Isa | 79' |
| CM | 5 | Mohamed Hubail |
| CM | 7 | Sayed Mahmood Jalal |
| CM | 10 | Mohamed Salmeen (c) |
| AM | 12 | Faouzi Mubarak Aaish |
| CF | 9 | Husain Ali | 65' |
| CF | 6 | Jaycee John Okwunwanne | 86' |
| Substitutions: ||
| GK | 18 | Abbas Ahmed Khamis |
| DF | 2 | Mohamed Husain |
| MF | 3 | Ahmed Hassan Taleb |
| MF | 4 | Abdulla Baba Fatadi |
| MF | 13 | Mahmood Abdulrahman | 79' |
| FW | 8 | A'ala Hubail | 86' |
| FW | 11 | Ismail Abdul-Latif | 65' |
| Manager: ||
| Milan Máčala ||
| GK | 1 | Mark Paston | 76' |
| RB | 11 | Leo Bertos |
| CB | 6 | Ryan Nelsen (c) | 90+1' |
| CB | 4 | Ben Sigmund |
| LB | 3 | Tony Lochhead |
| DM | 5 | Ivan Vicelich |
| DM | 7 | Simon Elliott |
| CM | 8 | Tim Brown | | 68' |
| RF | 14 | Rory Fallon | | 66' |
| CF | 10 | Chris Killen |
| LF | 9 | Shane Smeltz |
| Substitutions: ||
| GK | 18 | James Bannatyne |
| DF | 2 | Aaron Scott |
| DF | 15 | Dave Mulligan |
| DF | 16 | Andrew Boyens |
| MF | 12 | Michael McGlinchey | | 68' |
| MF | 17 | Andrew Barron |
| FW | 13 | Chris Wood | | 66' |
| Manager: ||
| Ricki Herbert ||
| Officials Assistant referees: Gábor Erős (Hungary) Tibor Vámos (Hungary) Fourth official: Tamás Bognár (Hungary) | Match rules 90 minutes 3 (of 7) substitutions permitted |

### Second leg

| GK | 1 | Mark Paston |
| RB | 11 | Leo Bertos |
| CB | 6 | Ryan Nelsen (c) |
| CB | 4 | Ben Sigmund |
| LB | 12 | Michael McGlinchey | | 64' |
| DM | 5 | Ivan Vicelich |
| DM | 3 | Tony Lochhead | 3' |
| CM | 8 | Tim Brown | | 90' |
| RF | 14 | Rory Fallon |
| CF | 10 | Chris Killen | | 82' |
| LF | 9 | Shane Smeltz |
| Substitutions: ||
| GK | 18 | James Bannatyne |
| DF | 2 | Aaron Scott |
| DF | 15 | Dave Mulligan |
| DF | 16 | Andrew Boyens | | 90' |
| MF | 7 | Simon Elliott |
| MF | 17 | Andrew Barron | | 64' |
| FW | 13 | Chris Wood | | 82' |
| Manager: ||
| Ricki Herbert ||
| GK | 1 | Sayed Mohammed Jaffer |
| RB | 15 | Abdullah Omar |
| CB | 16 | Sayed Mohamed Adnan |
| CB | 17 | Hussain Ali Baba |
| LB | 14 | Salman Isa |
| RM | 5 | Mohamed Hubail | | 85' |
| CM | 7 | Sayed Mahmood Jalal | | 79' |
| LM | 10 | Mohamed Salmeen (c) |
| AM | 4 | Abdulla Baba Fatadi |
| AM | 12 | Faouzi Mubarak Aaish | 27' | 73' |
| CF | 6 | Jaycee John Okwunwanne | 90+3' |
| Substitutions: ||
| GK | 18 | Abbas Ahmed Khamis |
| DF | 2 | Mohamed Husain |
| MF | 3 | Ahmed Hassan Taleb | | 85' |
| MF | 13 | Mahmood Abdulrahman | | 79' |
| FW | 8 | A'ala Hubail |
| FW | 9 | Husain Ali |
| FW | 11 | Ismail Abdul-Latif | | 73' |
| Manager: ||
| Milan Máčala ||
| Officials Assistant referees: Pablo Fandiño (Uruguay) Mauricio Espinosa (Uruguay) Fourth official: Roberto Silvera (Uruguay) | Match rules 90 minutes 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary Penalty shoot-out if scores still level 3 (of 7) substitutions permitted |

## Aftermath

New Zealand qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals in South Africa and were drawn into Group F with defending champions Italy, Slovakia and Paraguay. After drawing 1–1 with Slovakia in their opening match, New Zealand drew 1–1 with Italy, and in their final match, they also drew 0–0 with Paraguay; meaning they finished third in the group on three points. New Zealand's three draws meant that they were the only unbeaten team at the 2010 World Cup.
After the play-off, Bahrain qualified for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar. They went on to finish third in Group C; losing 2–1 to South Korea in their opening match, then beating India 5–2, before being eliminated from the competition after a 1–0 defeat to Australia.